Working in tech support requires unparalleled digital knowledge, while also having the patience of a teacher.

What would you do if no amount of help you offered could help a customer fix a printer? One guy recently vented his frustrations about this on Reddit. Here are the details.

0 is a number.

So, I had to walk a client through setting up a printer over the phone.

Which required her to set an IP address to the printer.

Also, she is not tech literate at all.

This scenario sounds doomed to fail.

Me: “Ok, do you have a USB cable? Sometimes they come with the printer”.

Her: “No, I’m looking in the box now. Theres no USB cable. Only the printer and power”.

So it needs to me networked, great.

At least there’s a potential solution on the table.

I walk her through getting the printer on her network.

Me: “Ok, do you see a place to enter 4 numbers?”

Breaking it down to simplest terms.

Her: “Yep, its right here”.

Me: “Ok the number is 192.168.0.3.”

Her: “Ok, I put in 19216803. Whats the 2nd number?”.

She is not having a good time.

Me: “No, let’s start over. The first number is 192, second is 168, third is 0, and fourth is 3”.

Her: “Ok, so 192.168.03?”.

Me: “No, the third number is just 0, the fourth is 3.”

This is basically a comedy sketch.

Her: “So, 0.0.0.3?”

Me: “No, 192.168.0.3.”

Her: “But what about the 0?”

Oh my goodness.

Me: “What about it?”

Her: “Shouldn’t it be a number?”

Me: “0 is a number”.

This shouldn’t be rocket science.

Her: “Look this is too complex for me, cant we just use the cable it came with?”.

Me in my head: “WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME YOU HAD A CABLE!?!??! YOU SAID YOU JUST HAD THE PRINTER AND POWER CABLE!”

Me: “…..yes”.

They got where they needed to eventually. Let’s see what Reddit had to say about this one.

Many had heard this same type of stories many times.

Others were immediately sarcastic.

One person was baffled.

Some tried to decipher her thinking.

And another immediately jumped to the puns.

0 is the same as the level of patience he has left.

If you liked that post, check out this story about a customer who insists that their credit card works, and finds out that isn’t the case.