Every industry has its difficult customers, its foibles, and its secret techniques for handling the squinchy corners of everyday business. Defective Yeti’s Matthew Baldwin has compiled a mini-compendium of techniques (supposedly) known only by everyday practictioners: cardboard box flatteners, actors, tech support staff, jugglers, lounge pianists…
Nurse: Patients will occasionally pretend to be unconscious. A surefire way to find them out is to pick up their hand, hold it above their face, and let go. If they smack themselves, they’re most likely unconscious; if not, they’re faking.
Music: Andy Capp :: Poppy Show
We use to pull the old hand on face trick in the ambulance, too. The best part is when they don’t realize what you’re doing and their hand gently glides away from their face — so you then take an ammonia pack and break it on/under their nose…
It’s a miracle!
The tech support stuff is true. At UT here, I often get calls from students who swear their printer is plugged into their computer. I just always tell them to unplug and replug it back in to “reinitialize the universal serial connection protocol”. They always believe me.
Also, never ask a person if they’re using an ethernet cable. They’ll always say, “yes”. Instead, ask them to unplug the cable from the computer and the wall, then ask them to count the number of metal prongs on the end. If it’s 4 or less, tell them they have a phone cable, not an ethernet cable. When they plug it back in, you’ve managed to get them to reseat the cable without actually asking them to reseat it.