Do you curse when working? (Warning: Could be baaaad words inside!)

[mrwho]

Does your typical customer get bothered when you curse at work?

Of course I assume the regular tech refrains from using that kind of language, but I bet each and every one of you reading this didn't stop from cursing when getting that jolt of 110v/220v of electricity or when banging the knee caps against an open paper drawer.

I apologized when getting shocked from a connected machine (yeah, I know, unplug it first, asshole!) and saying "FUCK!" out loud, but the customer chuckled and said "Yeah, I understand you!"

Just curious.

[fixthecopier]

I am careful everywhere I go, but when I am in a building with all male soldiers I can let it rip. I have been known to look at a group of young soldiers as ask "What the fuck is wrong with you asswipes. Ase you this goddamn stupid all the time or just today. Why the fuck don't you pull your head out of your ass once in a while and think with it or do you have shit for brains?" I am pretty sure that statement was made after finding out the machine was eating drums because they had cut open a water filter{looked like a toner bottle} , and poured the ground charcoal in the toner bottle.

[jonezy999]

In short, fuckin' oath.

[blackcat4866]

I didn't actually hear the sound I made, but from the description told to me, I imagine it was more like a yowl.

I was at the backside of a Mita DC-2585. The customer had complained of a squealing noise, and I was pretty sure it was the greaseable registration clutch. If you'd worked on machines with greaseable clutches, you'd know that you can feel the vibration through the end of the rotating shaft.

So here I am, pressing my right index finger onto various shafts while the motor is running. Over my shoulder I hear "Excuse me ... ?"
I turn my head to see what it's about, ... and that's where my memory of events momentarily blanks out. Then I notice the loud gear noise, before the machine pulls a motor drive error.

Then I notice the pain shooting through my hand, and I see my index finger wedged neatly between the cast iron registration clutch hub and the adjoining gear. Ok, not so neatly. The blood is shooting all over the place, and most of the flesh is off the first joint of my finger.

Next the hard part. I'm not left handed, and my right hand was .. occupied. How to retrieve my finger ... ? Ah! Pull! Ouch! Maybe pull harder ... OUCH! Damn, that hurt. One more time (Oh, this is going to hurt) ... OOOUUUCCHHHH!!

I came free, landing on my ass on the floor. The blood is really flowing now. I wrap it up with the not-so-clean rag in my hand. Then I notice all the people looking at me.

A wave of faintness washes over me. "Can someone help me with this?" as I hold up the blood saturated towelled hand. Then the exedous. Everybody heads towards an exit. Only one young lady has a strong enough stomach to wrap up my finger. It's really ugly. Right down to the bone. No flesh on the fingertip at all.

I have a vague memory of putting the back cover back on. It took me 6 weeks to grow that finger back, and a lot longer for the fingernail to return. I didn't go the hospital. After all, there wasn't really anything to stitch up. I just cleaned it every day. Did you know the first whole first joint of your finger will grow back?

I went back a few weeks later to fix that squeak. It looked as if I had been sacrificing small animals in the back of the machine. The blood didn't silence the clutch one bit. Curse? I don't think so. Scream? Sure. =^..^=

[Stirton.M]

I try to contain myself around most customers. If I hurt myself, I might let out an involuntary one or two words or if I am getting frustrated with a problem that just will not go away.

[jcontractor]

T try just think and speak in my mind. Doing curse in work only put your Tech Power DOWN. My customers will think that I don't have any idea of what I'm doing if I let everybody know my frustrations and emotions. When the frustrations goes out of my mouth, intermediately you will have your of customer looking inside your work space area, thinking that we don't have any idea of what happen in the machines. But sometimes, uffff, just take a break and think a little. Drink a cup of coffee and try to relax.

[mrwho]

Well, yesterday I just threw my mobile phone against the wall - darn thing's sturdy, that's a fact.

[jcontractor]

Well, yesterday I just threw my mobile phone against the wall - darn thing's sturdy, that's a fact.

WOW men, it's true, Techs pass true very bad days, Why you do that?

1) Customers itself
2) Difficult Machines
3) Wrong Parts
4) Etc.

Some times drive us crazy. You look like a Master thech, with that qty, of post and that Reparation power.
Teach us the jr. techs that the good application of knowledge and patience will give us better results.

have a nice day mrwho.

