A Certain Number Of Attempts

(I’m helping a user with an issue, and it becomes obvious that I’ll need to connect over to her computer to see what’s actually going on. I start walking her through the procedure to allow me to do so.)

Me: “Okay, you should see a nine-digit number at the top of your screen. It looks kind of like a phone number. I need you to tell me that number so I can connect over.”

User: “I can’t see any numbers on my screen.”

Me: “Do you see anything at the top of the screen, like a little tab? It’ll have the numbers in it.”

User: “Yes.”

(The user starts describing all the icons in the tab, with no mention of the numbers.)

Me: “That’s the one. There should be a nine-digit number in there. Looks sort of like a phone number, with dashes every three digits.”

User: “No.” *pause* “There’s a phone number there, though.”

Me: “Yes, that’s the one. A nine-digit number. Looks kind of like a phone number.”

User: “Oh.” *pause* “Yes, that’s it.”

Me: “Could you read it to me, please?”

*long pause*

User: “Do you need me to tell you what it is?”

Me: “Yes, please.”