After reading the stupidest and funniest patient stories, you might have thought that doctors have it the worst. There is, however, another field that will test its workers’ faith in humanity. Information technology (IT). To prove this, Sebastian from Germany has shared his worst work stories, and they’re so ridiculous, they make grandmas look like hackers. From incompetent managers to clueless users, Sebastian has seen it all. After all, he’s been working in IT for 15 years.
Now, he’s an IT administrator for multiple global companies. “If there is one thing that you can count on, then it’s the stupidity of users,” Sebastian told Bored Panda. “Unfortunately, [it’s evident] every day… not kidding!”
Sebastian started messing around with computers when he was 6. “I always had fun working with PCs until I met ‘the users.'” He has also warned all of the students who are in their first semester of computer studies, “You still have a chance to quit and become gardeners instead.”
All in all, however, Sebastian is happy working in this field. “[But] if one day I want to do something else, I could easily work as a kindergartener. Talking to 3-year-olds is not [very different] from what I do right now.”
Scroll down to check out the unbelievable struggles he has to face daily! (Facebook cover image: Michael Coghlan)
Many people related to these ridiculous stories in the funniest ways
I wish my IT department had a Moss...unless there was a fire.
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12 years in IT. I couldn't take it anymore. People were so stupid that I changed careers to Social Work and started fixing people.
our IT guys used to label employees PEBCAC. problem exists between computer and chair
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It Girl here... my fav was "Ma'am please shut all the windows..." - she didn't let me finish my sentence, I only heard her running somewhere, and shouting to the phone - "Do I need to shut my attic window too?!"
My husband is in IT. He's taught me a lot. Family members and friends usually call one of us for help if they have a computer-related issue. My favorite was telling a family member to 'right click' with their mouse on the desktop to pull up the menu and scroll to 'properties'. They kept saying "how do I write the word 'click' with a mouse'.
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I give remote IT support for a multinational company, I'm not kidding when I say I sometimes get all of these in a single day. Also I can give much worse examples than these. Sometimes it's just hilarious, sometimes your face hurts from all the facepalming.
HAHA, not in IT but 17 years of aviation , trust me the questions i have had ,heard had me at times nearly open the door and jump out ! haha could wright a book about it
I frequently get asked to do things like reload a printer - fix a paper jam. you know the kind of "IT Support" where you can read what the computer tells you to do? Installations or updates are the worst
I have them do it. "What does it say?". Open the door. "Ok. What do you think you should do?" ...
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Been there, seen it all and even worse. The fun part is that it doesn't matter how high or low their position is. We call them digibets. (Analphabetism = an inability to read, Digibetism= an inability to handle computers or to even think logically in the presence of computers.)
I'm one them (digibets) and I can tell : it's not a lack of intelligence nor logic. On my side, it's the inability to understand how to "speak computer--ish" I have no idea what to ask the computer in order for him to do what I want him to do ! It's a language I don't know and I've never been taught properly, so I do what I can and lears as I go, but their logic isn't mine, and I sometimes find them dumb af (the computers, not the IT dudes, I have nothing but respect for these guys...) : you have to tell them EVERYTHING ! :-p
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I was once guilty of "have you turned it on" so embarassing - someone must have turned it off at the wall when I was on a day off
Also this. A lot of problems users have are caused by their coworkers so they can have some fun. Users often realize when they call us and all of his coworkers start LTAO.
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Asking users to perform regular restarts. One of them kept on having issues, so I asked if she restarts her computer on regular basis, she said -every night! Checked the logs, restarts hasn't been done in months. I asked her - how exactly you restart it? She turns off the button on a monitor and turns it back on again.
Yeah... years ago a guy screamed me to help, because he couldn't get electronic desktop calculator (you know the ones with the tape) to work. Typical "IT" help request among with changing the ink cartridge or sorting out paper jam on photocopier. He was standing with the calculator in his hands. Plug was in (!) and he was hitting the keys but nothing happened. I casually pushed the power switch as I walked by. He almost dropped the thing, because those buggers made hell of a racket when you turned them on.
