Why is it that no one takes IT support seriously?

Granted, working in the field, technical support is the equivalency of fry-o-lator operator at McDonald’s in our world.

But even the fry-o-lator operators get paid their wages.

You can call me selfish, you can call me greedy, you can call me a lover of money – but the I stand behind every word of the following rant.

I get selflessly volunteered a lot by people to fix their computers.  Many people I know.  Some people I don’t.

When I was in college, I used to do IT-related stuff for this rich Jewish guy.  I no longer remember his name, but I do remember he owned all kinds of beachfront properties and he was Jewish.  Hence, he was affectionately titled “Rich Jewish Guy”.  The best part of RJG was that I felt like part of his little Jewish mafia when I worked for him.  I’d get this call – sometimes from him, sometimes from one of his “people” – to meet him at his house (read: mansion) or his office.  I’d show up, I’d get my instructions, I’d do my job, and then he’d pay me – always in a sealed envelope, despite it being check or cash.  I was never disappointed when I opened the envelope.  It always averaged to about $40-$50/hour, which is ridiculous for a college student.

I’d also get volunteered for people I know.  Those were done out of favor – there were never any sealed envelopes on my way out the door.  A requisite comment of gratitude and I was out, anxious to get home to try to salvage the 3 hours of my evening I just donated.  Sometimes meals were given for “payment”, but I really didn’t consider them as payment as I was usually sharing that meal with 5 other people; people who didn’t spend hours trying to rescue their computers from the deep unknown.

I was actually pretty okay with this through college, and even some into the training.  Today, I’m working in the industry.  I’m no longer trying to rescue people’s computers from the evil clutches of malware and spyware and the like, but the people who do that don’t sit too far away.  This is my job, my making of a living, my livelihood.

We all have our jobs.  We have our skills.  We’ve been blessed with something that we’re good at, or learning to be better at.  In my eyes, my job is no different than a doctor, a chef, or a janitor.  Even if what we do for a job isn’t always our first choice, we’re only still doing what we’re doing because we’re good enough at it not to get fired.

So after all this, here’s the conundrum: Why is it that people don’t expect doctors to come and treat them for free just because they’re good at it?  Why is it that it’s awkward if I asked a chef to come cook for me as a favor because they know how?  Why would it be offensive if you called your janitor friend over to clean your mess because he has the skill and ability to do it well?

Think about that for a second.

Now think about this:

Why would it be okay for you to call me over to fix your computer?