“My dad has six older, very Italian sisters,” writes Kristina in Detroit, in what sounds very much like the setup for a sitcom. “They’re all very opinionated, and will take a stab at you whenever possible.”
A few weeks ago, she says, “My dad — out of the kindness of his heart — lent a hand by fixing his oldest sister’s virus-riddled computer.” Of course, Aunt Marie was well-warned that wiping her (un-backed-up) hard drive to get rid of the viruses would also erase her other downloaded programs, music and whatnot, but true to form, Aunt Marie wasn’t about to let a good deed go unpunished.
Even in her thank you note, Kristina says, “she just had to mention her ‘programs’ (which have no chance of coming back, and she knows it!)”
related: Best wishes, godless heathens!
49 responses so far ↓
#1
Scott
I have had this sort of comment. My reply is generally something like
“Pass me the CDs and I can do that no problem.”
That usually shuts them up as they realise that there is no way that I am going to install dodgy copies of MS office. (I work in IT and want to keep doing that.)
Feb 1, 2011 at 7:10 pm rating: 8
#2
snOMG
I know this woman! She’s several of my relatives. This is both a PA swipe at the guy who lost the programs and a PA invitation to come over for another visit to download everything again (making it a PA request for a favor), with a little PA anger at the internets for allowing this to happen. This is the power of this woman. She can be PA on many planes of existence simultaneously. Also, she has very big hair.
Feb 1, 2011 at 7:10 pm rating: 61
#3
not gen anything
I have relatives like this. They believe that by constantly repeating something, magic will make it so. I still need my programs back!
Feb 1, 2011 at 7:27 pm rating: 6
#4
JetJackson
Really, you got that? Because I read
“Ive aggriciiti joi fuig ny cmputei. Siid jil – Stw neel my gugrinu bick… ” :S wtf!? Bloody calligraphy snobs! Invest in MS Word and a printer!
Feb 1, 2011 at 8:28 pm rating: 10
#5
Leonna
@JetJackson – that’s not calligraphy. It’s cursive, something that I was taught in third grade. Calligraphy is very different.
Feb 1, 2011 at 8:35 pm rating: 28
#6
Nahhh
IMO, Dad is the PA one here. They’re his OLDER sisters; he’s got to have at least a little pent-up anger. If he’d truly acted “out of the kindness of his heart,” he would have backed up her HD before wiping it. In fact, he wouldn’t have wiped it at all, but would have used a good anti-virus and Malwarebytes to clean it.
Dad’s snickering at Marie and enjoying every second of her frustration.
Feb 1, 2011 at 8:45 pm rating: 21
#7
Canthz_B
By her “programs”, she probably means AA and NA.
Feb 1, 2011 at 11:38 pm rating: 4
#8
hungrygrrl
Pretty good handwriting. I’m sure its better when she’s not feeling snarky. And the stationery really makes it. Bravo Aunt Marie.
Feb 2, 2011 at 12:12 am rating: 0
#9
Canthz_B
Sure, go ahead and wipe the drive clean…just don’t flush what you’ve wiped down the toilet.
Our pipes can’t handle big downloads!
Feb 2, 2011 at 12:54 am rating: 13
#10
nyuu
The royal “We”…
Feb 2, 2011 at 7:42 am rating: 4
#11
Jon
“Luv ya” really means “f*** ya”.
Feb 2, 2011 at 9:58 am rating: 12
#12
aaa
I swear I’ve seen this same basic thing on Not Always Right. Sans the family, of course. I’m guessing when Kristina’s dad started talking about backing up her computer, Aunt Marie’s eyes just kind of glazed over and she started thinking about whether effectively that anti-fungal cream was really working as well as it was supposed to. I wouldn’t be surprised if that happened every time somebody says she needs to do something more complex than copy-pasting. “What do you mean I had to start Windows in Safe Mode? Weren’t you talking about how old those leftovers are in the middle of that conversation about my computer?”
Feb 2, 2011 at 10:06 am rating: 5
#13
joebob
If “Dad” was a really good IT Guy, he would have had either a USB harddrive or flash drive or SOMETHING to at least backup her files. Reinstalling programs is a different story, but there are free alternatives to office, free music players, and all sorts of things that can be done aside from just clean installing Windows. I think it was a lackluster job by “Dad.” and the card implies that…
Feb 2, 2011 at 10:24 am rating: 0
#14
Sandee
I’m married to the family IT guy. Told him about this and said, “Hey, if you just wipe the hard drive every time from now on, pretty soon you won’t be the family IT guy any more. Problem solved!”
Feb 2, 2011 at 11:57 am rating: 39
#15
Nunavut Guy
Clara Bow was miles ahead of her time.
Feb 2, 2011 at 12:26 pm rating: 0
#16
Quite Contrary
Dear Sam and Marie,
I appreciate the note. Good job. Still need Sam to man up and learn how to fix his wife’s computer.
Luv ya more, Mike
Feb 2, 2011 at 1:10 pm rating: 6
#17
Bob Loblaw
Mike sleeps with the fishes.
Feb 2, 2011 at 1:15 pm rating: 1
#18
Pilgrimchick
This proves that the guideline: “don’t help people” is the best strategy.
Feb 2, 2011 at 3:20 pm rating: 7
#19
GhostWriter
After spending hours working with IT Dad, I am happy to report that we were were able to recover all of Aunt Marie’s Facebook photos, as well as the majority of her Yahoo.com email inbox.
Feb 2, 2011 at 4:10 pm rating: 17
#20
divaandwriter
Dear Marie:
I have been thinking hard about your problem, and have come to one conclusion:
You are too stupid to own a computer, and you don’t seem to care. Instead, you prefer to endanger everyone on your email list by sending viruses all over the internet. Then, when your computer goes kaputt from all the malware on it, you call on your brother to bail you out, expect him to work miracles and get all passive-aggressive on him when he does his best to help you.
Take some damned computer classes, learn how to operate the thing properly, and if you still get into trouble (which can happen even to the best of us), CALL A PROFESSIONAL!!
Sheeeessshhh!
Feb 3, 2011 at 9:24 am rating: 4
#21
RP
Seems like IT work is one of those things you should never do for free. If they’re not even going to appreciate that you helped them then why bother?
Mar 2, 2011 at 10:55 am rating: 0
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