supported

i'll be the first to admit that i'm not very fond of calling IT/IS support.  often i feel that rather than going through the hassle of being on hold, waiting for a ticket to be generated, getting stuck with a bored/annoyed/way-too-busy analyst, then basically sticking by the phone expecting a call back is not my idea of fun.  actually, waiting in general is not particularly fun.

 

but once in awhile i realize that i have to suck it up, because let's face it, i don't know everything.  and sometimes i really need a specialist to help me troubleshoot and fix my issue, especially when it's related to allowing me to work.

 

which brings me to tonight.  i had had issues remoting into my work computer this morning, figuring that once i went into work and rebooted, that it would solve my problem.  not so.  after restarting several times, i decided to call it in, considering i'm on-call for the holiday and need to be able to access my applications.

 

as it's thanksgiving eve, i figured that IS would be swamped.  i even went as far as assuming the person i'd get on the other end of the line might be rushed, or bothered, or maybe not exactly in the mood to speak to anyone.

 

i was wrong, so wrong, on all accounts.

 

the person that picked up assured me that he'd get me in, even though i was clearly skeptical.  he was patient while waiting for my laptop to reboot, filling in the silence with talk of college and sports.  he asked whether i'd noticed recent updates, explained that windows had recently pushed IE11 which had been causing problems for people remoting in.  he walked me through the steps to change my settings, giving vivid descriptions ("do you see the little blue alien with 2 dots over his head?"), all the while answering my questions about what these details meant in terms that i would understand.  afterwards, he made sure i was in before asking if there was anything else i needed, and ended the call by wishing me a happy turkey day.

 

overall, the call was maybe 15 minutes but it left me smiling and satisfied.

 

in customer service terms, this is expected.  in IS support terms, at least in my experience, this was exceptional.  he didn't pawn off my problem as insignificant.  he didn't make me feel silly or stupid asking questions.  and because of what he showed me, i was able to troubleshoot on my own when i received errors signing in to blog just now.  he'd passed that knowledge on to me, and had done it cheerfully.  it was clear to me that this person likes what he does.

 

over the weekend, my dentist taught me a saying in chinese about the importance of truly enjoying your work, because liking what you do is more important than any amount of money that you could make.  the saying went something like this:

 

"bu pa zwen da sau; dwo pa zo da zau."

 

it's roughly translated to mean, "don't be afraid of earning less; be more afraid of leaving early" (or in other words, dying early).

 

i couldn't argue with that logic.  i took my first job after college knowing i'd be grossly underpaid but deciding that the knowledge was what i'd gain.  and that would serve me in the end.  looking back, it had.  it's invigorating to think about.  and i hope that it shows, too.