# Users you avoid **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 16, 2002, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/users-you-avoid/109380 "2002-05-16T13:50:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2002, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/users-you-avoid/109380/1 "2002-05-16T13:50:51Z")
Technical people, are there users you avoid contact with? Now working for them, of course, but those people who, if they see you, will rack there brains to find something about their PC that you must deal with right now. ---
**Author:** ![Bumbazine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bumbazine/32/362_2.png) [@Bumbazine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbazine)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2002, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/users-you-avoid/109380/2 "2002-05-16T15:22:13Z")
‘The Hair-Spray Lady’[sup]TM[/sup]. That’s what everyone around here calls her. That’s not _all_ they call her, that’s just the nicest thing they call her. It’s not just that she’s dumber than a brick, which she is. We’ve had plenty of those here and got along fine with them. It’s that she treats everyone as if they were her own personal servants. She used to call me 3 or 4 times a day to complain that her jobs weren’t running fast enough, and could I give her priority over those other users 'cause her job was so much more important than anything anyone else could possibly be doing. (she’s a billing clerk, fercryinoutloud). I finally had to have her boss tell her to _leave me the Hell alone!_ Yeah, if I see her coming, I duck into a cross hallway, 'cause I don’t want to hear about whatever she’s on about today. ---
**Author:** ![Earthworm\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f07891/32.png) [@Earthworm\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earthworm_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2002, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/users-you-avoid/109380/3 "2002-05-16T18:39:52Z")
I’m in technical support. It’s my **job** to avoid users 😃 _D&R_ ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2002, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/users-you-avoid/109380/4 "2002-05-16T19:46:20Z")
I use a Mac, and I encourage everyone to use a Mac, because it keeps my “unpaid tech support” calls down to a bare minimum. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2002, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/users-you-avoid/109380/5 "2002-05-16T20:10:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by rjung \* > \*\*I use a Mac, and I encourage everyone to use a Mac, because it keeps my “unpaid tech support” calls down to a bare minimum. 🙂 \*\* Henceworth I shall charge Apple advertising fees for hijacks. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![MrVisible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@MrVisible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrVisible)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2002, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/users-you-avoid/109380/6 "2002-05-16T20:32:12Z")
Yup. Angry-lady-with-bad-attitude. Whatever is wrong, it’s all my fault, and has nothing to do with the fact that she’s barely computer-literate enough to check her email. And I’ve got three of them. On the other hand, there’s my most beloved user. Has no clue about computers whatsoever; thinks I’m some sort of god for getting her set up so that she can do her job. I go to her office whenever I need validation. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2002, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/users-you-avoid/109380/7 "2002-05-16T20:41:25Z")
I’m amazed that as bright and educated as our users are, they all still seem to have the greatest difficulty distinguishing between application, system, and data management problems and, therefore, which of us they should call. Who’s wearing blue today? Let’s call him. ---
**Author:** ![mblackwell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5fc32e/32.png) [@mblackwell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mblackwell)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2002, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/users-you-avoid/109380/8 "2002-05-16T20:41:28Z")
Yes. Especially the one whose PCs I have not yet returned. 🙂 Then there are then ones that ask for a new email or Netware password every week, because they forgot it AGAIN. ---
**Author:** ![UrbanChic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9dc877/32.png) [@UrbanChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UrbanChic)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2002, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/users-you-avoid/109380/9 "2002-05-16T20:42:58Z")
I’ve got one user I avoid like the plague. I hate, hate, HATE the way she whines my name. _Wah-NEEEEE-duh…_ She’s as dumb as a box of wet hair and doesn’t seem to get that I’m **third-level support**! I don’t have time to answer her inane questions about where to find free fonts on the 'net. I have to take the stupidest way to get to the server room now because I swear she has a pile of questions labeled _Things to ask Juanita when she walks by_. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2002, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/users-you-avoid/109380/10 "2002-05-16T21:01:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by JuanitaTech \* > \*\* take the stupidest way to get to the server room \*\* Maybe it’s another thread, but “things technicians need”-a secret tunnel like getting to the bat cave or something. Secret passages between buildings so we can sneak in and fix stuff, then leave before someone asks us “Can you make my computer fly, like Captain Nemo?” “Er, he was the guy with the submarine, wasn’t he?” ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2002, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/users-you-avoid/109380/11 "2002-05-16T21:24:41Z")
So this is where you guys hang out… GET BACK TO WORK! ---
