Thursday, September 04, 2008

IT Dude is not your personal assistant!

The main drawback to being the only IT guy in a small business is that everyone sees you as their personal assistant who's only purpose is to serve them.  Here are a few examples.

There's a guy here who is "too busy" to copy a file from his personal laptop to his computer in his office.  So he asks me to do it for him.  It took me LITERALLY 2 minutes to plug in a flash drive, copy the file to the flash drive, unplug the flash drive from the laptop, plug the flash drive into my work computer and email him his file.

Why is it my responsibility to make sure that an employee's signature in Outlook is copied from his old computer to his new one?  Can't HE copy from an existing email his signature and paste it into a new signature?!

Is it so hard to look at your program list BEFORE asking me to dig out a software cd and trek to your office, install the cd, start the install only to be told that the program is already there?

If your sound is not working "all of a sudden" then look at the volume control in Windows Media Player that you're using and make sure it's ON!

If I give you a company laptop to take home to use I know it's capable of connecting to the company's VPN.  Don't call me and tell me it's not working.  At least don't make it seem like I'M the one who's messed up!  If you are trying to save energy and hibernate your pc when you leave YOU CAN'T REMOTE DESKTOP BECAUSE YOUR FRACKIN COMPUTER IS NOT ON!!

If you bring me your personal laptop and tell me that your wireless isn't working...learn to work your crap!  Why is this MY fault?  You have the password to the WiFi at work so why can't you work your own computer?  I can get it hooked up without ANY problems.  You just connect!

Why am I supposed to know how all software works?  I'm not a drafter!  Why do I need to know the intricacies of AutoCAD, AutoSketch, Surfer, Google SketchUp or ArcView?!  Supposedly this all falls under "IT" so it's been told to me that I am to know it all in case someone has issues with them.

Don't put off an AutoSketch update simply because you don't want to take the time to learn it then place a ton of pressure on me to help you out like it's my sole job to do that.  I took the time to learn it so you should be able to as well.  (He told me TO MY FACE that he didn't want to take the time to learn it!)

If you send me an email and list multiple programs that you asked me to install but "aren't installed" then you better damn well LOOK at your programs list because I DID install them?  What?  Am I some kind of LIAR when I reply to you and tell you that I installed the programs you asked for?!

Don't EVER ask me how to run that program I just installed on your computer.  You know?  FONTS?  How can you get a PHD and not know what FONTS are and why they're NOT A PROGRAM!?

If you request a second monitor and I order you one and install it all for you and you call me to your office to tell me it's not working and I show you it is working by dragging an open window onto it and you are amazed I should have full rights to laugh at you in your face until I pass out.  Then wake up and drop a coffee grinder in your pants.

This is what I have to deal with folks.

I've come to understand that being the only IT Guy in a small business STILL leaves me at the bottom of the "ladder".  Most of the time I feel like an IT Doormat where anyone has permission to just wipe their feet on me and have me do their bidding.  Friggin SUCKS!  I think I need to find another job because the perception around here of what an IT guy does and is responsible for are all jacked-up to hell.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

LOL. Fantastic post!

Elaine said...

yea, they have no idea how good they have it with you there... They don't appreciate you.

MaTT said...

"If you request a second monitor and I order you one and install it all for you and you call me to your office to tell me it's not working and I show you it is working by dragging an open window onto it and you are amazed I should have full rights to laugh at you in your face until I pass out. Then wake up and drop a coffee grinder in your pants."

That paragraph alone was worth the read. :-)

Ellis Gary said...

Hilarious!