(Addressed to the fun fun people I met at work today.)
Thanks to the fact that the place I was
planning to do tech support for was
not hiring this summer, thus forcing me to
bag groceries for 8 weeks, I haven't been doing tech supporty things for almost 3 months. But guess what, my
friend, I was hired for this job, you were not. I'm glad that you're enjoying your first week of
college freedom. For me, it's my third
year doing this stuff, my second year doing tech support for this
college.
I know you can't conceive of this, but the fact that your dad built your computer for you does not make you an expert on said computer. The fact that your uncle gave you this computer gives you no right to question the way I go about hooking you up to our LAN. Hey, your brother is a MCSE! Great! You can still trust me when I say that this ethernet card goes into that PCI slot. How do I know? Well, see here on the box where it says "Linksys PCI Etherfast 10/100..."?
(end address)
Professional courtesy is not too much to ask, is it? I've never, ever talked to people in a business relationship the way I've been talked to on this job. Many of the above comments would be like me saying to a waitress "Hey toots, you might want to hold the coffee pot like *this* when you pour, okay?"
Exactly at what point did the fact that you are the paying party in a business relationship transmute you into the *employer* of the other party? I've always assumed that if you get hired for a job, minimum competence is the least you can expect. Incompetence means filing a complaint with a boss. Fine. But just because you slid seven bucks across a counter does not give you the right to rag on the kid making your burger. Nor does it give you the right to treat the waitress like scum because she relies on *gasp* TIPS to survive.
Has anyone else experienced this assumption in your life? If you're in a service-related job, what is your take on this phenomenon?