Guess what boys and girls! I had copy machine training today! Can you think of anything more exciting? Watching C-SPAN maybe?

Before I went I told some folks I knew I was leaving my shoelaces and belt behind… for my own safety. Oh, and it was everything I thought it would be. We had the corporate rep in, telling us all the latest in copy comedy. One thing did stand out though (besides the hedgerow growing on his upper lip), his comment about their 24/7 tech support.

“Yeah, there’s this lady that calls our help desk all the time, to learn how to do things on the machine. She’s on a first name basis with our support staff.” Somehow, this doesn’t seem like something he should have been admitting. Why didn’t he just say, “yeah, this thing’s a complicated mess. YOU’LL be on a first name basis with our support staff too!”

Oh goody.

After sitting through the training, I can see why she’s calling all the time. The thing IS a complicated mess. Think of the hardware equivalent of Microsoft Word. Personally, I stopped listening when he said it could do something called “the lateral stitch.” Sometimes you just need copies. Doesn’t a good salesman want more than just this sale, but the next one too? If we buy/lease a spectacularly complicated machine for our simple copy needs, aren’t we more likely to be dissatisfied, and look elsewhere for the next one? Sure, you might get a little more on this sale, but don’t you make a LOT more on repeat business?

Maybe it’s a good thing I didn’t try to make a living in the business world.