Kevin the car crash victim.
Many moons ago the company I worked for decided to go all PC and employ a disabled person. As it was in an old silk mill with limited access it was unsuitable for wheelchairs or people with limited mobility. This was no problem for Kevin as his disability was that he was an ex Programmer who had had a severe car accident that had stoved the back of his head in. After years of therapy his carers felt he was ready to get back to work.

Outwardly he seemed like a normal and nice enough chap but his particular problem was a next to zero short term memory, however once he'd got a concept in his mind long enough for it to migrate to his medium to long term memory it was fine.

So what job did the bright sparks in Management give him? Helpdesk 1st line support.

Typical conversations went like this:

*phone rings*
"Hello."
"Hi, It's Kevin, I've got a customer on the phone for you."
"Who Is it?"
"I forgot."
"Aren't you supposed to write down their name before you forget it?"
"I forgot that"
"Can you find out who It is first?"
"Ok."
*phone rings*
"Hello."
"Hi, It's Kevin, I've got a customer on the phone for you."
"Who Is it?"
"I forgot."
"Look. Just put them through."
*click*
"Hi, Is that Sarah?"
"No, This is Airman Gabber, Did you want Sarah?"
"I asked for Sarah."
"I'll put you through to Sarah."

This went on for weeks until the not-as-yet Mrs Airman gabber siezed an opportunity to be his handler, which basically meant he was her bitch for the rest of his employment there.

The best bit was he left us for a better job as he decided we were all a bunch of amateurs.

He was probably right.
( Airman Gabber Living life like a 70's BBC presenter, Thu 6 Sep 2012, 16:36, 1 reply)

Worked with a guy a bit like that
Had been one of the bright sparks on the fast track management programme, but had managed to smear about half of his brain on the tarmac in a particularly nasty road accident.

He was actually a pretty decent bloke, albeit that he had short term memory trouble too, and got crippling headaches (perhaps understandably) that would limit the amount of work he could take on. His trouble was that he still behaved like someone on a fast track programme - he'd take on far more work than he could possibly do, fuck most of it up, then need bailing out.

He was a good bloke, though, and all of us that worked alongside him forgave him because he was fun to be around (in a good way - you'd laugh along with him, not at him).

Apparently (I was told by several people who'd known him a long time, unlike me) this represented a big change to his personality, since he'd been a complete mercenary cunt who'd fuck you over as soon as look at you before he had his accident.

He was, when on form, a very intelligent and witty guy; I shudder to think how much of a force of nature he would have been if he'd been driving a hard-topped car when he turned it over, instead of a convertible.
( shinyshinyscalp less a man, more a way of life, Fri 7 Sep 2012, 12:34, closed)