IT Support Work Stories

True stories from my work (with minor alterations to maintain anonymity)

[itsupportbutineedsupport]

HOLY SHIT MY WORK IS TRYING TO ORGANIZE A POTLUCK FOR 20 PEOPLE WHEN COVID RESTRICTIONS IN OUR AREA LIMIT SOCIAL GATHERINGS TO 5 PEOPLE. I literally can’t see my family this Christmas because of the restrictions, but they expect me to sit in a room with 20 coworkers who don’t even know my name and eat food that they prepared in their own homes. WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?

[itsupportbutineedsupport]

It gets better. I voiced my concerns about how it is literally ILLEGAL to do this. The higher-ups ended up cancelling it and everyone at my work is now upset. Apparently the person who was trying to make it happen put a lot of effort into figuring out a safe way to do it, and a lot of people knew this (not me because no one talks to the IT person). Everyone now feels bad for this guy because they thought he finally found a way, and it gets cancelled immediately. I’m just trying to figure out why anyone would think this is possible in the first place. Eating food that someone prepared in their home during a pandemic? No thanks. Sitting with people I don’t need to interact while going 4x past the legal gathering limit? No thanks.

[itsupportbutineedsupport]

HOLY SHIT MY WORK IS TRYING TO ORGANIZE A POTLUCK FOR 20 PEOPLE WHEN COVID RESTRICTIONS IN OUR AREA LIMIT SOCIAL GATHERINGS TO 5 PEOPLE. I literally can’t see my family this Christmas because of the restrictions, but they expect me to sit in a room with 20 coworkers who don’t even know my name and eat food that they prepared in their own homes. WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?

[itsupportbutineedsupport]

My boss got me to set up remote access on her computer. She then got mad at me when I changed her password. I told her it has to be secure since it can now be accessed from outside the building now. She didn’t understand what was wrong with her previous password. It was “Password1”. Her argument was that it had upper case, lower case, and a number.

[itsupportbutineedsupport]

COVID made work crazy for me, so I’ll share in bits and pieces what happened since my supervisor was fired. Here is today’s mystery:

My boss needed to set something up this morning for my office, she emailed me saying she can’t get down here. Everyone continues on like normal. She left me a few cryptic instructions for something else, I asked her to clarify and never heard back.

This afternoon rolls around and I assume she’ll be able to get here and do it since it really backs things up. Next thing I know, I’m getting calls from all kinds of people who also work underneath her, but are in different programs than me. They are asking me stuff I can answer, but not particular to my job. I ask one of them why they won’t just ask out boss... APPARENTLY she isn’t answering anyone’s calls or emails AND she told them if they have any questions, TO COME TO ME???

I do database shit. I dont deal with clients, or anyone outside my office (5 of us), so the fact people who are technically higher up in the chain than me are asking me questions about their own client issues makes no sense? But I mean, I know my shit so I’m actually answering them. BUT STILL, my boss shouldn’t expect me to know these things???

It also seems as though she won’t be able to get here today, so we will be backed up all week... great.

[itsupportbutineedsupport]

I know, it’s been a while since I updated. Obviously things got crazy... but you don’t understand just how crazy.

When all of this went down, it was right after my supervisor returned from a trip outside of the country. I told my boss that I was concerned because she should technically be self-isolating, but at the time it was just a suggestion, not a requirement. She thanked me for letting her know as she was under a different impression as to why my supervisor was away.

Eventually budget cuts happened and they changed a bunch of positions and had to let some people go. My supervisor was fired... yes, fired. She was the only one we were told who would not be returning. Office gossip started happening and my favorite quote was “well, what do you expect will happen when you rarely show up to work, and then don’t work while you actually are there?”

I only shared about 1/3 of the shitty things she did. I hate to say that I’m happy she is gone, but work has been 1000x less stressful because of it. I actually started to like my job again!

[itsupportbutineedsupport]

I can’t believe I haven’t posted this here yet. My supervisor said she was going to be gone for two weeks starting today... however, she decided to take off a week early without telling anyone. Last week was absolute hell because of it. No one knew her schedule. We had to be constantly filling in for her on the fly. We all assumed she would only be taking 2 weeks off still. NOPE! She just decided to take an extra week off ????

[itsupportbutineedsupport]

Someone at work today said their neighbor (who is a loner and never travels) is sick and thinks they may have the coronavirus... there are only a few cases in the entire country and none are even within 1500 miles of here. Holy fuck people are dumb.

[itsupportbutineedsupport]

‪Reasons I hate answering the phone at work:‬

‪1. Persistant cold callers‬

‪2. The panic when trying to remember if my opening line should be “good morning” or “good afternoon”‬

‪3. Having someone start a 10 minute rant about their problems before I get the chance to transfer them to someone that can actually help them (I’m just the IT person)

[itsupportbutineedsupport]

Yesterday my supervisor chewed out one of our nicest employees for taking down this thicker cardboard stuff that was falling off of a window in our boardroom (it was a higher up window and the cardboard blocked out the sun). My supervisor was mad because if the employee hurt herself it was have fallen on the company and they would be liable for her injuries. I understood why that could be bad, and moved on.

Today my supervisor decided to rearrange the entire back of the office. She moved 2 filing cabinets, a desk, and a refrigerator all by herself. It took everything in me to not say:

“You know, you really shouldn’t do that. If you hurt yourself it will fall on the company to pay for your injuries and they won’t like that.”

