help menus

Tonight I realized I'm not as tech savvy as I used to think. In fact, the longer I work in tech support, the more I realize how little I actually do know. Case and point:

1. Last week my neighbor, Amanda, was trying to show me some photos on her laptop. She was all freaked out because of virus warnings. She looked at me with her big brown eyes and said, "What should I do??!!!" I told her to run her antivirus scan. Advised her to keep her antivirus software current. Don't mess with viruses. Get whatever the latest greatest software is available to protect your computer. I know nothing about viruses, other than they are more often than not, very BAD news. I contracted the Facebook virus back when it was going around. That's when I realized I know nothing about viruses. Fortunately I work with some very talented people who do, but sadly my laptop still needed reimaged.

2. Due to MySpace I had some basic understanding of HTML. That is not to say I know anything about building web pages, because I don't. I learned that during my final project for my Advanced Tech Writing class. We had to put together a website and load sample pages onto it. I ended up paying for a host with a template so I wouldn't have to sit and figure it all out. One of my goals this summer is to learn the basics, so I can get my own site (gilliankilbride.com) up and running.

3. I deal with idiots on the phone all the time. People with CPA licenses asking me questions about why their corporate cards are not balancing. It blows my mind. What I have come to understand from these people is that an application is NOT "user friendly" if they have to read directions to understand how to use it. I'm actually ok with that. It gives tech support job security. So imagine my consternation when I had this thought cross my mind: "I can't understand why my iTunes won't play the whole dang playlist instead of just one song!! I've searched and searched for options but there aren't any! So much for Apple being user friendly!" DO'H!!!!

No, I never read the directions. Guess I should go now and read the help menu. Then I wouldn't be sitting here in silence trying to figure out what I want to blog about next.