Saturday, September 23, 2006

Observant


"Thank you for calling the Undisclosed Technical Support Team™ my name is blah blah blah..."

The lady explains that her screen is saying 'shutting down windows' and has been stuck there all day.

"Ok, what we are going to do is shut the computer down."

"All right."

"Let me know when it is off"

"Well it does take a while after I close the drawer."

HUH?

"Is it off?"

"Yes."

"Ok, turn it back on."

"Alright, it is back on."
That was quick? "It still says 'shutting down windows'."

It takes me a few minutes to realize that what she is doing is opening and closing the keyboard drawer. She believes this is the way to shut down the computer. And in her defense I can see how she would assume that. When she closes the drawer (eventually) the computer screen goes blank, and when she opens it again, it jumps to life.

I explain to her that what we are looking for is an actual button she must push and for the next few minutes I wait as she turns the monitor off and on.

"No, Mamme, the power button is located on the tower, the box that you put your CD's in." Clearly I need to dumb it down for her.

"Dell did send me a disk, but I threw it out cuz there was no where to put it."

"Uh, it has to be there somewhere."
I was starting to think she might have a laptop but that would not explain the drawer.

She finally directs her attention under the desk, "Oh, well would you look at that!"

I come to find out that she has never, in the three years she has owned this computer, ever powered it off.

How is that possible?

3 comments:

part-time thinker said...

I'm more surprised that she never had any problems that lead her to realize that before now! True story, my Mother has been working on Windows machines since they dragged them into the various offices she has worked at and replaced the typewriters. I taught her to turn the pc off by windows logo key u u, which she understood in theory, but she consistently turns on the monitor and sits there staring when trying to start doing anything. I have to remind her there is a button on the tower that needs pressing as well. Apparently at the office where she last worked the techies had them simply turning off the monitors. She never knew that the monitor and the tower were seperately operated.

Anonymous said...

hehehe i love the not so swift ones...its the crazy ones who think they know things that piss me off lol

Anonymous said...

I'm so glad I don't have your job.