I needed a (common) document from the IRS in Belgium where I live. They would send it to me but too late where I needed it for. We called and they said come and get it. Ended up with a guy about to retire, at least 60. Took him half an hour to find it on his computer. Then he wanted to print it but didnt know how. We had to stand next to him and guide him trough. He had no idea. Still didnt work in the end. I had to ask him "is the printer on?" no, it wasnt. When we finally left with the document, we wondered if he really worked there, and if so, maybe he was the janitor or someone from the kitchen staff that just wanted to have some fun today and sneaked into someones office...
The thing is, these guys are trained in IT....so they know what to do. Most of us know at least basic IT but many do not. It's like plumbers laughing at people who don't know how to fix their washing machine or astronauts laughing at those of us who can't fly into space. Or surgeons laughing because we don't know how to do a laparoscopy or like.... well, you get what I'm saying.
It’s more like plumbers laughing at people who don’t know how to use a perfectly working washing machine. Or astronauts laughing at those who can’t tell a rocket from a car. These examples are not ‘IT problems’, they are everyday problems everyone who needs to use a computer is expected to know. No IT guy would complain if a user call them to a blue screen crash or a computer making abnormal noises or heat or a whole host of other ‘real’ problems that require special knowledge. Not being able to fix bugged software or damaged hardware is normal, not being able to use computers is not, at least when you have jobs that require you to use them.
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I've encountered the 'magic powers' thing myself before. I've tried restarting the PC and it still didn't work so i have the IT guy come over. He asks if I tried restarting, I say of course. He restarts it and it works. I bet he thought I lied.
As a slightly older person who didn’t grow up with computers, I’m 72, please give me a break. I’m a very logical person but I don’t know the “logic” of computers. I also have a very bad memory so I often need to be told things more often than once! Be patient, be kind, someone may need to s l o w l y walk you through the new technology when you’re in your 70s.
What's wrong with Moorhuhn? As far as I can tell it's just a german casual game franchise?
I guess I'm somewhere in the middle. I use a computer at work and at home every day, so I figure I'm fairly au fait with most of the things I do regularly. But I also know that IT people do use jargon that they are so familiar with that they forget that other folks don't actually know what those words mean, like reboot, or ctrl alt delete. Then again, people should not get uppity about checking power cables when asked to, just do it, its easy enough!
IT for 20 years - I can top the power off stories. A mechanical engineer with a master's degree called me because his printer wouldn't start. Okay start with the basics - is it turned on? "Thank you, bye." He was so embarrassed.
The first story reminds me of my former boss. He was an awesome guy & a great mentor. He had 9 Regional Managers in his office for a meeting. He buzzed me and said he couldn't find the (clearly marked) binder with the annual reports & budget anaylsis'. I told him it was in the credenza, center left. He said it wasn't there. You know exactly what happened. I walked into his office, opened the credenza, pulled out the binder that was in the center to the left, handed it to him and walked back out without saying a word. I could hear the laughter all the way down the hall. He had the good grace to come and sheepishly say thank you. Really miss that guy!
I once asked a customer to "move the mouse on the screen to the bottom left corner, and click on the start menu icon" They literally picked up the mouse, put it on the monitor screen, moved it to the start menu then said " The mouse is too big, I can't see the Start menu!" I said "I've never seen anyone use a mouse like that before..." in a very hinting kind of manner. Her facial expression changed so slowly, almost achingly realizing how vastly stupid she had been. She smiled, I smiled, she laughed, then that was it, we were both corpses trying to breathe inbetween fits of crippling guffaws.
I once got an order for blue pens with the company logo on them. I worked in IT helpdesk.
An important client with a new system called with a complaint. She couldn't describe it: said I'd have to drive down and see it for myself. After a six hour drive she shows me the computer screen. I asked what was wrong. She showed me one of the words on the screen was misspelled. Whoever wrote the program had a typo in the code.
I worked on a number of help desks. From my very first job I acted in a help-desk/trouble shooter/IT guy role. I've resolved incredibly bizarre situations, but I have been caught out by a lot too. I've endured abuse from callers. It certainly made me develop my communication skills. In a lot of cases, I was the IT support tech, as well as the help-desk guy. Here is a quick rundown of some of the most bizarre and the most embarrasing problems I have dealt with. Disk stuck in disk drive: User had inserted 3.5" disk BACKWARD into Macintosh drive. This was after-hours, and the user was in tears. I drove to work, and had to use a pair of pliers and my boot on the computer to remove the disk. Screen blank. I was in a cold sweat when I could not solve this over the phone. Drove two and a half hours to client's site. Contrast k**b was turned all the way down. Users kept turning off computer when they wanted to eject a disk: Macintosh design issue: power button under disk drive.
