The real hierarchy Dreamed 6217 days ago | | 467 words

This morning I took a call from a City Council member. She started the call already frustrated and quick to anger. The short story was she was using another Council member’s username/password to login (why is this when she has her own account? I’ve learned to stop asking sensical questions). I explained to her I could not reset another user’s password, only her own.

She informed me she didn’t have an account. I explained she did and I could reset her password but not his password. It’s a security issue. I can’t do it. I don’t want to lose my job.

At this point. she bellows, I am a city council member and I need access to my email!

I said Ma’am, I understand that but I am unable to reset his password for you.

She gets all huffy and puffy and tells me again she is very important I mean, she’s a City Council member. I should lose my job to do what she says. Clearly.

I told her either the person’s account she was using had to call me to get his password reset or she could use her own account and it would need to be setup since she is a remote user it would take a couple days. She vowed to call back and talk to someone else.

Little does she know there are only two of us.

And we sit next to each other.

To top it all off she’s one of those angry ignorant computer users. She has no idea what she’s doing and yells at me for making her feel dumb. I guess terms like “password” and “what is your full name” are too complex for her nontechnical brain.

So everything was my fault when she couldn’t type in the password correctly and kept locking the account out. And wouldn’t listen to me when I tried to explain that the laptop stores the login but the VPN does not so when it’s telling you the password is wrong, it’s wrong!

I don’t mind talking to people who lack computer skills. Just don’t get hostile with me as I try to help you fix what you need to do your job. I couldn’t care less if you can’t access your email or network all day, or even all week. It’s a job, not a religion.

Getting angry with the person trying to assist you will never get you anywhere. I am the IT tech. I am the one who can reset the passwords. Without me, she can’t get anything done.

Like I said to my boss, I’m a contractor so I really don’t care that you’re City Council! I could be out of here in another identical job elsewhere where I don’t get yelled at by self-important idiots.

This is what people fail to realize. They need me. I don’t need them.

Comment

Commenting is closed for this article.