knowledge can be a bad, bad thing

thesuninherhead

My H is in IT, and it seems that everyone and his dog has a problem with their computer that they need help with. H is a manager of a web production team, but given that this means nothing to most lay people, they figure that anything and everything computer related can be fixed by H. 

 

We're about to leave to go to a friend's party, and H gets a call- his mother has a friend from work who can't set up her gmail, can he call this lady and help her? 

 

I'm all for compassion and helping others, but really? 

 

What knowledge/skills do you or your H/FI have that are sometimes a curse?

Nebb

I think if you cant set up your own damn gmail account, you need to step away from the 21st century and just give up.

thesuninherhead

PS: guess who is sitting around listening to their H on the phone holding the hand of a random old lady who is attempting to set up her gmail?

beatlesgirl25

Sun, that is funny, and H goes through the same thing because he is a software engineer. Everyone's always like, "Hey, [random computer question]" regardless of time or place, and then most of the time he'll answer and they'll be like, "no, I don't think that's it." It drives him nuts. Also, the inappropriately-timed asking that you describe sucks. I imagine it's like being a medical doctor or dentist and having people at parties share their symptoms with you or worse, show you.

Usually when a fuckedup story makes headlines nation-wide (like the Virginia Tech shooting), people will ask me why it happened, or what was wrong with the perpetrator because of my psych background. Also, people point out when I say "crazy" in everyday conversation, and ask me if that's the "official psych term." Sometimes it sucks.

AmoroAgain

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_knowledge-can-bad-bad-thing?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:1712f16b-6f45-49b6-aaf2-8acd2ef931c8Post:dace3ed9-585f-426f-b8d3-9e844fbfeb73">Re: knowledge can be a bad, bad thing</a>:
[QUOTE]I think if you cant set up your own damn gmail account, you need to step away from the 21st century and just give up.
Posted by Nebb[/QUOTE]

Awesome.

SarahPLiz

FI is also a computer man. He can build desktops, but mainly uses Java and some other language for his SOftware Engineer job. My family thinks he can fix anything, and he always tries, just to be nice. It can be aggravating though.

I am a CPA so people always assume I know about taxes. I knew just enough to pass my exam and I do my own taxes and those of one friend. After 9 years working in the non-profit world, I know no more about income taxes than the people at H&R Block, and probably a lot less.

september's bride

DH is an electrical engineer, and people will call him and say, "So, I'm doing a renovation and this, this and this keeps happening when I flick the switch. What's going on?"

Not only is it irresponsible for DH to try and fix that over the phone without seeing how things are wired, etc., but it's pretty fricken pointless to even try, because if it was all done properly (as people always assert that it is) then it would work and they wouldn't be calling in the first place.

kimbrout

That really sucks.

I am in medical school now and anytime someone has a weird rash or has heard of some crazy medically related thing they always call us.  The holidays are always the worst. "Is it true that Sudoku prevents Alzheimers?" or "Do sperm with the Y chromosome swim faster than those with the X?"

Sometimes I even get asked about pet questions.... lol.

thesuninherhead

I know, Nebb. She can't get it to work because she was entering her gmail address as the verification email (eg. the alternate email address that you use to verify your gmail account...). It seems they've had to start all over again though, which is taking some time. 

 

Having thought about my own question, haha, it is only rather randomly that I feel the suckage that comes with having the title, 'psychologist'. From time to time, I get stuck with weirdos who want to tell me their whole life story so that I can help them out. Screaming, "I am NOT a clinical psychologist!' does little to help in these situations... but still, at least I don't have my mother calling me asking me to call her random friends and help them through their mundane problems. 

deepcovejackie

I'm a family physician.  Nuff said!   : )

thesuninherhead

Haha, I am so glad that I am not alone. And beatles, what do you do for work? Seems you and I, and your H and my H have rather similar backgrounds.

deepcovejackie

Kimbrout--what is WITH the pet questions?  I get that too!  And dentistry.  Nope, not a vet, I don't know why your snake seems lethargic.  And I can't tell you if you'll need a root canal...  Lol!

SarahSmile23

hubby is also in IT and deals with the same thing. it's really upsetting. anytime we go have dinner at my grandparents' house, hubby is always stuck working on their computers for hours. my grandpa called 2 days ago and left a voice message for my hubby demanding his help with another problem he is having. i'm on the verge of telling my grandparents that hubby will no longer be providing tech support for them. they don't even act grateful. they act like they expect free help.

beatlesgirl25

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_knowledge-can-bad-bad-thing?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:1712f16b-6f45-49b6-aaf2-8acd2ef931c8Post:801090cc-2660-4f33-856d-9d86c99ddff7">Re: knowledge can be a bad, bad thing</a>:
[QUOTE] Having thought about my own question, haha, it is only rather randomly that I feel the suckage that comes with having the title, 'psychologist'. From time to time, I get stuck with weirdos who want to tell me their whole life story so that I can help them out. Screaming, "I am NOT a clinical psychologist!' does little to help in these situations... but still, at least I don't have my mother calling me asking me to call her random friends and help them through their mundane problems. 
Posted by thesuninherhead[/QUOTE]

Aw, I figured you'd get this all the time. Sometimes what's even worse is when you're having a perfectly decent conversation with someone, and they keep asking if you're analyzing them, because that's apparently really funny to think they'd be interesting enough. If one more non-client tells me they would make a great case study for me or "teach me all I need to know about psych," I'm going to kick them.

brookelynpaisley

My H is a plumber. We constantly get calls from friends and family who need help. My sister and her boyfriend are the worst, as they moved into an apartment with perpetual problems. I also have an aunt who just assumes that H must know everything about cars, electrical, plumbing, you name it.

