Smashing Keyboards

I smashed a really good keyboard on Friday thanks to a customer.

Last week, I visited a home where their wireless network was down. I did good job. Before leaving, I explained that wireless networks were unreliable and it might be that we have to look at alternatives.

The following morning she rings and gives me an earful. I was "out of my depth", "incompetent" and didn't follow her instructions.

I smashed the keyboard after she hung up.

The sad thing is I walked out of that job thinking I did well.

This episode made me think about why this industry is so difficult. Out of a hundred customers, you'll get twenty call backs about other problems. Of that twenty, five will be angry and rude like the lady on Friday.

You'd be lucky to get one in a hundred thank you for a good job.

I'd suggest the biggest cause of burn out in the IT industry is this constant battering on a tech's self esteem. Getting shot down like on Friday really hurts.