Dawn Ultra-Dumb

(One of our employees is complaining that her laptop is going really slow, so I’ve been told to take a look at it.)

Me: “Well, here’s the problem. Your computer has a 200GB hard drive and you’re using 193GB of space. Copy your old personal files to DVD and clean out your personal files. It should run better then.”

Employee: “Oh, okay! I’ll go home and do that tonight!”

(The next day, the employee complains that their computer won’t turn on. I go down to take a look at it.)

Me: “Hmm, it’s trying to boot but won’t. Did you delete anything from your Windows folder or mess with any of the settings before Windows starts?”

(Note: technically, she shouldn’t have been able to change Windows settings I removed her permissions access, and she shouldn’t have known how to mess with BIOS.)

Employee: “I don’t know! I did what you told me. I cleaned out my files!”

Me: “Okay, but did you remove anything that I should know about?”

Employee: “I don’t think so. The machine did most of the work!”

Me: “You mean you ran the Windows Disk Cleanup?”

Employee: “No, the machine! The dishwasher!”

Me: *confused* “Dishwasher? You mean you had a friend do it?”

(Silly me…I assumed she meant a restaurant dishwasher—somebody
who works at a restaurant somewhere cleaning dishes but is also a tech-savvy friend.)

Employee: “No! The dishwasher! You told me to clean out my files, so I did! I think the keyboard shrank a little in the hot water cycle, though. Should I have used cold water only?”