I used to work for a third-party IT company, and part of my contract was that I was the onsite IT person for one of our clients. I was at work one day when a user came up to my desk. I was in the middle of something for a user based out of a different location, so I half-acknowledged her but worked on what I could until I was at a natural stopping point.

Me: “Hey, sorry about that. What’s up?”

User: *Just this side of huffy* “Yeah, you guys didn’t finish [New Hire]’s computer. She’s missing her E: drive.”

Me: “She should have mapped everything when she signed in. It’s on the list of drives that’s sent out.”

Because there were multiple shares used across the company, in their training document, each department had a section with their various drives and links to said drive and then the steps to actually map it. We’d had an automated setup at one point, but before I started, several people raised a stink about it, so it was changed to the training and the links. Don’t ask why that was smarter/easier — especially since nothing was actually locked down (don’t get me started), so it wasn’t like there’d be a permissions issue if someone accidentally grabbed the wrong link.

User: “Well, it didn’t! So, you need to map her E: drive.”

Me: “Okay. I’m in the middle of something, but I’ll be over there when I’m done.”

She seemed to barely refrain from stomping her foot, rolled her eyes, and walked away. I finished what I was doing and headed over to their area.

Me: “Hey, [New Hire], I heard you’re missing your E: drive?”

New Hire: “Yeah, I’ve got all these drives, but none of them are the E: drive.”

Me: “Okay, let me double-check something.”

I grabbed her computer, pulled up the training, and navigated to the path for the E: drive. As I was starting to map it, I noticed something.

Me: “Oh, you’ve got it right here. You accidentally mapped it as the G: drive instead of the E: drive. But it’s still the same drive. See?”

I opened the drive and showed her that all the documents were the ones she needed. The user who’d originally requested my assistance came and hovered over my shoulder.

User: “It needs to be the E: drive. She doesn’t have access, otherwise.”

Me: “Actually, she does have access, see? It’s the same folder; she just saved it to a different drive locally. In this situation, the letter is really functioning as a shortcut or bookmark. She’s still got access to the E: drive; hers just says G: instead. It’s still the same.”

User: “No. She needs to get access to the E: drive. I don’t know why you didn’t do this for her before.”

I was biting my tongue something fierce, trying not to point out that: A) we didn’t actually map any of the drives, B) it was still the same drive, and c) she was actually one of the people upset about the automation, so she was part of the reason why people had to map the drives themselves.

Me: “She does have access; it’s just under G instead of E. The only difference is the letter; otherwise, she’s got all the documents. See?”

I closed and reopened the file explorer to demonstrate, and [New Hire] seemed to get it, but [User] wasn’t having it.

User: “She needs access to the E: drive!”

I didn’t bother arguing with her anymore. I unmapped the drive from [New Hire]’s G: and remapped it to E:. [User] smirked her way back to her desk, and I rolled my eyes as I went back to mine.

I’m not sure what it was, but in the time I was there, I got the feeling that [User] didn’t like me all that much, but I honestly have no clue what I did to set her off. I didn’t bother to find out, either, because I was focused more on getting out of that job. Luckily, I only had to deal with her for about nine months in total.

I’m nineteen, and I am studying computer science at a university in India. This university is not in my hometown, so I had to rent a small apartment on the outskirts of the city since the rent is lower in the suburban area). My neighbours are a family of four: a mother, a father, a ten-year-old son, and a five-year-old daughter.

I have a part-time job at a nearby computer coaching center to teach kids some basic programming. The neighbours’ son goes there to learn coding, and from there, he learned that I am building a new gaming computer. (I was talking about it with one of my friends who works there.)

One day around 3:00 pm, the doorbell rings. I answer it, and the mother from next door is standing there.

Mother: “Oh, hello.”

Me: “Hi. How can I help you?”

Mother: “Are you building a new PC?”

Me: “Umm, yes. I finished building it.”

Mother: “My son wants a new PC to play some games.”

Me: “Do you need any help building it? Today I am a bit busy, but I can help you tomorrow.”

Mother: “No, we don’t want to build a PC.”

Me: “Oh, you want to buy a pre-built one? What is the budget?”

Mother: “That’s the problem; there is no budget.”

Me: “I can show you any PC you’d like.”

Mother: “No, we want your PC.”

