Report I mentioned a few times...

[canray.livejournal.com]

Well, it's not the one I keep referencing about IT being more stressful than Bomb Disposal (IIRC, now that I think about it more, it was in a Reader's Digest over a year ago.).

But here's one that goes into just how bad it is.

We don't have anything on Front-Line Soldiers, or even a good number of Cops, but when it comes to Civilian Jobs, we're the stinky end of the pointy stick. :-S

Comments

[canray.livejournal.com]

Metal and Blood Covered Stinky Sharp End. ;-P

[hopefulnebula]

You got a link?

[canray.livejournal.com]

Sorry, I was still thinking Pirates from watching "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" last night.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/05/16/most_stressful_profession/

[kalium.livejournal.com]

Stinky end? Try bloody end. See, the stick has a pointy end. I think it's lodged just below our collective liver, at the moment.

[canray.livejournal.com]

At least they haven't left us in a bathtub full of ice after taking a kidney.

http://www.youtube.com/v/JPONTneuaF4

[thegreatdoogie.livejournal.com]

I'd venture to say that our job is even more stressful than cops and soldiers at times. People going off and insulting or threatening cops the way they do us, they get pepper sprayed/tazered/shot. Not only are we required to take it, we're also required to stay in a cherry mood the entire time.

[jon787.livejournal.com]

I think a lot of customer service jobs are like that, the only thing we have is that we are tech savy enough to post ours online so that we can all bitch about it together.

I'm sure anyone who has bagged groceries understands that this is not that far off the mark:

Agnes [to her lane's bag boy]: And you, start over! I want everything in one bag.
Bag Boy 2: Yes, ma'am.
Agnes: But I don't want the bag to be heavy.
Bag Boy 2: I don't think that's possible.
Agnes: What are you, the Possible Police? Just do it.

[phrogg.livejournal.com]

What about the techs that are also soldiers?

Just plain screwed, eh?

[canray.livejournal.com]

Pretty much, ya.

I'd hate to be the tech support soldier for a General. :-S

Stupidity backed by Tanks.

[lihan161051.livejournal.com]

"Goddammit, Corporal, I ordered this virus secured! What's the holdup?"

[canray.livejournal.com]

"SIR! I WAS ATTEMPTING A FLANKING MANEUVER WITH NORTON'S ANTI-VIRUS DIVISION, WHEN OUR ALLIES IN THE 1ST MICROSOFT CORP TURNED ON US AND DENIED CRITICAL SUPPLIES!"

[phrogg.livejournal.com]

Nah, you just tell him you're trying to rephase the nepple-pulsar relays or put a pet-cock on the gridleak.
And then we've got to bounce a graviton particle beam off the main deflector dish....

Unless he happens to be an IT officer. THAT'S when you get into problems.

[canray.livejournal.com]

Pull out the sonic screwdriver and reverse the polarity (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Doctor#.22Reverse_the_polarity.22), eh?

[phrogg.livejournal.com]

Oh, it can go either way. Say, for example, and this is purely "hypothetical", you're upgrading a General's computer to XP (he was still running 2000), run into trouble, and take his tower to test - only to find that the HDD was on its last legs and you're unable to retrieve the data, due to that tell-tale tic-tic-tic....noise. That's pretty much when you find yourself at the bottom of a very deep hole.

On the bright side, they're always exuberant when you replace their crappy old inkjet printer with a brand-new color laserjet, and you get patted on the back and handed a coin - the military's equivalent of the boss buying you lunch, or whatever.

[chemical-laser.livejournal.com]

I sat through a briefing by a 2-* AF general once who spent 30 min bitching because the IT folks wouldn't let him have one password for all of his various systems and because he couldn't have a wireless network. He ended the rant by saying that he was "declaring war on the IT department".

[rev-thumper.livejournal.com]

I have known a few people who have done that and yes, it is as bad as you can imagine. Amazing stories.

[canray.livejournal.com]

Get 'em to post here!

At the very least, they'll have a platform of appreciative people willing to offer them virtual booze.

And real booze if we ever meet up!

I know that any Tech Support Troopers that I meet will get beer for war stories if I can afford it!

