The "Tech. Guy"

Our librarian/technology guy at Knoxville High School is... well, let's just say straight forward. You never have to guess where you stand with Phil. Good or bad, you will always know. Now, I truly like people like this. With Phil, I never spend all day or night concerned that I did something "wrong" or said something to offend him. He lets me know immediately. No anxiety there. If he's grumpy, I know up front if it is me or if there is some other cause.

Last week, during 8th period study hall, I was having difficulty accessing the internet from my computer. Now, I just figured it was my computer because I'm constantly having trouble of one sort or another with that machine. In fact, the last time I told Phil I was having trouble, he pretty much said, "It's a crappy machine". (His language may not have been as benign as the quote.) So I just kept checking all the connections and even tried rebooting trying not to bother Phil with a nuisance over which he had no control.

Then one of the students from the adjacent computer lab comes and informs me he is having difficulty with the internet. I went to check on the students and sure enough, everyone who was trying to access the internet was having diffuculty. This prompted me to go across the hall and "ask" Phil if there was a problem with the internet. Now, I was fairly sure of the answer I was going to receive considering the mounting evidence, but I wanted to let Phil know there was a problem without sounding demanding.

Phil was busy working at his desk when I came in and made my inquiry. He quickly finished and took a break to respond, "It's supposed to work." He then proceded to check his computer. Before he even tried the browser, however, he continued, "I'll call the internet provider and get an answering machine because they already know its down and won't want to talk to me." I politely said "thanks" and returned to the computer lab where I informed the students, "Chaddy says, 'It's supposed to work!'" The students chuckled and I returned to my desk getting nothing accomplished during the period.

The bell rang, I packed up my belongings and returned to my classroom for homeroom, the last period of the day where we listen to the daily announcements and watch Channel One. The secretary read the announcements in her bright cheery voice as usual, then a deep, slow, monotone voice takes over saying, "THE INTERNET IS NOT WORKING...... DO NOT TRY THE INTERNET..... THE INTERNET IS NOT WORKING. .... IF YOU TRY TO USE THE INTERNET, ....IT WILL NOT WORK ......SO DO NOT TRY THE INTERNET."

As I said before, Phil is straight forward. Do you think anyone misunderstood what he was trying to get across?