I don’t understand.

Me: “You want the same configuration as my PC?”

Mother: “No, I want to get the PC inside your room.”

It’s a small flat, so my PC can be seen from the doorway.

Me: “Umm, that’s not possible.”

Mother: “Why? You are too old to play video games.”

Me: “The PC is for my studies, not for gaming.”

That’s kind of a lie since I am going to satisfy my Minecraft addiction with the PC.

Mother: “Don’t lie! Why would you need such a good PC for university?!”

I just closed the door.

I work in a hotel. I’m at the desk having a nice evening. The guests have been great, I’ve had some pizza, and things are going well. Then, everything has to go and change, and now I’m in a bad mood.

A man comes into the lobby.

Man: “You got rooms?”

Me: “Yeah, our rooms are [total] after tax, and we put a refundable $100 deposit on your card for incidentals.”

He looks like I’ve just slapped him.

Man: “You have to do the deposit?”

It’s kind of a stupid question but not the dumbest I’ve heard, so I give a friendly laugh as I reply.

Me: “Well, sir, if it was optional, I’m not sure anyone would pay it.”

He looks at me like I’ve just called his mother something vulgar.

Man: “Really? I ask you a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ question, and that’s how you respond to me?”

Me: “I was making a joke; I can see it hasn’t landed. But yes, you do have to pay the deposit.”

Man: *In the most condescending way possible* “Next time someone comes to check in, you just be a professional, okay?”

He offers out his card, and I stare at it for a moment, trying to decide if I want to be in the same general space as such a humorless a** for a whole evening. Ultimately, I decide that no, I do not.

Me: “I’m not going to check you in, sir.Have a good night.”

Man: “What?!”

Me: “I’m refusing you service. You’re not going to speak to me like that and get a room here.”

He gets BIG mad and starts demanding the manager. I point to the business cards on the desk.

Me: “The manager isn’t here, but she will be back in tomorrow.”

Man: “Call her!”

Me: “I’m not going to call her. She’ll be back in tomorrow.”

We go back and forth a few times before he leaves.

I start to text my general manager to warn her to expect his call, but then he comes back in.

Man: “Give me your name!”

I don’t wear a nametag.

Me: “I’m not comfortable giving you my name, but my manager will know who was working tonight.”

We go back and forth a few more times.

Man: “Fine! If you won’t give me your name, I’ll just take a picture of you!”

I step into the back office before he can, and I wait there until he leaves.

Man: *Calling over his shoulder* “I’m going to get you fired, you fat, stupid b****!”

Good luck, buddy. Go be someone else’s headache. Bullet dodged.

He sent in a customer care complaint about me that night, conveniently leaving out the part where he was an a**hole, AND he came into the hotel in person the next morning to complain to my boss about me. She told him he couldn’t speak to staff the way he did and then come crying to her about it. I’m not sure if she said those words exactly, but that was the gist. She also told him that if he was going to be disrespectful, she was not going to entertain his complaints.

I cannot imagine getting so bent out of shape about a friendly joke. I am glad I don’t have to deal with this guy in real life.

Related:
Never Joke With The Customers… Ever!, Part 4
Never Joke With The Customers… Ever!, Part 3
Never Joke With The Customers… Ever!, Part 2
Never Joke With The Customers… Ever!

I was diagnosed with ADD and short-term memory loss when I started college around fifteen years ago. (Better late than never, I guess.) The only accommodation I really needed was a formula sheet for my algebra class to use on tests. There were no answers of any kind on this sheet, just formulas, e.g., a²+b²=c². I still had to do the actual work myself.

Somehow, though, my algebra professor took this to mean that I had a “cheat sheet” and constantly made nasty remarks about it, even trying to get my classmates to agree with him that it wasn’t fair that I had a “cheat sheet” when they didn’t. Thankfully, my classmates all told him he was being ridiculous and making everyone uncomfortable with his snarky comments.

I finally had enough and decided to stay after class to have an adult conversation about the comments being rude, unprofessional, and downright inappropriate, and to ask firmly but politely that they stop. Unfortunately, it’s hard to have an adult conversation when the other person refuses to be an adult. I explained that I needed the formula sheet because I have memory issues, and it in no way provided anything that my classmates didn’t have (since they had the advantage of keeping the formulas in their minds instead of on a sheet). Everything I said was met with more snark and condescension that was, honestly, childish.

