Yes, I'm bitter. It annoys me that people thing that IT consists of helping you with your num lock button, blocking them from porn, and doing lots of things with cables.
"I'm a dentist," he said, quite proud of himself, "and what do you do?"
"I do computer stuff mostly," I mumbled.
The guy -- I swear -- spent the next 5 hours of the flight telling me about how he wanted to computerize his dental office but his partner didn't understand things, how he was having problems with some software they had purchased, how he was looking to buy a new computer and didn't know what to get. For each subject, he questioned me at length for what I thought he should do.
Finally, at the end of the flight just before we got off, I opened my mouth as wide as I could and pointed to the back of my throat
"Doc," I said, "I got this sore tooth that only acts up when I eat ice cream, but sometimes the gum swells so I've been using a special toothpaste. Care to take a look?"
That was the end of that.
My dad is a reader - if there is a problem he will read everything on the screen over the telephone - even if it takes an hour. It is absolute torture to help him (or my mother). But then again, an hour of IT- waterboarding is a small price to pay for someone who changed your diapers.
I'm thinking about changing my number.
Programmer != Technitian :(
If you do it while other computer scientists are in hearing range the look on their face will be worth it.
--
A lawyer and a doctor meet up at a party. They're chatting, and the doctor tells the lawyer "You know what really bugs me? When I tell people I'm a doctor, they always end up telling me about their health and basically asking me to diagnose them right there and then. They don't seem to care that I'm, say, at a party, and that I don't want to spent my party time working."
"I know exactly what you mean. Used to happen to me all the time with legal advice."
"Oh really? Can I ask you... what did you do to stop people asking you legal questions at parties?"
The lawyer eyes him up. "Sure. Here's the trick. I answer the question, graciously, efficiently. Then, the next day, I send them an invoice."
"Oh, that's really great!"
They enjoy the party and then go home. The next day, the doctor receives an invoice in the mail.
--
Perhaps we should start invoicing our friends for tech support work?
He called a guy for some legal advice (a taxi had driven through his storefront, trashing the place). He got the lawyers' bill the next week or so.
Decided law school might be a good idea, soon after.