Booting The Rebooter

I got my first real IT job a while back, in 2013. It was a general support desk role, a brand-new position that they really hadn’t figured out yet. My responsibilities ranged from doing server backups and following up on maintenance requests to managing accounts.

I had to keep track of around six different passwords for each network I was on, but it was fun, and I felt important since I was the only person in the role at the time.

I got a call from a lady who was a longtime employee located on the same site, just in a different area. Her computer wouldn’t boot up.

User: “You need to come and fix it ASAP! I’m trying to work on an important project!”

No problem. I was used to people being annoyed and thinking that if they yelled or complained at IT, things would get done faster.

I walked out to her desk, which was about ten minutes away from our office. I grabbed the computer while she huffed and puffed, and it kept displaying a “No boot device found” message. I also heard a faint clicking when I turned the computer on.

I pulled it out from under her desk and could tell that the HDD was damaged. It happens (just not very often), but I didn’t have any spare HDDs, so I’d have to get her a new computer while I ordered one.

I apologized and explained the issue, which only made her angrier. I shrugged it off and took the computer back to our office to fill out the paperwork.

I brought her a spare computer after I imaged it and plugged it in. Luckily, all of her data was backed up to her shared drive. Later, I noticed that the casing had a small dent in it, but the area was underfunded, and sometimes we used recycled parts.

A few weeks later, I came back around to her area and was doing an inventory check on everything when I heard an odd noise. I poked my head into her cubicle, and she was sitting there with her legs crossed, idly kicking the computer.

I instantly realized where the dent in the last computer had come from.

Me: “What are you doing? Why are you kicking the computer?”

User: “It’s in my way. I always do this, so mind your own business.”

I grabbed her supervisor, who ended up punishing her for damaging government equipment.

I never saw her again.