Eventually, I realized that the man simply would not be reasoned with, so, irritated and out of patience, I had no choice but to pull out my nuke.

Me: *Frustrated* “Look. We can go back and forth with this as long as you want, but at the end of the day, you can either stop the nasty comments, or you can have a chat about the ADA [Americans with Disabilities Act] with my dad.”

Professor: *Scoffing, condescending tone* “Oh, you’re really going your father involved?”

Me: “Well, he’s your boss.”

And I watched this man’s soul leave his body.

Professor: *Tiny, horrified voice* “…what?”

I stuck out my hand as if to shake his.

Me: “Hi, [My First Name] [MY LAST NAME]. [Dad’s First Name] [OUR LAST NAME], head of the math department’s, youngest daughter.” 

The professor’s eyes went wider.

Professor: “…daughter?”

Suddenly, he didn’t have a problem with my formula sheet. I still mentioned the issue to my dad, who looked into [Professor] and found that he had several complaints against him from students with disabilities. Dad promised to keep an eye on him, and they did indeed have a chat about the ADA and professionalism at the end of the quarter.

[Professor] had been teaching at the college for many years already; Dad had just taken over as head of the department that year, so that’s why he wasn’t yet aware of the preexisting complaints against [Professor]. They would have been addressed as soon as he found out about them, my having issues with [Professor] just led Dad to find them a bit sooner.

Related:
Thanks To ADHD And The ADA, You’ve Been HAD

This story happened in the days when mobile hotspot-capable phones were just starting to get super common, and public Wi-Fi wasn’t as common as it is now.

One day while out and about, I need to use my phone’s mobile hotspot to use my laptop in a place that has no public Wi-Fi. I have a pay-as-you-go plan, not a contract of any kind. I set up my hotspot and wait for it to create the Wi-Fi network… and wait… and wait.

I finally get an error message, stating that my phone does not support hotspot capability, despite the fact that I have used the hotspot numerous times before with this phone. The only thing I can think of is that I allowed a new software update a few weeks ago, and this is the first time I’ve tried to use the hotspot since the update, so maybe the update is the problem?

The next day, from home, I sign on to my plan provider’s online chat help. The following conversation takes place over chat after I manage to get off of the auto-response system and connect to a live agent.

Agent: “Can you please describe your issue?”

Me: “I tried to use my phone’s Wi-Fi hotspot yesterday, but it didn’t work. I got an error message saying that my phone does not support hotspot capability, but I’ve used the hotspot before. Was there something in the newest update that interferes with the hotspot?”

Agent: “[Carrier] phones do not support hotspot and never have.”

Me: “But I have used hotspot on this phone and with this carrier before with no issues, so that’s not true. This is the first time I’ve ever had problems with my hotspot.”

Agent: “If you have modified your device to allow a hotspot generator, that is a violation of [Carrier] policy.”

Me: “I have not modified it, and I don’t have any third-party app. It’s just the phone’s built-in hotspot generator.”

Agent: “If you continue to use the illegal modifications to generate a hotspot, that is a violation of [Carrier] policy, and your account will be terminated.”

Me: “I have not modified my phone. If my phone was able to generate a hotspot before the update, how is this possible if ‘[Carrier] has never allowed hotspot’? Should I be worried about a software issue that compromised my phone? If so, should I be worried that [Carrier] also allowed my personal information to be compromised because of your faulty software? Do I need to cancel my account with [Carrier] over these concerns?”

Agent: “I apologize for this incident. I cannot help you solve your problem, and I will be closing the chat at this time.”

I still have the same account, mostly because changing my phone number at this point in my life would result in too many complications everywhere else. Other than not being able to use the hotspot, I have not had any more problems, and with the continual growth of public Wi-Fi anywhere and everywhere, a hotspot is a trivial matter for my needs now.

I’m still convinced that that software update was the problem, and in my opinion, the agent’s reaction to my questions about the software security only serve to confirm that suspicion. Maybe I’m reading too much into it, but oh, well; as I say, it’s a trivial matter of history at this point.

Related:
Not So Hot On The Hotspot, Part 2
Not So Hot On The Hotspot