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It's Never Too Late for the Truth

Article from ADMIN 89/2025

By Ken Hess

Who knew my primary mission was to suffer fools gladly?

Much like any customer-oriented job, system administration is a service industry position. Yes, you're an IT professional, but customer service is your real job. I know that we all believe, falsely, that we work with computers. We tell the world, "I'm a computer person," but in reality, "You're a people person." We are no different from restaurant waitstaff. We play a roll. We deliver service. We do things behind the scenes that one hopes will make our customers (users) happy and more efficient. Our job is to please them. Don't roll your eyes or sigh: Allow me to recount an experience before you turn the page and look for something more technical to read.

I recently related a story to one of my colleagues that described a situation where I argued (belabored) my point about a particular decision I felt was not only incorrect, but downright detrimental. I punctuated my brilliant story with, "I don't suffer fools gladly." He stared into the great beyond before looking at me and wisely retorted, "You know, Ken, only about 1 percent of what you're paid for is your subject matter knowledge and skill set. The other 99 percent of what you're paid for is to suffer fools gladly."

I laughed.

After parting ways, I thought about his words with discernment. I pondered the concept at some length and concluded that his assertion is 1,000 percent correct. I looked back on my career and my many personnel conflicts over the years and that little imaginary light bulb went on over my head. Could it be that this is my 42 and that the answer to the ultimate question of my purpose in life as a system administrator is to suffer fools gladly? I was both shocked and intrigued. I, surprisingly, was speechless at the whole scenario that had just played out in my head.

I realized for the first time that I'm not really a computer guy at all – I'm a customer caregiver. I'm merely the food server between the kitchen (data center)

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