What are the Most Irritating Things that Non-Geeks Ask You to Do?

Hey everyone, Here at Devolutions, we proudly consider ourselves geeks. And while it’s great being a geek, let’s face it: sometimes the non-geeks among us ask us to do some pretty irritating things. Alas, although technology is absolutely everywhere, unfortunately some people are still a few years (or a few decades) behind. So, both for fun and for therapy, we wanted to list some of the most irritating things that non-geeks tend to ask us.

1. “Can you look at my PC for me?”

This happens A LOT at parties as soon as people find out that you’re a geek. Of course, they don’t come right out and ask you to fix it, because that might mean that you’d have a right to say “sorry, I’m not qualified” or maybe “possibly, and my rate is $100/hour” or something. But instead, they very casually ask you to look at their PC. Sometimes they even follow-up with a nice dose of emotional manipulation, like “please, my job is on the line” or “I’m sure your smart enough to do this…aren’t you?”

2. “I have no idea where the virus came from!”

Uhhh…yeah. So that file in your temp folder called “Kate Upton real naked pics.exe” is just, what, a coincidence? Or maybe that just came with your PC? And it’s hard to listen to someone proclaim their absolute innocence when they’ve downloaded Game of Thrones episodes that haven’t even broadcast yet.

3. “Come and play a Facebook game with me!”

These invitation are usually automated, but that doesn’t make them less annoying! I mean, first of all, self-respecting geeks play WoW or Anki Drive or something like that. But Farmville!? Candy Crush!? Slotomania!? Geez.

4. “Can you come by and clean up my computer again?”

Ah yes, who doesn’t look forward to hearing a friend (who is maybe on their way to becoming an ex-friend!) ask if you’ll come over and remove 200 bits of spyware, 13 viruses and five Trojan horses – just like last time? And of course, all of the security software you download for him and made him PROMISE to keep updated will be ignored. Hey, what are friends for!?

5. “Can you hack this for me?”

This one is the worst! Some people have a really hard time when their software stops working after the trial period, and they figure that a creative workaround is to call their favorite geek (a.k.a. YOU!) so you can hack it for them and let them continue using it for free. And it’s not just software, either. As soon as people know you’re a geek, they think you’ll hack anything for them: movies, ebooks, you name it.

But on the Brighter Side…

Of course, while geeks like us have to deal with irritating stuff like this, it only happens from time to time. For the most people, being a geek is GREAT and it’s always fun to help people for the right reasons; especially when we can convert them into being a fellow-geek! Now it’s your turn: what irritates you the most about being a geek? Please share your thoughts in the comments below. Cheers