I don’t know what it is, but once you have been in ANY kind of tech job, you are the free tech support person EVERYONE wants to be friends with. I actually did tech support for a few months in between running restaurants and working in our corporate office for a provider that contracted out to about 35 different ISPs. I also spent three and a half years in support for about 300 desktop users and about 850 remote locations. Four of us worked in the IT department. Every once in a while that could really become a headache.
Last week one of my waitresses that has worked with me for several years was asking me a question about her computer, one of the others was in there with her husband. They quickly asked “Do you work on computers?”. “Yes, but I charge $50 an hour”. They quickly shut up. Hell, $50 an hour is CHEAP. A couple of minutes later the husband asked if I could look at his TV. Now how the hell would I know anything about televisions. Mine quits working, I buy a new one. There’s the fix for that little problem.
Anyway, one of the other managers called me up a few minutes ago. He is an end user with no clue. That’s OK, sometimes they are easier to deal with than the guy that THINKS he has a clue and doesn’t want to listen to you. His Internet connection to Bellsouth is down, so I walked him through checking a couple of sites, then pinging a couple, as well as himself just to make sure TCP/IP was installed then ended up telling him to reset his modem, router, and computer and if it didn’t work to call Bellsouth since that’s what he is paying them for. I don’t mind helping out, but once that ten minute mark hits I start getting frustrated and they need to deal with someone else that they are paying, not me.