Plumbers of the modern day PC
By NICK BLANCHARD
I had computer trouble some time back. “Trouble” refers to
a download I could not find. I searched high and low, all over the great
World Wide Web.
Alas, the particular download I needed was nowhere to
be found.
“Oh fiddlesticks,” I said, or some other expletive. I now
knew that I would have to talk to the resident computer expert. Oh fiddlesticks,
indeed.
Approaching computer experts is a painful exercise. They get that look,
as if now they can avenge that Dungeons and Dragons game the middle school
baseball team so rudely interrupted. So they take on pretensions and humiliate
you until they finally solve the problem, at which point you humbly bow
and run away, clutching your computer.
I imagine they think of themselves as shamans, oracles, or wise men-on-mountaintops.
I think of them as the new plumbers. Reflect on it for a while. Both prey
on the ignorance of the casual user. Both use specialized jargon (e.g.
ballcock, java script) and other esoteric nonsense to keep customers in
the dark. And though it is a superficial observation, both tend to be
on the portly side. Granted, that last point is a mean-spirited dig at
both groups, but they must come to realize that they are in a service
industry.
Customers appreciate their skills and talents. I love the convenience
of indoor plumbing, and I would not trust myself to sweat-solder copper
pipe. Similarly, I would not trust myself to C++ programming. I am happy
to pay for expertise, so long as it is not from someone obviously condescending
to help me.
So, paying public, remember that not all of the dignity in the room belongs
to the man with perilously low pants, crouching next to your PC’s
tower. You, too, have the right to good personal, as well as technical,
service.
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