Also, I do (corporate sales/use/property) taxes for a living. The questions will increase as we close in on April 15th. No, I don't want to do your taxes, friends. I don't do personal income, people. Call H&R Block.

kimbrout

DCJ - someone in DH's family on New Years literally asked me if I thought their dog has dementia because they're hyper in the morning.

Brie2010

We're attorneys, and no, we don't want to write your will/lease/divorce you/file some ridiculous lawsuit on your behalf...for free.

katiewhompus

Between being a pet manager at a chain store and a computer tech I'm screwed. Every day people are wanting to know why their dog does this or their fish does that. My old associates still call me with customer questions that they don't know answers to. I even had one random guy in line at Target ask if he could bring his fish to the PetSmart next door and if I could meet him there and tell him why his fish is lethargic...ugh...do a water change and leave me alone!

deepcovejackie

Kimbrout--I might have sugggested that *maybe* they were the demented ones, not the dog.  I've had BOTH the snake question and the root canal one, that comes up alot.  *sigh* 

This is a great thread, I feel for all of you people!

tobeDrReed

I'm a veterinary student and get calls/texts from family members trying to diagnose their dogs.  I always respond with "IDK, call your vet".  One was a schnauzer with an enlarged prostate... I really don't think I can diagnose that over the phone.  They also ask me questions about human medicine which makes me laugh. We do learn info about humans but definitely not to the detail you're asking about!

FI works in electronics so there's always somebody asking him how to fix/wire something.

MyNameIsNot

I'm an attorney.  I get this all the time.  I cannot get people to understand that laws vary from state to state and that my knowledge in some fields is limited or zero.  People ask me stuff about immigration all the time.  Hello, asking me about immigration is about as useful as asking your ob/gyn about your cat.

laurenclaire1386

FI is in IT, network security. As we speak, my dad's laptop is sitting in the living room, fixed, waiting on my dad to pick it up. FI spent all afternoon doing I don't even know what to it, but it inolved password recovery and istalling XP. FI only does this for my family and his (although his family never asks, so I feel like an assswipe.)

deepcovejackie

So it works both ways!  Vets get people questions and physicians get pet questions.  Funny!  I giggled at the mental image of you trying to do a rectal on a schnauzer over the phone!

Shawnee11507

FI is a chef so everyone wants recipes from him or for him to come show them how to make something.

I have a psych background and am a social worker, so people are always telling me a problem they or someone they know has and asking what they should do.

redheadfsu

I'm a lawyer & FI is a system & network administrator. So if it is law or computers we get a call. No matter if we have any idea about this particular area or not.

tobeDrReed

Yeah, that's not something I'm ever going to do without being paid.  I don't care how close the family member is.  Rectal exams do not come for free!

jessjo04

DH is a car mechanic. He'll get calls from friends who he hasnt talked to in years because they have a car problem. It makes me mad, they only want to talk if they get something out of it. Same way with his family, seems like they only call when they need something done to a car. It annoys me, he takes it much better than I do.

mocha beans

Oh, it's awful.  FI is a bit of a jack of all trades.

He's a master plumber by trade, so of course there's the usual requests to install water heaters, water softeners, sinks, showerheads, ect.  Also, he's a car guy, and between himself and another friend, he's done some serious mod work to his car.  He can tear apart and put certain cars back together, which is ironically what a bunch of his friends have.  If he can't, a friend and him can between the two of them.  Lastly, he's a budding computer nerd.  He's built his own desktop computer, and done some work to our laptops.  With his car friend, they've amassed a substantial music and movie/tv show collection on the harddrive.  He's got a pretty good setup for ripping and downloading music and movies.

So, he always getting requests to do this or that.  Most of the time, if he's in a good mood and he likes you, he'll do what he can.  If you've abused you're assistance privileges, he'll say no or you get to pay him.  Like, his brother is always asking to reload Windows on a computer, or fix his car (he bought the same model as FI has ripped apart, and expected FI to provide him with expensive high performance parts and labor; ummm, no).

Having a FI that can figure many things out, or at least knows someone who can, is awesome.  Being asked to do this that or the other, not so much.

squirrly

I get the computer questions, too.  And, questions about working out/eating healthy/college scholarships/etc. because of coaching. 

If you want to know how to build tanks or guns, you could ask FI, but so far nobody has done that.