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Sharky

Shark Tank

There's always gotta be a Rule No. 1

This pilot fish has provided tech support for a small manufacturing plant for years. "As off-site tech support, I ran into lots of issues with users trying to fix things themselves first," fish says.

Case in point: Fish makes a trip in to deal with a problem the plant manager is having. When fish asks what happened, plant manager explains he had a minor glitch and asked a co-worker, Wally, to help him fix it.

After two hours of undoing what Wally has done, fish fixes the problem. Plant manager asks what he should do if new issues come up. Fish's reply: "Don't let Wally touch it!"

Flash forward a year. Plant manager calls fish. His question: "What's the very first thing you told me to do if I have an issue?" Fish replies, "Don't let Wally touch it!" — and hears an eruption of laughter on the phone.

"Turns out the plant manager didn't have an issue," says fish. "He had a staff meeting with seven or eight people, including Wally. Everyone had a good laugh.

"When they call now, everyone knows the first question I ask: 'Did Wally touch it?'

"When I see Wally, he says he still owes me."

Let Sharky see your true tale of IT life. Send it to me at sharky@computerworld.com. I'll send you a very touchable Shark shirt if I use it. Add your comments below, and read some great old tales in the Sharkives.

Now you can post your own stories of IT ridiculousness at Shark Bait. Join today and vent your IT frustrations to people who've been there, done that.

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