**Author:** ![jlzania](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/67e7ee/32.png) [@jlzania](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jlzania)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2002, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/users-you-avoid/109380/12 "2002-05-16T21:48:24Z")
We build computers for a living and although I really hate to turn away business, there is an end user that’s called 3 or 4 times for a bid on a new PC that I’m ignoring in hopes that he’ll get the hint. The problem? Well, for starters, he wants a guarantee that any chip that I put in his system will protect him from the evil meanies at MicroSoft and IBM spying on him. Since I can’t figure out what the hell he means by spying and why anyone would be interested in him, I figure that it’s best that he just go away. ---
**Author:** ![Etherman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/958977/32.png) [@Etherman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Etherman)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2002, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/users-you-avoid/109380/13 "2002-05-16T23:36:24Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by JuanitaTech_ > \*\* I have to take the stupidest way to get to the server room now\*\* You leave it? Heck, thats where I _hide_ from them. I love access controlled doors. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2002, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/users-you-avoid/109380/14 "2002-05-17T01:44:31Z")
At first glance, I thought this thread was for people who’d had dustups with other SDMB users, and I was checking to see if anyone was avoiding _ **me** _. Ironically, I’m also in tech support and the people I tend to duck most often are my own parents. My nicknames for them are “Mom” and “Dad”, by the way. ---
**Author:** ![Anonymous\_Coward](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/94ad74/32.png) [@Anonymous\_Coward](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anonymous_Coward)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2002, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/users-you-avoid/109380/15 "2002-05-17T03:02:00Z")
ok, something I can relate to here. 🙂 The first are the “12 o’clock flashers”… They’re so technically inept you know that every digital clock in their house is always flashing 12:00… 12:00… 12:00… The second are the “too important to follow policies” users. You ask for more server space, you gotta follow the policy. Want a share created? That’s a business case. What’s that? You don’t need to write a business case because you think you work for Mr. X? Fine, you have your Mr X talk to my director. I don’t get paid enough to deal with that bulldink. The hacker (almost always engineers) - Yes, very good. You’re l33t cause you can compile linux kernals and swap your hardware around… but do it again to a work PC and it’ll be a HR issue. I don’t care if you have a personal grudge against M$ and you did my job for summer work while you were in school. Our desktop support walk up to PC expecting a certain hardware config with a Microsoft OS. When they come upon a linux box with CAD video card that you swiped from a spare box, it makes life more difficult for them. Extra points if the hacker invokes Godwin’s law before the format is complete. People in general who can’t understand why they can’t have 10 more gig in server space just by asking. “I can get a 80 gig hard drive for 200 bucks!” they whine. I don’t feel like explaining that we are backing up 3.5 terabytes every weekend already. I don’t want to get into the fact that a shelf of disks in RAID 5 is a little more expensive than a single IDE drive. I just say “no” and forward them the paperwork to request more space… There’s tons more, but I don’t want to raise my blood pressure too much before bed 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2002, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/users-you-avoid/109380/16 "2002-05-17T09:32:16Z")
I remember one woman who transferred in from another department, under vague circumstances, and was thought to have been pushed out of her old position because no one could stand her. Anyway, she was constantly in a bad mood about everything in the first two weeks after she arrived. Then she died of a brain aneurysm. That was a spooky way to end the problem. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_great_unwashed/32/4791_2.png) [@The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Great_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2002, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/users-you-avoid/109380/17 "2002-05-17T11:00:40Z")
Yeah, and it’s not just because his username is an anagram of Brains Reek but that Brian Ekers really ticks me off! (sorry) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_great_unwashed/32/4791_2.png) [@The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Great_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2002, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/users-you-avoid/109380/18 "2002-05-17T11:04:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Great Unwashed \* > \*\*Yeah, and it’s not just because his username is an anagram of Brains Reek but that Brian Ekers really ticks me off! > > (sorry) \*\* Actually, now I think about it, it’s because his name isn’t an anagram of Brains Reek, because he has contrived to spell Brian with a Y just to make people look stupid. Well it won’t work with me Mr Ekers, Oh no! ---
**Author:** ![TPWombat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbce88/32.png) [@TPWombat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TPWombat)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2002, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/users-you-avoid/109380/19 "2002-05-17T12:27:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by rjung \* > \*\*I use a Mac, and I encourage everyone to use a Mac, because it keeps my “unpaid tech support” calls down to a bare minimum. 🙂 \*\* Heh. Bet you have one of [These T-Shirts](http://www.cafepress.com/cp/store/zoom.aspx?prodno=1469464) don’t you? Hope you can read that ok, don’t have time to find the original daily strip on the PvPOnline site. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2002, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/users-you-avoid/109380/20 "2002-05-17T12:33:21Z")
Like I said, Apple adverts now cost money. A dollar-two-ninety-eight per line. Make checks payable to Sarracenia Oreophila. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/users-you-avoid/109380.md?page=2)