Hello from East Texas

Greetings everyone out there in 2old2play land. As some of you may know, I work as the office/projects manager for a small computer and networking service company here in East Texas and as such, I get plenty of people that come in that are less than bright when it comes to computers.

Now dont get me wrong, I am no computer snob. I dont look down my nose at people that are tech-challenged. I dont expect everyone to be an expert. I do expect people to have a bit of common sense however. I expect people to have paid attention in 8th grade physical science class and have a rough idea of how electricity works.

So, in this blog I plan to share my experiences with some of my more confused and colorful customers.

With this first entry I will share a few mottos and catchphrases that seem to be common among these pinheads.

1. "I dont know anything about computers but..."
This phrase is usually followed by a vague story with the words "Windows Registry", "deleted" and "wont boot". I dont have a problem at all with not knowing anything about computers. There are a lot of things I dont know either, such as dentistry. But I somehow manage to keep myself from attempting to drill cavities and pull teeth. Apparently the genetic makeup of these folks is missing the gene for sound judgement.

2. "First you need to..."
I really dont get this person. They cant fix their computer so they bring it to us and then try to tell us how to fix it.  It takes all the will power in the world not to let the insults fly when this person starts telling you how to fix the problem they created out of their whacked sense of technical abilities. We usually just smile and nod our heads and pray the person will just hurry up and leave so we can quickly ignore their sage advice and make fun of them.

3. "The error message said something-er-other and then the computer broke."
Thanks for the meticulous note taking there Sherlock. Youve been a big help. The computer generates error messages to help the user know what went wrong so the problem can be fixed. ;; The above description is the computer repair version of the check engine light on your dashboard. I suppose I should be grateful they at least told me there was an error message - some folks just call on the phone and say "My computer broke. How much does that cost?"

4. "But what about my...."
Do us a favor. When you drop off your computer, give us a list of ALL the problems you want addressed. Some people bring in their computers with one set of problems and then ask why some other issue wasnt fixed. We combat this practice by having the customer fill out their own worksheet. When they ask about some issue that wasnt repaired, we produce the worksheet with the issues written in their hand writing and they quickly lose their attitude. I love that. I just try not to have that "Yes, you are a pompous idiot" look on my face - its bad for business.

Well, thats it for now but tomorrow starts a new work week. I am sure Ill have plenty more material to post.