I work in the computer labs at school. Ten minutes before I’m supposed to get off on Wednesday, I get a call from my boss who said the printer in the 24-hour lab in the student center was not working properly. They fixed it, they thought, but needed someone to print something to make sure.
I walk to the 24-hour lab, which is just three computers and a printer. All three computers are being used. I ask the lady on the computer closest to me:
Me: I work for ITS, and the printer in here wasn’t working properly. I’d like to see if it’s functioning again. Would you mind if I go into Word quickly and type in some gobbledygook and see if it prints?
Lady: What did you say?
Me (thinking the lady was offended or didn’t understand): The printer is printing error pages instead of what is supposed to be printed, so if you don’t mind, I’d like to go into Word and type some random gibberish to see if it works now.
Lady: No, what was that word you used?
Me: Gobbledygook?
Lady: Yes, that. Is that a real word?
Me: I-I don’t know. I think it is. And if it isn’t, it’s slang, so it’s in the dictionary either way.
Lady: How do you spell it?
Me: I don’t know. I’ve never really had an occasion to use it.
Lady: Do you think you could find out?
Me (reaching for the printout, which printed successfully…I still need to go to the admin building to fill out a form, eat, and go to class within 45 minutes, so I’m a little impatient, but I told the lady I work for ITS, so I don’t want to be rude): Uhh…I guess so. (I type the word into Google and it comes up with some hits.) There you go. I guess that’s how you spell it.
Lady: Oh, THANK you. You know, I’m an English major, and every time I hear a new word, I like to know what it means and how you spell it.
Me: Glad I could help.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: Annoying, Funny, Work | 5 Comments »