Why IT support is hated

One morning Blackboard stopped letting me create a content folder. It produced an unidentified error. Copying an existing folder did not help. Logging out did not help. Restarting the browser did not help. Restarting the computer did not help.

A colleague and I eventually found the faculty IT support number buried in a PDF. Before calling it, I decided to troubleshoot myself as if I were the person answering the phone.

Had I logged out and back in? Yes.

Restarted the browser? Yes.

Restarted the computer? Of course.

Then imaginary IT-support me asked the question I had somehow failed to ask real me:

What browser are you using?

Chrome, I answered.

Have you tried Internet Explorer?

I had not. Not once during the previous 20 or 30 minutes had I considered the same browser-compatibility question I routinely asked other people.

I found Internet Explorer, pasted in the Blackboard URL, created the folder, and watched the success message appear.

“I hate you,” I told my imaginary help-desk self before hanging up the imaginary phone.

That is why IT support is hated. Sometimes the irritatingly obvious question is irritating because it is exactly the right question.

The specific browsers in this story belong to another era. The troubleshooting lesson does not.

Originally published March 29, 2016. Revised in 2026 from the surviving WordPress archive.