techrecovery | feel my pain.... (Reply)

i rarely, if ever, x-post, but i just had the bestest call i think i'm going to get all year, so i figured this time i just had to....

quickly, my 'dayjob' [actually 12 hour overnights shifts] is as a systems analyst/network admin and it includes taking technical calls from peers who, yes often are end users, but aren't 'the public' or retail or anything like that, however these are the least technical or skilled of all the issues/calls i deal with and even then they aren't usually too bad really...so often it's actually techs and such instead that i end up speaking to anyhow...meaning that in theory i shouldn't have those 'call centre' war stories any longer, right?

Me: helpdesk?
Caller: hey this is X, a tech for _____, and i'm having issues with ____ server...
M: -checks some stuff- Ok have you re-started any services or rebooted it yet?
C: no...no i can't re-boot it; it's one of those new computers, you know? the ones that don't turn off.
M: -pause- i....uh....pardon me?
C: yeah, you know those new computers that you can't turn off? it's one of those.
M: -pause-....-pause-.....uh -pause-....there, uh....there aren't such things; all computers can be turned off; is there an off button or-
C: -interrupts- Listen I'm an ENGINEER for _______ company you know! I....-trails off-
M: there isn't a button? probably lit up or glowing on the front, like green maybe?
C: well yeah there's a light but i think it's like an activity light or something; it definitely doesn't turn anything off.
M: well sometimes you have to hold down the power button if a service or app. has stalled on the server, so if you just hold it down and-
C: -interrupts- LISTEN I already told you, it DOES NOT turn anything off and I KNOW a little about what I'm talking about; THIS IS ONE OF THOSE NEW COMPUTERS THAT DOESN'T TURN OFF; IT ISN'T A BUTTON!
M: -finally giving up on trying to get him to press and hold down 'the light' and not even considering getting him to a dos prompt to type 'boot'- OK well can you just UNPLUG the server then?
C: Oh ok sure yeah, hold on...
M: Ok once it's off can you just plug it back in then?
C: Yeah yeah, doing that now...uh, ok...ok now what? Now it isn't coming back on?!!
M: Yeah. yeah it's, it's ok, we just need to turn it back on by pressing that spot where 'the light' was, that BUTTON...you know, the one you didn't want to press? It won't be green now though...you there?
C: -silence-....uh.....well....-sighs- ok so I just like push where the light is?
M: uh yeah, you just push in until you feel and hear it click kinda and-
C: -CLICK-...-whrrrrr-....-PC loading noises start- Well would you look at THAT?!!
M: so I assume it's coming back up now then?
C: Yeah, oh yeah, wow. Yeah...
M: ok so why don't you let it load up, run your tests and call me back then if you still need me to do anything else, ok?
C: uh yeah, yeah...
M: -hangs up-...wow...I, uh...wow.

for reals....i am so friggin' serious...that was for reals....