Wednesday, May 13, 2009

It's Dwayne, That I.T. Guy

Every company has at least one-- that I.T. Guy. Surly, lacking in social skills and possessing questionable hygiene. Oh, he'll fix your computer for you, but he doesn't have to like it. This I.T. Guy isn't based on anyone in particular, but is an amalgam of many I have known.

My real-life I.T. Guy Story: Waaay back when Photoshop 3 came out (the first version ever to have layers!!!) I asked the company I was working for at the time if I could order a copy for our department. They said no, it wasn't in the budget and I'd just have to make do with Photoshop 1.

Dejected, I walked down to the I.T. department to get a box of floppies (files used to fit on floppy disks, kids!). When The I.T. Guy opened his heavily-fortified supply closet to get them, I spied TEN brand-new shrink wrapped copies of Photoshop 3 sitting inside. Stunned by the sight of such a bounty, I asked if I could please have one and he said "Absolutely not." When I asked why, he said, "Because if I give you one then I'll only have NINE left!"

Bear in mind that my small department was the ONLY one in the company that did ANY sort of graphic work and would ever have any use for Photoshop; all the other departments worked strictly on spreadsheets and billing. Why the I.T. Guy had even ONE copy of Photoshop 3 in his secret closet, I have absolutely no idea. And he had TEN!

I ended up being a weasel and telling my supervisor about it and the I.T Guy had to grudgingly hand over a copy of Photoshop 3 to me after all. Was I a squealer? Yes. Did I hate myself for doing it? A little, but it was worth it, because at last I had my sweet, sweet layers.

Drawn in Photoshop with the graphic tablet.
Here's the original sketch for Dwayne. He didn't change a lot, other than gaining a right arm and his ever present coffee cup.

3 comments:

  1. you did the right thing! what a chump, i have heard many stories similar to this one. i don't understand the idea of hording things like that. i am an IT guy and i am the furthest thing from Dwayne...(at least in my mind i am) hahah!

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  2. Glad to hear that! Actually most of the IT people I've worked with have been OK. They usually appreciate the fact that I try the obvious repair solutions (like making sure the computer is plugged in) before I call them.

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