The biker way
- TAGS:Cobol, Colt, Harley Davidson, psychology
- IT TOPICS:Development
This pilot fish is fresh out of college with a psychology degree, but he gets a job in IT anyway.
"I was lead Cobol programmer and hardware specialist for a finance company that specialized in automobile financing, network installations, and all of the programming you could splice together at three in the morning to make those two entities merge," says fish.
His first assignment away from the office: on-site service at a Harley-Davidson dealership out in the sticks. Problem: The computer-controlled cash register drawer isn't opening when a sale is rung up. That means sales staff can't give change to customers — and nobody's happy.
When fish arrives at the site, he's met by a very large guy who's clearly displaying a tough biker attitude.
But the fellow is pleasant enough to fish, right up to the point where they're facing the troublesome computer and cash drawer.
"He reached under the counter, pulled out what I believe was a Colt .45 pistol, pointed it at the computer and told me I had two minutes to get the register open or he was going to shoot the computer," says fish.
"I believed him. I have never successfully debugged a program so fast in my life.
"I lived, the computer lived — and I still had to pay $15 for a shirt before I left."
A Shark shirt won't cost you a cent. Just send me your true tale of IT life at sharky@computerworld.com. You'll get the shirt for free if I use it.
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