[rev-thumper.livejournal.com]

I'll have to try and talk them into trying LJ. One is a co-worker but he got called up so that will have to wait until he gets back to civilian life.

[canray.livejournal.com]

Hope he gets back to the world safe and sound.

[phrogg.livejournal.com]

You just met another one, bucko. And yeah. There are some true rocks in the military.

[canray.livejournal.com]

And here I thought the idea of "Dumb Grunt" was supposed to have left with the Bolt-Action Rifle. ;-)

[phrogg.livejournal.com]

Yeah, you go on believing that.

The best part is, they're letting them infect our industry. Just so long as they can make it through the military's dumbed-down IT course, they're handed the gold keys and think they know how to "fix" things.

[canray.livejournal.com]

And paperless offices. ;-P

[phrogg.livejournal.com]

LMAO@"Paperless"

That was the dumbest idea i've ever heard of. It usually (at LEAST) DOUBLES the amount of paperwork. Because person A types up a report in Word or Excel, prints it off for his records (because computers crash). He sends it to person B, who also prints off a copy for HIS records. Then they discuss discrepancies, make changes, and print off MORE copies.

[canray.livejournal.com]

Got rid of carbon paper at least.

And I work Data Entry now, I know just how "Paperless" we are.

[canray.livejournal.com]

I did Sales, Billing, and Tech Support for a New York Cable TV Company.

Lasted a little over six months before a supervisor found me huddled in a ball sobbing in the locker room.

Took over a year to recover.

[canray.livejournal.com]

Ya, too bad I didn't have either one of those. :-(

Glad I'm gone from there at least.

[canray.livejournal.com]

In some places in the world, ya.

But in North America, they can't do that quite so indiscriminently.

But they get to do it a hell of a lot more often than Tech Support agents do, ya.

[thegreatdoogie.livejournal.com]

Hmmm....recently, here in Tempe, an officer was flying down a road with his emergency lights and siren off. He manages to hit someone on the side of the road. He was cleared of any wrong doing.

And then there was the cop who thought he gave a drive-thru kid a twenty, she gives him change for a ten. He comes in, and demands the rest of his change. She insists he gave her a ten, security video footage shows her putting the bill in the ten slot. Manager checks her drawer - she doesn't even have any twenties. Cop continues to demand change for a twenty, she protests. He requests her presence outside, she refuses. She gets pepper sprayed, drug outside and arrested. Officer is cleared of any wrongdoing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaHyuWgir8U&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fdumpvideo%2Enet%2F2007%2F03%2F14%2Fpolice%2Dsprays%2Dfast%2Dfood%2Dworker%2Dwith%2Dpepper%2Dspray%2F

While I certainly don't agree with her attitude, refusal to walk outside is not an arrestable offense last I checked.

[canray.livejournal.com]

"But in North America, they can't do that quite so indiscriminently."

QUITE so indiscriminently.

The "Blue Line" is still thick, however.

[thegreatdoogie.livejournal.com]

hahaha, ok, you got me...I didn't fully comprehend :-P

[canray.livejournal.com]

No prob. So many sheeple out there that think that Cops are on the side of good and proper.

Instead of seeing them as the Humans they are, just as small and petty as the rest of us, but with more power to take advantage of it.

[the-s-guy.livejournal.com]

One of the reasons I always went for internal helpdesk jobs rather than supporting members of the public. There's a lot more call control options when you can conference someone's boss, remote into their machine and lock them out, or scan through their keystroke/web history.

Also helps if you utterly lack any kind of fear of unemployment, although that may be just my own personality fault. Comes of years of unsuccessfully trying to get fired.

[canray.livejournal.com]

Ya, I grew up in Northern Ontario under the 'Tories.

Trying to get fired will get you fired, and replaced before you're even out of the building.

[pisceandreamer.livejournal.com]

Indeed, four-fifths of IT consultants "feel stressed before they even enter the workplace", while a quarter of the poor buggers "are under such enormous pressure to perform at work they have taken time off suffering with stress".

The taking time off due to stress assumes you *can* take the time off...

3 years on help desk, 3 months needed to recover from the burnout. They asked me to come back on contract a few weeks ago - realized my blood pressure was going up just contemplating it and passed...