7 years in IT. My favorite are the people that don't know the difference between memory and storage.
one of my customers was so upset about the ink cartridge not fitting in, even though we checked on the official website, it turns out he inserted in wrong way, front side back
These are funny but IT folks have jobs because not everyone knows what they know. I'm betting there are great stories that workers in other fields have about IT people. Annnnd, here's an example. I spent years in the optical field. Had a guy who worked IT for the state order some eyeglasses. He came in to pick them up and when he put them on he complained that his vision was worse. I took the glasses and doublechecked the Rx and it was fine. I told him that the glasses matched his Dr's prescription. He called me every name in the book and told me I didn't know my job and that his contacts had the same prescription and he could see fine with those. I asked him wearing his contacts now. He stopped, took off the glasses and plucked a contact lens out of his eye. He, sheepishly said, "I probably should have taken them out before putting on the glasses." After removing the contacts he could see just fine with the new glasses.
Of course, I was a bit at fault as well. Like a lot of the IT people in these stories, I just assume everyone knows what I know.
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LOL I don't even work as an IT person but a family member called me one time saying her printer didn't work. I asked if it was plugged in, she said of course. I said , "you have cats, they get behind stuff and mess things up, could you just check to make sure". It was unplugged!
Used to work at Microsoft OEM. The guys that used to work at IBM had all sorts of stories. Like, back in the day of 3 1/4 inch floppy discs..a teacher called help desk to say that she inserted the startup disc in the drive but the hard drive won't read it and she can't get it to eject. After trouble shooting for what seemed like forever and getting nowhere, a manager hops on the line and says "Now you did take the black sleeve off the disc." She said "Yeah..it was weird..it took me like 45 minutes to get it off." Turns her disc didn't come with a sleeve she'd spent 45 min taking off the hardcover of the disc and managed to fit the floppy inside into the drive. Her next call was to the computer repair shop to open the computer and have it removed.
Another one had a guy call that said he could not see the cursor on his computer every time he used the mouse. The tech tried to trouble shoot but ended up sending a repair person out. Finding nothing wrong with the computer..they asked him to demo how he used the mouse. The man picked up the mouse, placed it on the computer monitor right over the cursor and proceeded to roll the mouse around on the screen.
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I wish my IT department had a Moss...unless there was a fire.
Load More Replies... 12 years in IT. I couldn't take it anymore. People were so stupid that I changed careers to Social Work and started fixing people.
our IT guys used to label employees PEBCAC. problem exists between computer and chair
Load More Replies... It Girl here... my fav was "Ma'am please shut all the windows..." - she didn't let me finish my sentence, I only heard her running somewhere, and shouting to the phone - "Do I need to shut my attic window too?!"
My husband is in IT. He's taught me a lot. Family members and friends usually call one of us for help if they have a computer-related issue. My favorite was telling a family member to 'right click' with their mouse on the desktop to pull up the menu and scroll to 'properties'. They kept saying "how do I write the word 'click' with a mouse'.
Load More Replies... I give remote IT support for a multinational company, I'm not kidding when I say I sometimes get all of these in a single day. Also I can give much worse examples than these. Sometimes it's just hilarious, sometimes your face hurts from all the facepalming.
HAHA, not in IT but 17 years of aviation , trust me the questions i have had ,heard had me at times nearly open the door and jump out ! haha could wright a book about it
I frequently get asked to do things like reload a printer - fix a paper jam. you know the kind of "IT Support" where you can read what the computer tells you to do? Installations or updates are the worst
I have them do it. "What does it say?". Open the door. "Ok. What do you think you should do?" ...
Load More Replies... Been there, seen it all and even worse. The fun part is that it doesn't matter how high or low their position is. We call them digibets. (Analphabetism = an inability to read, Digibetism= an inability to handle computers or to even think logically in the presence of computers.)
