The time I helped someone set up MFA… and it went exactly as you’d expect

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vinyljunkie1245@reddit

I swear for some reason, when certain people get instructions on a screen, some kind of brain rot/idiocy envelopes them. It is so painful dealing with these people. I have given up on instructing them and I just ask what they think they need to do.

Inevitably, when they have managed to navigate these simple instructions, they come back with the standard "ha ha, I'm not good with this technology stuff, he he" while I'm thinking, you've only been alive x years, how could you possibly know how to read and follow instructions. I do wonder if maybe they should have the kit taken away until they can prove they can follow simple on screen instructions?

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One-Reflection-4826@reddit

my father, mechanic, capable handyman, logical thinker in all* aspects of life, but as soon as a thing works with microchips he's like a newborn deer staring into headlights.

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GoingAllTheJay@reddit

So he can't work on cars made this century? Or has he not figured out they have computers/sensors yet?

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One-Reflection-4826@reddit

he is retired and hasnt been in the business for decades, but he can still do the routine maintainance or change belts, battery or an alternator in newer cars, if need be.

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porman9@reddit

You have just described my current job. In addition, how did these people ever get through university/trade school and managed to get a degree?

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the123king-reddit@reddit

Some people couldn't pour water out of a boot with instructions written on the heel.

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Outside-Rise-3466@reddit

Maybe it's my mental instability, but this made me laugh so hard I had a heart attack and this is just my ghost posting.

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Chakkoty@reddit

I got a similar one from Artemis Fowl.

"He wouldn't know what to do if he had his ass on fire and a jug of water in his hand."

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Snuffle247@reddit

Actually, that is a right proper conundrum. If your ass is on fire, it's likely caused by something flammable on your ass that has caught fire. An alcohol fire doesn't burn that hot and can be quickly swatted out. An oil or petrol fire is more dangerous and is more difficult to extinguish.

Let's say that for some reason, your pants have been doused in petrol and your ass was set on fire. How do you put it out with a single jug of water? Water isn't that great with an oil fire to begin with. The ideal extinguishing medium would be foam, sand, or a heavy fire blanket to smother the fire. Then damp the fire blanket with water to further cool the fire.

On top of that, take an empty mug and pretend to pour it onto your own ass. Notice how tricky the angle is? You'll have to contort your arm in weird angles to pour onto your ass, and you'll likely miss as it is hard to see and judge angles from your viewpoint.

Now imagine doing that while panicking from your ass on fire, the heat burning your butt and causing your pants to sear or melt into your skin. You are immense pain and you only have a single jug to put out a petrol fire that has consumed your pants and soon your derriere.

I can't blame the guy for not knowing how to put out his fire either.

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Outside-Rise-3466@reddit

Ignore the other comment here. This was funny, and a good followup.

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Chakkoty@reddit

As much as I appreciate this brand of overthinking, I believe it's best reserved for matters of philosophy instead of metaphors.

But, if it eases your mind, I was thinking of the clothing covering the butt being on fire. Douse with water, it just...sit down to smother.

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TheBros35@reddit

I’m stealing this, this made my evening thank you

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CoffeeCorpse777@reddit

Couldn't find their own rear in the dark with the help of a map and a flashlight

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CubeFlipper@reddit

But they are a Genius in France?

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User2716057@reddit

We sometimes use teamviewer to help customers set something up if they recently bought a new computer from us.

All they have to do is doubleclick the icon I make sure is right there on the desktop, confirm the uac prompt, tick a box and click 'accept' on the next screen, and click ok.

Every time I say 'doubleclick that icon, confirm everything it asks, and read the number to me'.

Every time they read out loud the whole goddamn popup screen, ignoring me trying to say to just click accept, then ask me what to click. I say 'yes, click accept, just confirm everything until you see the numbers'.

And then they completely read out loud the next screen and ask me what to click.

There is only one button.

I scream in silence.

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agentzrii@reddit

I reply "Don't worry it gets easier with practice" and a big smile. My way of saying you're an adult and no, I'm not doing it for you.

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meitemark@reddit

"I can take you to the well of knowledge, I'll even help you fill a bucket with it, but sadly no, I'm not allowed to drown you in it."

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djshiva@reddit

I absolutely HATE the "I'm not good with technology" answers. It'S A FUCKING INSTRUCTION, BOB. YOU'VE USED THOSE BEFORE, RIGHT?!?!?!

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TeslaNovaStar@reddit

Right it's like what about the piece of electronic equipment before you had rendered you incapable of reading and following directions? My daughter figured out how to play games on a cell phone at 5 cause she could read. Magical stuff, reading comprehension. It's idiot people like OPs customer that make tech support so irritating for the rest of us. Cause I guarantee you. The first thing I check is cables usually, updates that could be messing something up, faulty hardware, and a good old fashioned reboot. If it's internet trouble I reboot the modem and stuff too. 9/10 times that fixes the "issue" If I'm calling tech support then that means Google, YouTube, and my own understanding have failed me after trying all the things. Then I get frustrated cause the tech support agent who is used to soul sucking idiocy is on the phone asking me if my computer is plugged in and if all my cables are connected. It's very aggravating for those of us who try.

