Working in customer service means learning a lot about the people you serve.

One support rep took two calls from customers decades apart, both facing the same basic tech issue.

However, their reactions couldn’t have been more different.

Keep reading for the full story!

65 year olds versus 85 year olds

Two calls.

65-year-old:

“I can’t hook up this equipment. I’m in my sixties. YOUR technician was supposed to do all this for me.”

Me: It’s a self-install. All you do is—

Cut off.

Them: “I’m not doing all that. YOU were supposed to send ME a technician.”

A much older customer reacted surprisingly better to the challenge.

Compared to an 85-year-old:

Me: Provides instructions for something mildly technical.

Them: “I didn’t even grow up with this stuff. It shocks me that I can do all this now. That’s plugged in. What do I do now?”

Completely different mindset from the two generations.

And I see it every day.

When customers aren’t utterly exhausting, they can be quite fascinating.

What did Reddit have to say?

This commenter shares similar observations.

What’s going on in Maine?!

It’s sad when elderly people don’t have any loved ones to help them through their tech issues.

It turns out the real obstacle wasn’t the equipment, but the attitude.

Curiosity beats entitlement any day.

If you liked that story, read this one about grandparents who set up a college fund for their grandkid because his parents won’t, but then his parents want to use the money to cover sibling’s medical expenses.