I'm one them (digibets) and I can tell : it's not a lack of intelligence nor logic. On my side, it's the inability to understand how to "speak computer--ish" I have no idea what to ask the computer in order for him to do what I want him to do ! It's a language I don't know and I've never been taught properly, so I do what I can and lears as I go, but their logic isn't mine, and I sometimes find them dumb af (the computers, not the IT dudes, I have nothing but respect for these guys...) : you have to tell them EVERYTHING ! :-p
Load More Replies... I was once guilty of "have you turned it on" so embarassing - someone must have turned it off at the wall when I was on a day off
Also this. A lot of problems users have are caused by their coworkers so they can have some fun. Users often realize when they call us and all of his coworkers start LTAO.
Load More Replies... Asking users to perform regular restarts. One of them kept on having issues, so I asked if she restarts her computer on regular basis, she said -every night! Checked the logs, restarts hasn't been done in months. I asked her - how exactly you restart it? She turns off the button on a monitor and turns it back on again.
Yeah... years ago a guy screamed me to help, because he couldn't get electronic desktop calculator (you know the ones with the tape) to work. Typical "IT" help request among with changing the ink cartridge or sorting out paper jam on photocopier. He was standing with the calculator in his hands. Plug was in (!) and he was hitting the keys but nothing happened. I casually pushed the power switch as I walked by. He almost dropped the thing, because those buggers made hell of a racket when you turned them on.
I needed a (common) document from the IRS in Belgium where I live. They would send it to me but too late where I needed it for. We called and they said come and get it. Ended up with a guy about to retire, at least 60. Took him half an hour to find it on his computer. Then he wanted to print it but didnt know how. We had to stand next to him and guide him trough. He had no idea. Still didnt work in the end. I had to ask him "is the printer on?" no, it wasnt. When we finally left with the document, we wondered if he really worked there, and if so, maybe he was the janitor or someone from the kitchen staff that just wanted to have some fun today and sneaked into someones office...
The thing is, these guys are trained in IT....so they know what to do. Most of us know at least basic IT but many do not. It's like plumbers laughing at people who don't know how to fix their washing machine or astronauts laughing at those of us who can't fly into space. Or surgeons laughing because we don't know how to do a laparoscopy or like.... well, you get what I'm saying.
It’s more like plumbers laughing at people who don’t know how to use a perfectly working washing machine. Or astronauts laughing at those who can’t tell a rocket from a car. These examples are not ‘IT problems’, they are everyday problems everyone who needs to use a computer is expected to know. No IT guy would complain if a user call them to a blue screen crash or a computer making abnormal noises or heat or a whole host of other ‘real’ problems that require special knowledge. Not being able to fix bugged software or damaged hardware is normal, not being able to use computers is not, at least when you have jobs that require you to use them.
Load More Replies... I've encountered the 'magic powers' thing myself before. I've tried restarting the PC and it still didn't work so i have the IT guy come over. He asks if I tried restarting, I say of course. He restarts it and it works. I bet he thought I lied.
As a slightly older person who didn’t grow up with computers, I’m 72, please give me a break. I’m a very logical person but I don’t know the “logic” of computers. I also have a very bad memory so I often need to be told things more often than once! Be patient, be kind, someone may need to s l o w l y walk you through the new technology when you’re in your 70s.
What's wrong with Moorhuhn? As far as I can tell it's just a german casual game franchise?
I guess I'm somewhere in the middle. I use a computer at work and at home every day, so I figure I'm fairly au fait with most of the things I do regularly. But I also know that IT people do use jargon that they are so familiar with that they forget that other folks don't actually know what those words mean, like reboot, or ctrl alt delete. Then again, people should not get uppity about checking power cables when asked to, just do it, its easy enough!
IT for 20 years - I can top the power off stories. A mechanical engineer with a master's degree called me because his printer wouldn't start. Okay start with the basics - is it turned on? "Thank you, bye." He was so embarrassed.
The first story reminds me of my former boss. He was an awesome guy & a great mentor. He had 9 Regional Managers in his office for a meeting. He buzzed me and said he couldn't find the (clearly marked) binder with the annual reports & budget anaylsis'. I told him it was in the credenza, center left. He said it wasn't there. You know exactly what happened. I walked into his office, opened the credenza, pulled out the binder that was in the center to the left, handed it to him and walked back out without saying a word. I could hear the laughter all the way down the hall. He had the good grace to come and sheepishly say thank you. Really miss that guy!
