When in doubt, see if it’s unplugged…

That seems to be the first rule of any kind of IT work, but folks who rely on IT workers just can’t seem to grasp that concept for some reason.

Hey, let’s not beat around the bush: working in IT is no walk in the park, but it’s the stories like the one you’re about to read that break up the monotony and give those employees some much-needed laughs between dealing with serious issues.

And, if I may add one more thing, give your IT workers a break, folks!

They deal with a lot of big headaches and they’re not miracle workers. So be patient and appreciate that they’re doing the best job they possibly can.

Check out what this IT worker had to say about someone who isn’t exactly a computer whiz.

The printer was broken. The printer was unplugged.

“A ticket came in from one of the ladies in the accounting department. Subject line: “Printer not working, URGENT, need to print contracts today.”

I’ve worked here long enough to know that “urgent” usually means “I haven’t tried anything yet,” so I grabbed my coffee and walked over.

She was standing next to the printer with her arms crossed, genuinely upset. Told me it had been broken since morning, that she’d already restarted her computer twice and even “reinstalled the printer” which I later found out meant she deleted it from her devices list and then panicked when it disappeared completely.

So now we had two problems.

Some people aren’t too aware of their surroundings!

I asked her to show me exactly what happened when she tried to print.

She sent a test page, we both watched the printer do absolutely nothing. No sound, no lights, no movement whatsoever.

I looked at the printer. Then I looked at the wall. Then I looked back at the printer. The power cable was hanging freely about four inches from the outlet. Not half in, not loose. Just fully unplugged, dangling there in plain sight.

I plugged it in. The printer beeped, warmed up, and printed her test page and the backlog of about 11 documents that had been sitting in the queue all morning.

It never ends, does it…?

She stared at it for a second and then said “well I didn’t think to check that because it’s always been plugged in.”

I told her that was completely fair, closed the ticket as resolved, and walked back to my desk.

I have no idea how it came unplugged. I didn’t ask. Some mysteries are better left alone.”

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about an employee who figured out how to stop his manager from constantly stealing his phone charger.

Here’s what readers had to say about this on Reddit.

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And this Reddit user didn’t hold back.

Hats off to all the IT workers out there who keep companies up and running…

Despite have to deal with a lot of numbskulls who can’t get out of their own way.

Folks, if you’re having a technical problem at work, the first thing to do ALWAYS is to check your power outlets.

Trust me, this will save you a lot of time and embarrassment in the long run.

All she had to was take a look around and she would’ve figured it out for herself!