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meitemark@reddit

If I ever have to call tech support, I will follow every fucking step they ask me to. I will check if it is connected (in both ends), I will restart, I will do anything. Because while I may be so sure of myself that I do not think I'm doing anything as stupid as what techsupport usually have to deal with and that I have not done any mistake, I have still called techsupport because I cannot get Thing X^tm to work. Having somebody to doublecheck your work, even if it is scripted may get this working, and if not, then I will tell techsupport about all the other things that I have tried and then I will get a visit from a real live techie. Maybe s(he) can unfuck whatever I did.

Yep. Did that last time I got to the point where I could not figure it out why ADSL was working, but not the phone on the same line. Techsupport asked why the fuck I called them after I had explained all the other testing that I did, and I answered that "I really needed to check if I had done something stupid in the basic troubleshooting." I got a tech, and he found that my phoneline was only connected with one wire. That day I learned that while POTS does NOT work with just one wire, DSL does work. Not good, but it works.

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davethecompguy@reddit

We expect employees to use technology. Those same employees claim on their resumes and applications that they're able to USE computers, or they're familiar with them.

Then these incidents happen. WTF?

They're never called on that fact. Instead, IT staff are told to "walk them through it". Well, too many of them just won't walk.

All I can suggest is to get their supervisors in the process early, and be proactive in pushing back. It's 2025. "I'm not good with computers" is no longer an acceptable excuse.

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RedditWhileIWerk@reddit

parallel thing: "I'm not good at math/oh no MATH, I'm helpless!" No, more likely you had crappy teachers.

If you can learn to play a board game, you can learn math.

Math is only applying rules to numbers, repeatedly. Unfortunately, it's usually taught in the most boring and least helpful way possible.

I'm convinced more people talk themselves out of understanding math, than actually lack innate ability.

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androshalforc1@reddit

I think there’s more to math then simply applying rules to numbers. It’s also about knowing which rules to use and when

Most people only know Simple math and some basic algebra, if they were given a formula Im sure they could figure it out. But getting the formula that’s what people don’t know.

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RedditWhileIWerk@reddit

It’s also about knowing which rules to use and when

again, part of any game

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Puzzleheaded-Joke-97@reddit

So THAT'S why I'm so bad at games! 🥴

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Ryokurin@reddit

The biggest problem is, there are multiple ways to get the same results but typically only one way it's taught. Unfortunately every time people have tried to change the way it's taught it's ridiculed out of favor.

I understood common core math, and I somewhat figured it out on my own in school but since it wasn't traditional in the way that my teachers couldn't quickly check my work I had to give it up. I hated math until my late 20s because of that.

Not everyone's mind works the same. If you can ask them and they can explain it, let it be. It just kills me how people shitted on that way of thinking because it wasn't how they learned it.

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faithfulheresy@reddit

Oh man, this hits so close to home.

In high school, I failed senipr math. I failed because the teachers couldn't explain why, only what, and so I couldn't fit it into my mental model of how the whole thing was supposed to work.

I was one of the top students in both chemistry and physics, which isn't usually the mark of a mathematical idiot.

A few years later I picked up GEB and it inspired me to go back and teach myself. Turns out, I'm pretty good at this stuff, but my teachers were utterly unprepared to teach it because they didn't fundamentally understand the material.

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TeslaNovaStar@reddit

I'm pretty sure that's the case for most. I am bad at math but I also don't use that as an excuse to not try. It might take me a little longer to think about and I might have to just up and use a calculator but I can do it. I have horrible ADHD though so I'm pretty sure boring teachers were most of my issue.

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SkyrakerBeyond@reddit

Nah, I love "I'm no good with technology" because at least they're somewhat self aware. I hate the people who go "I'm very technologically minded, I know what I'm doing" and it's clear the have absolutely no idea what they're doing.

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RobertG_de@reddit

Dunning-Kruger effect, person is sitting on mount stupid.

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thurgo-redberry@reddit

we've also had it for 30 years now. it's wild people feel comfortable admitting they haven't up-skilled in several decades despite handling tech every day

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Hebrewhammer8d8@reddit

I love the ones I'm not good with technology. Translation: You don't want to learn new concept.

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Puzzleheaded-Joke-97@reddit

Reminds me of that bit in Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy about drunk driving a spaceship, where they leave you on an empty planet until you evolve into a more responsible lifeform!

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NineThreeFour1@reddit

It's not related to screens. I see the same at university. Some students will simply refuse to fully read written instructions. The instructions could literally spell out the solution to the exam that they are writing at that very moment but they would refuse to read them.

