(no subject)
I do tech support work for my college, and wound up taking extra daytime hours over my spring break instead of my normal evening shift. As a result, I'm suddenly fielding many more calls from professors.
These professors are, for the vast majority of cases, brilliant in their fields, but some of them are not so great with computers. Case in point:
*phone rings*
Me: "Computer User Services, this is Kate."
Prof: "Hi, I'm trying to set up a vacation message thingy in my email.."
Me: "Ok.. What you'll want to do is go to webmail.[school].edu..."
Prof: "REDmail? All one word? Redmail?"
Me: "No, no, WEBmail.[school].edu.."
Prof: "I.. I don't see where to type that in.."
Me: "Sir, what program are you running?"
Prof: "I'm using my email..."
Me: "Yes, but can you tell me what program you're using?"
Prof: "Oh, uh, the Thunderbird."
Me: "Ok. I need you to open Safari or Firefox."
Prof: "Uh... ok... there's Safari..."
Me: "Ok. So type webmail.[school].edu into the bar at the top, and hit enter.."
Prof: "Uh.. ok..."
Me: "Now it should be asking you for your username and password.."
Prof: "Oh. I don't think I know my password..."
Me: [now attempting to bang head on desk while still on phone] "Ok, well, I can give your call to someone who can change your password for you.."
Prof: "No, uh, I'll take a guess at it.." [puts phone down]
Me: "Sir? Sir?" [belatedly realizes he's put phone down]
Prof: [picks phone up] "Well, that one didn't work.. I'll try again.." [puts phone down]
Me: "No, wait, sir..."
This continued for a few more rounds, until I was able to get his attention and pass him off to someone who could reset his password. In the meantime, though, it was a very Special phone call.
These professors are, for the vast majority of cases, brilliant in their fields, but some of them are not so great with computers. Case in point:
*phone rings*
Me: "Computer User Services, this is Kate."
Prof: "Hi, I'm trying to set up a vacation message thingy in my email.."
Me: "Ok.. What you'll want to do is go to webmail.[school].edu..."
Prof: "REDmail? All one word? Redmail?"
Me: "No, no, WEBmail.[school].edu.."
Prof: "I.. I don't see where to type that in.."
Me: "Sir, what program are you running?"
Prof: "I'm using my email..."
Me: "Yes, but can you tell me what program you're using?"
Prof: "Oh, uh, the Thunderbird."
Me: "Ok. I need you to open Safari or Firefox."
Prof: "Uh... ok... there's Safari..."
Me: "Ok. So type webmail.[school].edu into the bar at the top, and hit enter.."
Prof: "Uh.. ok..."
Me: "Now it should be asking you for your username and password.."
Prof: "Oh. I don't think I know my password..."
Me: [now attempting to bang head on desk while still on phone] "Ok, well, I can give your call to someone who can change your password for you.."
Prof: "No, uh, I'll take a guess at it.." [puts phone down]
Me: "Sir? Sir?" [belatedly realizes he's put phone down]
Prof: [picks phone up] "Well, that one didn't work.. I'll try again.." [puts phone down]
Me: "No, wait, sir..."
This continued for a few more rounds, until I was able to get his attention and pass him off to someone who could reset his password. In the meantime, though, it was a very Special phone call.