[mrwho]

Nope, I've been doing this only for about 10 years - there are far more experienced techs here than myself.

The only good explanation is that I spend too much time online, that's why!

[gwaddle]

Yes, I have said bad words to copiers. Hopefully not heard by the customers.

[fixthecopier]

I have not only cussed the soilders, I have had to go back and wipe the message I wrote on the machine off, because the First Sargent was offended. There are some days when you can only take so much STUPID. Every quarter I have to get meters off my 300 contract machines in person. I did 132 today. Not bad for an old man. I found at least 9 machines with the change pc drum message. 4 of them had the message last quarter when I did meters. At least 4 people told me of broke machines that had been down for a while, to which I replied " it is their own Goddamn fault, all they have to do is call a work order in and get fixed same day." When I got back to the shop, none of them had called in. If I have a bad clutch in a paper tray, most of the time I have to take the tray out and carry it with me or they will keep putting paper in it. This will result in someone calling and complaining I showed up and took part of their machine. Some of these special customers will try to tell me how they call work orders in and nobody shows up to which I have called them "misinformed" and state I have been their only tech for 12 years, and they are full of shit! Have I mentioned over 40 instances of them filling their own toner bottles. I am lucky if it is just some other brand of toner and not a liquid. Or the machine saying please add toner and they pull out the drum unit and throw it away and then call and ask for toner. As I said before there is only so much STUPID I can take in one day.

[jcontractor]

I think that mrwho want with this post is examples with all the complete vocabulary, like "you mother fucker piece of shit, machine from the hell".
In especific situations and experiences.

[Mr Spock]

I have not said a bad word in front of a customer. I had a machine I could not fix and the specialist came out and he said a bad word... Maybe because he forgot that the lamp power supply is live even when the switch is off and the plug is still in the wall. He was reminded of this when his screwdriver slipped and hit the lead at the inverter pwb and gave him a nasty jolt. We had to borrow a ladder to get the screwdriver out of the ceiling tile.... He said a very very nasty word lucky no one heard it but me..

[mrwho]

I have not only cussed the soilders, I have had to go back and wipe the message I wrote on the machine off, because the First Sargent was offended. There are some days when you can only take so much STUPID. Every quarter I have to get meters off my 300 contract machines in person. I did 132 today. Not bad for an old man. I found at least 9 machines with the change pc drum message. 4 of them had the message last quarter when I did meters. At least 4 people told me of broke machines that had been down for a while, to which I replied " it is their own Goddamn fault, all they have to do is call a work order in and get fixed same day." When I got back to the shop, none of them had called in. If I have a bad clutch in a paper tray, most of the time I have to take the tray out and carry it with me or they will keep putting paper in it. This will result in someone calling and complaining I showed up and took part of their machine. Some of these special customers will try to tell me how they call work orders in and nobody shows up to which I have called them "misinformed" and state I have been their only tech for 12 years, and they are full of shit! Have I mentioned over 40 instances of them filling their own toner bottles. I am lucky if it is just some other brand of toner and not a liquid. Or the machine saying please add toner and they pull out the drum unit and throw it away and then call and ask for toner. As I said before there is only so much STUPID I can take in one day.

Wow... that makes... my worst customers look like genius in comparison. I'm sorry if I offend someone here who's done service for the military, it's not my intention, but is the army the last refuge for those dumb enough to get another job?

[fixthecopier]

The sad thing is that my customers are Special Forces. They are the cream of the crop. They will tell you that they are trained to kill and not to run office equipment. From the stories I have overheard they are very good at what they are trained to do.


One of my customers unit motto is "We do bad things to bad people, Cause some people just need killing"

My first call this morning will be with one of their combat companies. They called yesterday and said they ran something sticky like labels through the machine and now it jams. I just could not deal with it yesterday.


Did I fail to mention the one where I am downtown and I am having an awful day and one of them calls me and says "we only needed one overhead transparency so someone said we could use one of those plastic page protectors out of a binder, and well it melted in the machine" I actually told him I was going to go home and get my gun and shoot his stupid ass when I got there. Of course it was an idle threat, but when I got there he had picked all of the plastic out already. This guy was an instructor or teacher.