The IT Helpdesk (or Nohelpdesk as I call them) where I work are utterly clueless about IT.
Being an IT Trainer, I get all sorts of calls put through to me that I really shouldn't have to see in the first place.

Ones that stick in my mind include: "User wants to know how to reply to an email"

...or having a conversation with one of the helpdesk monkeys about an email she'd received, which I was going to look into for her. I asked her to forward it to me, to which she replied "But I need it. If I forward it to you you'll have to send it back to me after you've printed it out"

But my favourite of all was: "Debbie has retired and she was left-handed. Can someone please replace her left-handed mouse with a right-handed one, as the new girl is right-handed"

I actually didn't mind getting that one, as I quite enjoyed phoning the user and saying "Pick the mouse up. Now put it down on the right-hand side of the computer. Ok, you're done!", and the ensuing "Is that it?! Why couldn't the woman who answered the phone do that then?"


Yes, I know you can reverse the buttons too, but I'd already ascertained that this hadn't been done.
(Professor Kenny Martin Hmm? What?, Sun 27 Sep 2009, 15:55, 11 replies)

I think
We might work at the same place
(Captain Skippy pooed in a bag and left it on your doorstep, Sun 27 Sep 2009, 17:18, closed)

Except some mouses are handed, the curl to accommodate the thumb is on the other side - farm4.static.flickr.com/3602/3328024088_9009dc3d79.jpg?v=0
(Benzyl, Mon 28 Sep 2009, 0:47, closed)

Not the ones where I work :)

(Professor Kenny Martin Hmm? What?, Mon 28 Sep 2009, 10:22, closed)

...and even when they are, I can assure you that it's not a hindrance to the southpaws.
We have long since learned to simply shape our hands differently around the item and guide it from there.
/lefty and proud
(LongJohnBaldry, Mon 28 Sep 2009, 11:15, closed)

So..
You didn't think to check if the IT guys had switched the mouse button assignments in control panel? Often, left handed users have issues with right & left click being the "wrong way round" and there is a handy accesibility setting for changing that.

Still, you're a trainer and you know what they say.. "Those who can't do, teach."
(EffinDoubt is breaking glass on, Wed 30 Sep 2009, 16:48, closed)

Haha, yeah, cheers O_o
So you missed the bit at the bottom did you? Admittedly it was in small type...

You know, the bit where I said I know that you can swap the buttons over but in this case I'd already ascertained that it hadn't been done?
(Professor Kenny Martin Hmm? What?, Wed 30 Sep 2009, 19:31, closed)

And furthermore...
What the fuck?!

I've posted a story which I found partly amusing, partly exasperating, and from which it's impossible (unless you know me, in which case you'll have heard the story anyway) to identify either me or the people in the post. I did this with the aim of a few people reading it and either chuckling to themselves or being mildly surprised/exasperated/whatever.

Where in any of that is there any call to say something like "Those who can't, teach"? Quite apart from the fact that that statement by definition is bollocks anyway - if someone comes to a training session of mine to find out how to use Excel I pretty much have to know how to use Excel...

I know I'm overreacting but your comment is just fucking rude. You don't know me, you don't know how good (or bad) I am at my job, so what gives you the right to say something like that?



*awaits request to calm down, it was only a joke, it's only the internet, blah blah blah*
(Professor Kenny Martin Hmm? What?, Wed 30 Sep 2009, 19:41, closed)

But....
Ones that stick in my mind include: "User wants to know how to reply to an email"
...isn't this the sort of thing an "IT trainer" SHOULD be dealing with??
(greatoldone Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl f'tagn, Mon 28 Sep 2009, 7:14, closed)

Everyone who starts here has to have an email training session...
...during which we ascertain their level of computer knowledge.

If someone clearly hasn't used a computer before they get additional training, support etc.

So yes, you're right, I should be doing it. The point here though is that the woman on the helpdesk put it through to me because she didn't know the answer.
(Professor Kenny Martin Hmm? What?, Mon 28 Sep 2009, 10:25, closed)

I prefer...
"Desk", since they are no help at all. Do you work for the NHS, by any chance?
(ScousersPet, Wed 30 Sep 2009, 15:41, closed)

Haha, I do indeed :D

(Professor Kenny Martin Hmm? What?, Wed 30 Sep 2009, 19:33, closed)