Charlie: The IT Guy
May. 21st, 2010 01:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rabid1stI don't know how many of you work with IT guys, but when you run a library you work very closely with your computer gurus and come to know them very well. Like all gurus, the IT Guys seem to have quirky, larger-than-life personalities. They are the sort of characters who people movie scripts about Armeggedon. We had our conspiracy theorist, our techno-speaker, our geeky, science fiction-loving perpetual teenager, and our guy that barely knew how to turn a computer on, but somehow managed to find employment as an expert.
And then we had Charlie. Charlie knew how to fix anything, from a software glitch to a wiring problem. More than that, he was that rarest of learned men, the sort that never makes the ignorant feel stupid. Charlie knew everything about computers, but he never made anyone feel like a dimwit, as if they'd pushed the wrong switch. Even when he was saying, "Okay, I'm going to need you to press the blue button, wait 10 seconds, and then press it again."
Rarer still, Charlie was always in a good mood. His cheerfully sing-song greeting made you feel better about having to call him at the most inconvenient of hours with the most ridiculous of issues. "Charlie, I know it's Sunday and two minutes to closing, but, I can't seem to get the server to respond and I've got this line of people..." And he would say, "No problem. Let me look at it." Then, in a matter of a few minutes he would get the situation sorted out and have you back online so that business ran smoothly again.
I remember when I heard he was engaged, I thought there was a lucky girl. Not that I fancied Charlie at all. He was young and sweet, just a kid to me. But a kid I really liked having at the other end of a desperate phone call. A kid that I didn't mind showing up on my doorstep with his IT kit and news that I'd been scheduled for an upgrade. Charlie was the best IT Guy I ever knew. And yesterday, he died, from complications after back surgery.
I never met his parents or his girlfriend. We never shared a beer or an afterwork cup of coffee. Though we did once share a pizza, when both of us were working late on a library renovation. And a few times we sat down together at company gatherings for Labor Day or Thanksgiving. We shopped at the same grocery stores and once or twice we chatted about our day while waiting in line at the deli. Mostly we laughed about our mutual friends and wished each other well. It is amazing how someone you really didn't know outside of work, can leave such a void when he's gone from the world. But, Charlie, was a larger-than-life IT-Guru! And if we had to label him for our movie script, he would be the quietly heroic one that cheerfully saves the day with a paperclip, and then disappears far too early in the script to suit anybody.
And then we had Charlie. Charlie knew how to fix anything, from a software glitch to a wiring problem. More than that, he was that rarest of learned men, the sort that never makes the ignorant feel stupid. Charlie knew everything about computers, but he never made anyone feel like a dimwit, as if they'd pushed the wrong switch. Even when he was saying, "Okay, I'm going to need you to press the blue button, wait 10 seconds, and then press it again."
Rarer still, Charlie was always in a good mood. His cheerfully sing-song greeting made you feel better about having to call him at the most inconvenient of hours with the most ridiculous of issues. "Charlie, I know it's Sunday and two minutes to closing, but, I can't seem to get the server to respond and I've got this line of people..." And he would say, "No problem. Let me look at it." Then, in a matter of a few minutes he would get the situation sorted out and have you back online so that business ran smoothly again.
I remember when I heard he was engaged, I thought there was a lucky girl. Not that I fancied Charlie at all. He was young and sweet, just a kid to me. But a kid I really liked having at the other end of a desperate phone call. A kid that I didn't mind showing up on my doorstep with his IT kit and news that I'd been scheduled for an upgrade. Charlie was the best IT Guy I ever knew. And yesterday, he died, from complications after back surgery.
I never met his parents or his girlfriend. We never shared a beer or an afterwork cup of coffee. Though we did once share a pizza, when both of us were working late on a library renovation. And a few times we sat down together at company gatherings for Labor Day or Thanksgiving. We shopped at the same grocery stores and once or twice we chatted about our day while waiting in line at the deli. Mostly we laughed about our mutual friends and wished each other well. It is amazing how someone you really didn't know outside of work, can leave such a void when he's gone from the world. But, Charlie, was a larger-than-life IT-Guru! And if we had to label him for our movie script, he would be the quietly heroic one that cheerfully saves the day with a paperclip, and then disappears far too early in the script to suit anybody.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2010-05-21 08:01 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-05-21 08:50 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-05-21 11:54 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-05-22 12:29 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-05-22 01:38 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-05-22 01:45 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-05-22 02:18 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-05-22 03:16 am (UTC)(I feel like a bad person because I'm having to edit that in but I was so touched by your story that it didn't even occur to me that it wouldn't be totally obvious that what I meant was "I'm so sorry you lost someone who was such a light when he stepped into your life and this story touched me a great deal." I get a little socially awkward like that sometimes.)
(no subject)
Date: 2010-05-22 04:45 am (UTC)Thanks for your condolences on the loss. I do miss him, even though I haven't seen him in months.
Rae
(no subject)
Date: 2010-05-22 03:56 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-05-22 04:47 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-05-23 05:24 am (UTC)