I once asked a customer to "move the mouse on the screen to the bottom left corner, and click on the start menu icon" They literally picked up the mouse, put it on the monitor screen, moved it to the start menu then said " The mouse is too big, I can't see the Start menu!" I said "I've never seen anyone use a mouse like that before..." in a very hinting kind of manner. Her facial expression changed so slowly, almost achingly realizing how vastly stupid she had been. She smiled, I smiled, she laughed, then that was it, we were both corpses trying to breathe inbetween fits of crippling guffaws.
I once got an order for blue pens with the company logo on them. I worked in IT helpdesk.
An important client with a new system called with a complaint. She couldn't describe it: said I'd have to drive down and see it for myself. After a six hour drive she shows me the computer screen. I asked what was wrong. She showed me one of the words on the screen was misspelled. Whoever wrote the program had a typo in the code.
I worked on a number of help desks. From my very first job I acted in a help-desk/trouble shooter/IT guy role. I've resolved incredibly bizarre situations, but I have been caught out by a lot too. I've endured abuse from callers. It certainly made me develop my communication skills. In a lot of cases, I was the IT support tech, as well as the help-desk guy. Here is a quick rundown of some of the most bizarre and the most embarrasing problems I have dealt with. Disk stuck in disk drive: User had inserted 3.5" disk BACKWARD into Macintosh drive. This was after-hours, and the user was in tears. I drove to work, and had to use a pair of pliers and my boot on the computer to remove the disk. Screen blank. I was in a cold sweat when I could not solve this over the phone. Drove two and a half hours to client's site. Contrast k**b was turned all the way down. Users kept turning off computer when they wanted to eject a disk: Macintosh design issue: power button under disk drive.
7 years in IT. My favorite are the people that don't know the difference between memory and storage.
one of my customers was so upset about the ink cartridge not fitting in, even though we checked on the official website, it turns out he inserted in wrong way, front side back
These are funny but IT folks have jobs because not everyone knows what they know. I'm betting there are great stories that workers in other fields have about IT people. Annnnd, here's an example. I spent years in the optical field. Had a guy who worked IT for the state order some eyeglasses. He came in to pick them up and when he put them on he complained that his vision was worse. I took the glasses and doublechecked the Rx and it was fine. I told him that the glasses matched his Dr's prescription. He called me every name in the book and told me I didn't know my job and that his contacts had the same prescription and he could see fine with those. I asked him wearing his contacts now. He stopped, took off the glasses and plucked a contact lens out of his eye. He, sheepishly said, "I probably should have taken them out before putting on the glasses." After removing the contacts he could see just fine with the new glasses.
Of course, I was a bit at fault as well. Like a lot of the IT people in these stories, I just assume everyone knows what I know.
Load More Replies... LOL I don't even work as an IT person but a family member called me one time saying her printer didn't work. I asked if it was plugged in, she said of course. I said , "you have cats, they get behind stuff and mess things up, could you just check to make sure". It was unplugged!
Used to work at Microsoft OEM. The guys that used to work at IBM had all sorts of stories. Like, back in the day of 3 1/4 inch floppy discs..a teacher called help desk to say that she inserted the startup disc in the drive but the hard drive won't read it and she can't get it to eject. After trouble shooting for what seemed like forever and getting nowhere, a manager hops on the line and says "Now you did take the black sleeve off the disc." She said "Yeah..it was weird..it took me like 45 minutes to get it off." Turns her disc didn't come with a sleeve she'd spent 45 min taking off the hardcover of the disc and managed to fit the floppy inside into the drive. Her next call was to the computer repair shop to open the computer and have it removed.
Another one had a guy call that said he could not see the cursor on his computer every time he used the mouse. The tech tried to trouble shoot but ended up sending a repair person out. Finding nothing wrong with the computer..they asked him to demo how he used the mouse. The man picked up the mouse, placed it on the computer monitor right over the cursor and proceeded to roll the mouse around on the screen.
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