The Problem Solver
It’s a feeling of exultation. Of victory celebrated with relief. Of a moral triumph, in addition to a strategic success. When the black clouds of doom are rolled back, and the sun first stabs through, then floods the valley with life. These are epiphanies, comparable to high school graduation or the excitement of early petting — whichever came first — and they define an important transition in life, from fear to courage. I’m speaking of course about the triumphant joy one experiences after overcoming a computer problem.
I have resolved computer problems on my own, often after long hours of cursing and holding dear Linda’s reminder that we are pioneers — which, thank you, my darling, truth be told, is a thin thread — and sometimes I’ve solved a problem with a trilling of the keys that I neither understood nor remember. Bang-zoom. See, I think computers are next to godliness, in how they relate to human processes — naturally; man designed them after all — and also how we might learn from computers how our own minds work.
But enough. I have a greater victory to celebrate this day. Trumpets and Huzzahs! for Brad Dorscher of Microsoft support; and phooey to anyone who might grumble that Bill Gates is too rich to deserve acknowledgment, even for his employees. Brad used to be in construction, and there came a time in his forties that he thought his body might not survive the work too much longer and he needed a new plan. About this time, he got a virus called MonkeyB, which went from his computer to those of all his friends and messed up the master boot record of their hard drive. And who wants that? None of Brad’s friends, I’ll tell ya.
So Brad went to the library to find books on how to repair the damage on his own and his friends’ computers. No luck. He dug deeper. He did the work. He found the solution. He fixed the computers. And in the course of this process, he discovered his new path. Now he works for Microsoft helping ten to twelve people a day resolve their individual problems, unique or familiar. I’m not talking just giving information or suggestions, but actually taking The Hapless One through the process of resolving what had once seemed insoluble.
Brad works in an office building in his own cubicle which he refers to as home, with a smile. He values the exposure there to the other problem-solvers, because it provides him with ideas on how to solve the problems of those who will call him tomorrow or down the road. What a life. Imagine, getting people out of trouble; staying with them until he finds the answer. Helping strangers through an impenetrable maze to transform a box of otherwise-useless transistors back into a properly-functioning computer. No wonder Brad feels good when he goes home at night.
I am delighted to have gotten my Outlook problem resolved. It didn’t take nearly as long as I had already spent unloading and reloading and rebooting more times than even a pioneer should have to. Brad was comfortable and reassuring throughout. I knew that he was as interested in finding the right fix as I needed it to happen. He wanted to go home knowing that another caller was putting down the phone with a big smile and a great sigh of relief.
I’m equally pleased that Brad is living the right life, proof positive that when, as Joseph Campbell described it, you follow your bliss, then the rest follows.
And that’s SetonnoteS...I’m Tony Seton.