This guy in a Denver apartment building said our work was 'just plugging things in'

I was running a new line to unit 304 and the resident, Mark, watched me for a bit and said, 'Looks easy, you just plug things in, right?' I mean, he didn't see the two hours I spent fishing that line through a fire block in the wall he was leaning on. It's not just cables, it's knowing codes and how buildings are put together. Anyone else get that from people who don't get what we actually do?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_claire1d ago

That "just plugging things in" comment hits home. I had a client watch me trace a network issue for an hour, then ask if I was almost done because it looked like I was just changing cables. They didn't see the mapping of their whole setup I did first. Sometimes I'll point to a wall and say, "The hard part was getting the cable through there without breaking anything," and that makes them pause. It helps a little.

tara6421d ago

Last month I spent three days untangling a server rack that looked like a bird's nest. The client saw me plug in the final ethernet cable and said, "Great, that was quick." I just nodded. They have no idea I had to label two hundred wires and follow a diagram from 1998 to even find the right one. The plugging part is the victory lap after the real work.

ray3561d ago

Honestly though, from his point of view he just saw you plug in a cable. Most jobs look simple when you only see the last step. People watch a chef plate food and think it's easy, ignoring all the prep. The skill is often invisible until something goes wrong.