For the record

[andygates]

I really hate working with IT support people who hate users.  There's little positive in being stuck in a room with people who are constantly insulting, mocking and belittling the people we're supposed to help.  Le sigh.

Comments

[andygates.livejournal.com]

Heh. Yeah, I have brain surgeons. They're busy being brain surgeons, they can be forgiven for making a user error. Still, I think the reason the boss put me in with these guys is to fight the users' corner. Maybe tomorrow.

Odd thing. Omnicompetence is very cool, but if it were actually true, nobody would need helpdesks, garages, doctors...

[despaer.livejournal.com]

My guess is the problem isn't that they belittle the users, its that they have nothing better to do than persistently moan in the first place 'cos they're just like that.

[arabis.livejournal.com]

That's one of the things I like about working where I do, there's never really been a 'them and us' attitude. Though I reserve the right to laugh a bit when people do something really daft*

Good luck with instilling a customer services attitude in your team!

Me: is the USB cable plugged into the back of the PC?
Anonymous user: yes
Things don't work as expected. I check the back of the PC. The USB connector is balanced over two pins of the serial port where it is obviously never, ever going to fit...

[alacerus.livejournal.com]

Better its them than you, thats a whole lot worse, thats why I quit my job;-)

[andygates.livejournal.com]

I can't hate 'em. I actually like fixing things for people. It's a curse: I'm doomed to forever be Alfred to their Batman. Not that it's such a bad thing, but I just can't spit bile over a user who forgot her password when she's a middle-aged medical receptionist who's been told to remember "Q99^w0rdZZ".

Our users are not l33t. They're mostly barely competent. It's our job to make it EASY for them to do it right, dammit!

I may not last long in this team.

[alacerus.livejournal.com]

Thats cool, I think its just a British attitude to moan about something sounds like your in the right job and there not mate.
Hope the carpets soda fresh:-)

[andygates.livejournal.com]

Mmm, fizzy.

[andygates.livejournal.com]

I hate that tribal them-and-us thing. Sure we laugh at the dumbness, and I'm sure the brain surgeons would be yukking away with,

"And then he tried to use a #206 speculum to hold back the dura mater."
"Dude. No way."
"Way."
"Man, that is so lame! It's not like it's difficult to remember - #206 is for the ladies. #184's for intracranial exploration. Makes you wonder why they bother..."

Thing is, you can joke about it and mean well, or you can joke about it and be mean. And these guys feel - if such a word isn't too gross a neologism - userist. It's mean-spirited and started from the premise, "Whatever your question: No. Now change my mind" - very different from the ILRT's "pamper your geeks" attitude!