Tech Support With a Tinge of Irritation

I just got a call from family for another round of tech support. I always realize after the fact just how irritated I sound when I get these calls.

It's a tough situation to be in. Of course there's my much mentioned personality disorders. But I also have tech support obligations at my day job. For many years I get calls for the same issues, over and over, usually dealing with people who are unhappy to begin with because they broke or lost something on their computer or can't be bothered to read and comprehend a statement on the screen. More often than not it's something that they called about a few months ago. Same issues. Over and over. And I dutifully repeat myself. Over and over.

I've heard many times how often tech support is a burnout job. No one stays sane in that position for long. And I've been doing it a long time. Repairing. Swapping. Answering repetitive questions. Educating over and over, the user never quite comprehending.

Worse, I'm normally regarded with a feeling of disdain. The movies make this stuff look simple. Why can't I just type a few words into the keyboard and have it work? I mean, The Matrix, The Net, the latest Die Hard, Wargames...they made it all so simple. Maybe I should pull a Tron and just jump through the screen and make it work for them. It's a simple job, making them wait longer while I decipher what the hell they're talking about is just irritating them. I must be doing it on purpose.

Better yet, tell me how you're not a computer person. Or how stupid computers are. How you hate them. I love hearing how my college investment and years of work were all pointless. And I'm still obligated to help you.

Then my family and friends want help. At work, we generally know what the systems have, how they work, how the network is configured. I generally know what you're supposed to be doing to get your documents. What applications, generally, you're running. When you are calling from home you've installed games, you've altered settings, I can't see what you're seeing. I need to rely on your descriptions. I need to strain to remember what you're running. Sometimes I remember. Sometimes I can't remember what I wore yesterday.

They get frustrated. I'm already irritated. It never ends well. They get free service at the price of putting up with my terse commands and repetitive issuance of directions. I remind myself that technology doesn't dance to the stroke of keys for them the say it does for me. I feel swells of anger at them not being willing to help themselves by working on basic functions like knowing where they put the damn files they created. I feel waves of frustration at their descriptions of things I can't see but need to know in order to instinctively discern the true nature of the problem. Then I have to remind myself once again...I don't know things they specialize in, they don't know things I specialize in.

Frustrating. And I always regret sounding like the ass after the fact. Maybe someday I will find a better coping mechanism. sigh.