I have a really stupid rant about work that doesn't matter, please point and laugh at what a dick I am
I work in AV support for classes and conferences/events and my motivation to help only extends so far, because I get really annoyed when we have to relentlessly handhold people so they don't think to do anything themselves
This is weird to explain but I'll try: some wireless mics have a function to "lock" them on, to prevent people from accidentally flipping the switch and turning it off. This is usually used for long events or panels where a number of different people will be speaking and the mics will be moving around, being handled frequently.
The natural question in response to this is, aren't you worried about all the extra noise and conversation that might be picked up by the mics in between speakers or whatever? And the answer is that's why we have the audio mixer. Doesn't matter if the mics are physically on, we can control whether it's actually being sent out for people to hear with the push of a button; that's also how we can control the individual volume levels of each mic (and whatever else may be sending audio). So, we can safely leave the mics on for as long as the batteries last without worrying about extra noise, because we can just mute and unmute the mic from our little tech booth.
I'm gonna preface by saying that I completely understand the need for this, especially for lavalier mics (the ones with a mic that clips onto your shirt that plugs into a pack you clip onto some part of your clothing), because that's made for people who move around and it's kept close to the body, so it's more likely someone will accidentally bump the switch with their arm and turn off their mic mid-sentence. At that point, we can't do anything from the booth. We have to physically go up to them, disrupting their presentation, and tell them their mic is off, turn it on for them, whatever. So that's why the locking function is there. We don't wanna interrupt your presentation. I especially don't want to, because I want to stay in the secret booth and continue to be unseen.
HOWEVER I personally am an asshole about this, even though I have no right to be so pissy about it because it's entirely my job to remember to lock them on, but when I forget to (and I do, very very sometimes), inevitably someone will flip the switch on the mic, either accidentally or because they think it's already off and needs to be switched on. And this is where I get annoyed, because even if I forget to lock the mic on, I always tell them that it's already on and we can mute or unmute it from where we are, so it can be used only when it's needed, and they don't have to mess with anything. It confuses me that, when they're not hearing the mic come through, nobody thinks to LOOK at the mic with the glowing little screen and see that it is not glowing, there is nothing on the screen, and maybe deduce that it's off. Or maybe see that the switch is in the off position. It confuses me even more how this could be accidentally done with the particular set of handheld mics we have, which have RECESSED POWER SWITCHES designed to not be accidentally flipped! I just don't know why a person wouldn't at least check the microphone itself.
Literally I know it's entirely my fault and I'm just mad at myself that I fucked it up, and it shouldn't be on a client to pick up my slack when I forgot to do something we routinely do. And I know I shouldn't expect everyone to just understand what I mean when I say we have control over it. But my expectations for people are like...idk, investigate for a second maybe. With your own brain. I know it sounds dumb but it's not like I'm all "wehh I don't wanna do a really basic task and they should just do it themselves even though that's why my job exists", it's that I believe in people as human beings who can solve problems and my expectations get dashed when they don't use the brains that I KNOW THEY HAVE. I just wanna jump out of the work environment for a second, look at people and go, "come on. You're better than this." You don't piss me off as an annoying client. You disappoint me as a person.
(this rant intentionally played up with righteous anger because I think it's funny and I'm poking fun at myself for being annoyed about it)
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