I think one of your spoilered ones hints at the four least favourite words anyone with a profession revolving around building, fixing or setting up things dreads
"while you are here"
That's a common, yes. Not sure how it is elsewhere, but at my job, it really doesn't matter if I'm busy connecting PC's or making specific notes that, when done incorrectly, would make the universe explode. My colleague told me one story where he was on the cell phone, also working on some other problem at the same time AND being somewhat in discussion with someone...and then yet someone else pretty much shoved his cell phone in his face.
Still, my dreads are more the following:
-the "it's not working"-routine, which is pretty much a guessing game because they can barely (if at all) tell what it SHOULD be doing.
-"this will only take a second". My standard replies are usually in the lines of "how long will these seconds take?", "...and if not...?" or (when I'm really pressed for time) "I don't HAVE a second".
-"when you've got the time, could you come take a look at my PC?". Standard reply: "I'm booked up 'til 2014. Is that okay?". The ones who don't visit us often somehow think I'm joking.
-"I need access to ". I dread this not only because they're so vague about things it gets retarded ("the mailbox we use in our department. I don't know what it's called. But I need access to it now!"), but that they assume we're allowed to just give everyone full permission to everything ever because they want to.
-"can you do this for me? I don't know very well". This is a pretty tough one, as there is a fine line between troubleshooting and doing someone's work for them.
...which reminds me: there was this one time where I had three or four major crisii to handle at the same time (my colleague was absent). I was wheeling around with a non-working PC while someone stopped me asking to create a mailing list for him. Barely stopping, I told him to ask HR or the communications department. He replied that this was for the communications department, and that HR had sent him to us. This was kind of odd, but I had to do my own work.
A few days later, as I told this to my colleague, he confessed: someone too dumb to create a mailing list had asked him for guidance. Since it's easier to just create it than it is to create it and point out EVERY FREAKIN' BUTTON, he just did that (okay, that it was a cute lady probably had to do with that as well).
Result: this little act of kindness spread like wildfire, effectively making him the "IT specialist" who creates all the mailing lists for...well, everyone.
Oh, and I think this thread is incomplete with this link:
http://www.rinkworks.com/stupid/
(it has AWESOME stories...and it's pretty safe for work
).
@BortzANATOR: ouch...I can't top that no-saving guy. But I had the following at least twice:
user receives a mail with a word attachment (some sort of to 'fill in' form). He/she doubleclicks on it to open it (which opens it somewhere in some obscure temporary folder). They fill it out completely. They save it. They quit...and then call us to ask where it went. Or worse: they call us later, pointing to that mail in their inbox being grudgy "because it didn't save it in the attachment".
