I think tech support is inherently bad for the soul.
I volunteered some time answering a few questions on a few Linux forums and chat rooms, at least the ones I could answer, and over time I would get more and more annoyed at the people who wouldn’t help me help them: unable to actually describe their problem or the steps they’ve already tried, and sometimes becoming aggressive towards me when my first suggestion was something they either already tried.
But obviously it’s wrong to take it out on Bob just because you were previously annoyed with Alice in an earlier interaction. Still, over time, it starts to leak into your interactions with new people who don’t deserve it, and the repetitive iterations start to foster a particular toxic attitude that requires you to walk away. At this point my contributions are shielded away from actual people, where I fix things in wikis or documentation, rather than actually helping people troubleshoot real live issues.
I think tech support is inherently bad for the soul.
I volunteered some time answering a few questions on a few Linux forums and chat rooms, at least the ones I could answer, and over time I would get more and more annoyed at the people who wouldn’t help me help them: unable to actually describe their problem or the steps they’ve already tried, and sometimes becoming aggressive towards me when my first suggestion was something they either already tried.
But obviously it’s wrong to take it out on Bob just because you were previously annoyed with Alice in an earlier interaction. Still, over time, it starts to leak into your interactions with new people who don’t deserve it, and the repetitive iterations start to foster a particular toxic attitude that requires you to walk away. At this point my contributions are shielded away from actual people, where I fix things in wikis or documentation, rather than actually helping people troubleshoot real live issues.