Suckerfish on the Side of Your Whale

Sometimes a user will explain something with great detail. I commend their attempts as it can often result in a tidbit of information useful for solving their problem. It's incredibly frustating to get an unusually vague user who describes the following problem:

"The box that used to pop up when I clicked on the thing on my computer has disappeared and then nothing happens."

I'm afraid I don't understand. Do you mean you can't connect to the internet?

As an answer to my question, they repeat the same thing over, this time followed by "You know!". Those 2 words are somehow supposed to instantly clarify the sentence for me. Thank goodness you added "You know!" because for a second there I was lost!

When trying to be detailed, many users will throw in a bit of irrelevant information. I don't fault them for this. It's not always easy to determine what information is relevant when you're unfamiliar with your computer. I simply find it interesting to see what information some people will divulge.

Some like to add that their password is the name of their pet or relative. Others will tell you to whom and why they are sending an e-mail. One woman went as far as saying that she had recently moved and that she was trying to send an email to her pastor. He had helped her move in and then sent her an email a week ago to see how things were going. She wanted to reply and thank him for helping out.

However, there's one call that always stands out in my mind. A woman called in because she was upset that a proxy page had come up to alert her that her account would soon expire. As she hadn't really read the page, I explained what it was about. She quickly calmed down saying "I'm probably just complaining because I'm on my period."