I've been "George-ed!"

George is a great guy. He does some IT stuff for me from time to time. I like George, but I never know what he did or how to fix it when it goes wrong. He comes up with various passwords that mean something to him at the moment, but make no sense to me. He connects stuff with other stuff that I would have no idea about.

When it all works, it's great. When it doesn't, it's maddening. George must like texts coming in from his customers at all times of the day or night, because that's the model he's created for his business.

When something doesn't work, I cry out, "I've been George-ed!" My family doesn't look forward to my declaration of being "George-ed" because it means tensions are high and hope for a timely solution is low. I can't figure out if this is fun for him or if he feels this is his duty, his calling in life—to help the unfortunate, lost people who are not tech-savvy. But I'm guessing his wife has to be tired of the interruptions in their life that this causes (or maybe she wants him out of the house?).

Over the years, I've become smarter, and now unplug and restart everything I know George has set-up. Half the time that works. The other half of the time I resign myself to knowing, "I've been George-ed!"

Barry LaBov
LaBov Marketing Communications and Training

www.labov.com