It started like any other morning in the IT support center—calm, routine, and mostly uneventful. Then the call came in from Bob, a user we’ll call “creative” with technology. “My Wi-Fi isn’t working,” Bob explained, “so I gave the router a good reboot with my hammer. Now it’s just a box with lights blinking weird and no internet.” At first, I thought perhaps Bob was joking. I asked for clarification, and he confirmed, “Yeah, I hit the router like you hit a stuck stapler, you know, a solid whack to reset it.”
Bob’s logic was straightforward yet profoundly misguided: if the router isn’t working, force it back to life with physical persuasion. He admitted he didn’t try turning it off and on like you normally do but went straight for the heavy artillery—the hammer from his desk drawer, which apparently lived a double life fixing everything from poorly stapled documents to uncooperative routers.
When I asked if the router was still plugged in, Bob paused before confessing, “Well, no. I might have knocked the power cord loose when I was swinging the hammer.” The router had a mix of blinking red and green lights—more an artistic installation than a functioning device. I directed Bob through the gentle process of reconnecting cables without further hammer assaults and told him to simply unplug the device, wait 10 seconds, and plug it back in.
Miraculously, after the tender power cycle, the router limped back to life. Bob’s Wi-Fi came back online as if by magic. “Guess it just needed a softer reboot, huh?” he chuckled. I gently advised against future physical reboots, recommending a hammer only for your own desk when things get tough.
By the end of the call, Bob promised he’d save the hammer for nails and let the router live a peaceful, cord-connected existence. Another day saved by the helpdesk, and another user educated—sometimes the best IT tool is just patience, not a hammer.