Much worse is when people very confindently ask things with a fundemental misunderstanding basis for the question.
I love explaing kubernetes in 5 year old terms. I panic when someone says "its a container so do we really need any more security?".
this post was submitted on 02 Mar 2026
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Showerthoughts
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A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. The most popular seem to be lighthearted clever little truths, hidden in daily life.
Here are some examples to inspire your own showerthoughts:
- Both “200” and “160” are 2 minutes in microwave math
- When you’re a kid, you don’t realize you’re also watching your mom and dad grow up.
- More dreams have been destroyed by alarm clocks than anything else
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When it comes to answering questions that I feel are basic, I've had to acknowledge that other people have different strengths. Like this xkcd.
Instead I go based on repeat answers to the same or substantially similar question. If I have to explain something 3 times in as little time, I might start to feel annoyed.
Of course though I won't every let it show, so the only real impact it makes is their ranking on my internal leaderboard of coworkers I'd be happy to see quit lol.
When it comes to answering questions that I feel are basic, I’ve had to acknowledge that other people have different strengths. Like this xkcd.
Yes.
One of my coworkers is way better at the whole... being social... thing and I gladly let them handle that. But they are awful with tech. I need to always be reminding myself that thanks to them, I need to deal with people way less, even if it means I need deal with their tech illiteracy. So I try to not lose it when they once again ask me to figure out an issue they've asked me about at least 3 times before. They've still kept 10 other people from asking me how to solve a couple of issues even they know how to deal with.
Sir, this is a Wendy's.
Or Google it. But this is why we some people like LLMs, they can't or won't research the problem themselves and just ask IT or AI in natural language.
There is the very old saying "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink." These people are dumb horses and it's not getting any better.
10 year veteran, infrastructure engineer here. I'm basically a service desk for other engineers that don't specialize in my product.
I get entry level questions EVERY day, not IT entry level, entry level computer literacy questions like "how do I attach a screenshot?" "I lost my password"
A) We have one of the best knowledge bases in the industry. No one uses it.
B) These are security engineers for fortune 500 financial institutions asking these questions.
It's service desk all the way up my dude ... I thought I would be free from that curse when I stooped supporting end users, nope, B2B it's just as bad.
Anyways, the one trick that I've found works for me is to imagine I'm talking to my little nephew, that way you summon the patience, lower your expectations and probably end up treating the customer with a bit more delicacy.
I give people a lot of grace when it comes to these things. Sometimes they are lazy or incurious, but other times they may lack confidence in the documentation or their ability to understand/execute it. Still other times, they may have other tasks they are dealing with that are pushing them to their cognitive capacity.
But, yeah, laziness is annoying when it impacts your ability to get your job done or even just relax if you have some downtime.
How old are you?
Sounds like the downside of being a halfway smart adult.
~~Middle age~~ young.
Just smart enough to know how computers work. Dumb enough to get upset when others don't.
Is OP ChatGPT?
Nobody ever reads the manual, unless they have already ran into an issue and they have no other alternatives left.
Starting a little FAQ / common issues page might help, though eventually it also might start to count as manual and nobody once again reads it.
- holds your face gently *
i have
written
so
many
guides
and
manuals
and
faqs
and made
videos
and
image guides
Yeah I do the same and then later I get annoyed with myself.
At least 50% of my job …AT LEAST is because no one RTFM..
Deep breaths
I mean. That is basically how I got into IT. I was already doing it at my work and for friends and family.
Wiki an FAQ with the simple ones. I’m not talking everything, since that’s its own wiki. But top 5 questions? Sure.