[itsupportbutineedsupport]

‪“I would like them by Tuesday am next week”‬

‪I set a reminder for Tuesday morning and forgot about it until it went off. Not a big deal since I had finished it.

‪Apparently though, she meant before Tuesday... which isn’t what the email said.

‪“By” is inclusive to the date that you provide, meaning I could hand it in Tuesday morning without question.

“Before” is non-inclusive, meaning I would need to have handed it in before Tuesday.

I’m gonna lose it. I’m surrounded by idiots.

[itsupportbutineedsupport]

If you’re ever feeling stupid just read this-

I sent someone an instruction document and a consent form. In the instructions it says the consent form is a separate document and must be filled in...

The dumbass signed the first page of the instruction sheet in a random spot and printed their name in an even stranger spot and sent it to me thinking that was okay

[itsupportbutineedsupport]

“What’s the hardest part of your day at work”

What I want to say:

*stopping myself from screaming at everyone*

*pretending to be doing work when I have none*

*not pressing send on the nasty emails I write to some of my superiors*

*small talk*

*playing nice with my coworkers even when they treat me poorly*

What I actually say:

“Oh you know, having to go home...”

[itsupportbutineedsupport]

So... this new guy that claims he is great with technology is setting up a system at our work for a new kind of clientele we are accepting. He is only here for a few months to get this thing up and running.

Originally I was going to be setting up the computer stuff (forms, how and where we store data). I told them I want to use Microsoft Access because it is best for this program. The new guy agreed with me so it was settled we were going to use this. It also makes sense to go with what I want since I will be here after he leaves.

Today our boss came down to visit him and was asking general stuff about the program... then he says OUT OF NOWHERE that he doesn’t want to use Access because it would be easier to keep track of money in Excel.

1. He never asked me if this was okay

2. He Never mentioned it to me even

3. Money is only a tiny thing we keep track of, there are so many more things and Access would make it easier overall.

4. I’m pretty sure he is switching just because he doesn’t want to learn Access.

My boss seemed concerned and reminded him that money is only part of it, and he mumbled some excuse. My boss also never came and talked to me about it asking if I said it was okay or what I thought.

[itsupportbutineedsupport]

There is a new guy at work who has declared himself the god of technology... i am the IT person so I laugh at this. His computer came in today and I have set up HUNDREDS of systems exactly like this at my old job so I know what I’m doing.

I SET UP THE ENTIRE SYSTEM (physically), CREATED ITS ACCOUNT AND PERMISSIONS ON THE SERVER (which was quite long compared to usual as there were about 20 separate folders I had to deny him access to) AND DID ALL THE SETUP ON THE COMPUTER ITSELF IN 20 MINUTES.

I got frustrated at the end because something wasn’t loading, AND THE NEW GUY SAYS “it’s okay, it’s your first time, there’s no rush”

WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN ?? I SET UP AN ENTIRE SYSTEM IN UNDER 20 MINUTES YOU FUCK

[itsupportbutineedsupport]

We had a new person start today. He was introduced to everyone and then shown his desk (which is close to mine).

I introduce myself and before I can say what I do, he starts randomly saying why he thinks he was hired-

“Oh I’m really good with computers, I know databases really well. If you have any questions feel free to ask.”

I was shocked at what he just said to me, he doesn’t even know me or what I do and he is already offering help. It may seem like he is being nice, but I am scared he may be one of those “i know everything about computers because I worked at some nothing company for a few months and took a class”. To test and see if he is like that, I continue the conversation.

“That’s really nice of you to offer, but I’m actually the IT person here so I think I’ll be okay. If I ever need help though I’ll let you know!”

(I say that to be nice but I will NEVER want or need his help)

He then proceeds to tell me he is amazing and has even built computers before. I stand there nodding and smiling. When he’s done I go off...

“Oh yeah? I built computers for a couple years, as well as server setup, network management and cabling, Web design, phone systems, printer troubleshooting...”

I went on for a while and he has the AUDACITY to reply with

“I’m sure I could help you with any of that if you needed.”

YOU WERENT HIRED FOR COMPUTER SUPPORT, YOU WERE HIRED TO INPUT DATA LIKE A MONKEY NOW LEAVE ME ALONE.

[itsupportbutineedsupport]

Yes, I am indeed paying the price for something my supervisor did.

I was sent something that was 800 words long and written by a two year old (not literally... but I wouldn’t be surprised). It was supposed to be 300 words for one but my supervisor told them that’s a rough number, and they literally switch between writing in first and third person...

I edited it the best I could and it is still 600 words. I sent it to my supervisor and she said it’s fine at that length since we aren’t allowed to edit it anyways. I kept my mouth shut about editing it because I knew she would say that (I made the person sign a consent form saying I could edit it).

Now my supervisor is blaming me for the length when it was her who told them not to worry. ARGH

[itsupportbutineedsupport]

One co worker I really don’t like messed something up in her outlook calendar. I fixed it and started to explain what she did so she doesn’t do it again and she cut me off and said in a sharp tone “I don’t need to know the techno jargon, just fix it”

My response (after I took a deep breath)

“No. You messed this up, so you need to be taught so you don’t do it again. Understand?”

I swear I sent chills down her spine