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pgpndw@reddit

You know how below the login box, there's usually a link that says "Forgot your password? Click here to reset it"? My mother sees that and sends me a text message saying she can't log in because it's telling her to reset her password.

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vinyljunkie1245@reddit

Oh no! Don't get me started on this. One of my previous jobs was a mix of on the phone and face to face service and I seriously lost the will to live with the number of times I had to deal with this every day.

And that's not to mention the number of people who asked me "what should I put?" for their new password. The password to a website and app with lots of important and sensitive information about them. Or the ones that get confused and angry when I wouldn't help them because they wanted to log into their husband/wife/partner/child's account. It's not your account and by sharing log in details the account holder has broken the terms and compromised the account. There's no concept of risk or the need to keep these things safe and secure.

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BME_work@reddit

I think it's the only industry in the world where you can be clueless about how to use your tools and everyone just accepts it or laughs it off.

Imagine a carpenter "haha I'm not very good with hammers. How do I remove a nail?"

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Miles_Saintborough@reddit

It's like people actively refuse to read what is shown to them. I have people at my job tapping or inserting their card into the card reader and not looking at the screen when it asks them if they want to leave a tip first.

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ThatBurningDog@reddit

My suggestion to one of our directors was to consider it a capability issue. If my dentist doesn't know how to do a filling, he shouldn't be a dentist. It's 2025, if you can't use 2FA or remember passwords you shouldn't be working with computers.

Unfortunately, the director's wife was one of the worst culprits and I don't think there would be many people left.

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whyliepornaccount@reddit

I'm at the point where I remote in, open the instructions they claim they didnt get, highlight the text that tells them exactly what to do, and ask them to read it out loud to me. Then ask "did you do what the instructions said? No? Then thats why its not working"

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MajesticCassowary@reddit

Ah shit I think my mother rose from the dead just to cause you trouble, sorry about that!!

She would use a DIFFERENT password every time she tried to sign in to an account and wondered why it wouldn't work. Pretty sure she misinterpreted "don't reuse passwords" but you would think it would stick after the 23rd time!

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Dwedit@reddit

Completely off topic, but I always manage to screw up entering a code that's texted to me. I end up entering the phone number instead of the code number.

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WoodyTheWorker@reddit

Been there, done that

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tacticalpotatopeeler@reddit

Your technology privileges have been rescinded.

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HerfDog58@reddit

When I worked in K-12 IT, I used to have to do training sessions for faculty when we'd deploy new applications, like an electronic gradebook. I'd done these enough times to realize I needed to do some remedial recview before we'd start on the actual training. I'd realized that because I'd learned that teachers, despite their 4 year undergrad degree, and multiple years of master's classes and additional training, could behave in the dumbest ways. I can say that because A) I worked in K-12 IT for almost 2 decades and did dozens of sessions of individual and group training, and B) I spent almost 1/3 of that time also teaching in a high school program.

So I'd start off any of my training sessions with:

Me: "When I say 'click' I mean press your index finger on the left mouse button and quickly release it. When I say 'double-click' I mean press your index finger on the left mouse button and quickly release it TWO TIMES. When I say 'right click' I mean press your middle finger on the left mouse button and quickly release it. When I say 'click and hold' press your index finger on the left mouse button and DON'T release it. OK? Everybody understand that? Any questions?"

Nope, never any questions.

2 minutes into the training, I say "OK, click on this menu."

A voice pipes up and says "Click or right-click?"

Me: "Which did I say?"

Voice: "Click."

Me: "OK, worried I said the wrong thing, I DID mean click."

12 seconds later I said "Click on this next menu option."

Same Voice: "Click or right click?"

Me: "I did say click didn't I? Yes? Good, please click."

4.3 seconds later, I say "Click on this option."

Same voice: "Click or right click?"

Me: "OK, is anyone having trouble hearing me? OK, just to reiterate, and be absolutely clear, if I say click I MEAN CLICK. I won't say click if I want you to right click, or to double click. Just do what I tell you, and this program will work fine. OK?"

Everyone nods.

Me: "OK let's get back to it, click on this option."

New voice: "Click or right click?"

That earthquake on the East Coast in 2011? That was me banging my head on the wall during that training session...

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WoodyTheWorker@reddit

Teachers?

"Raise your hand who ever had a student who refused to use their brain and to listen to even simplest instructions"

Then raise your hand, too.

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Knarin@reddit

When I say 'right click' I mean press your middle finger on the left mouse button and quickly release it.

I can see why they had trouble. /s

In all seriousness, I assume this a typo.

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TinyNiceWolf@reddit

Left is wrong, right is right. Couldn't be simpler!

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HerfDog58@reddit

Copy/{Paste/Edit fail...But I'm confident if I'd given them that incorrect instruction, they still would have gotten it wrong! So maybe it would have been right? Hmm...

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emax4@reddit

"I'm sorry. Whoever said that, please leave. Basic comprehension is required for this job."

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androshalforc1@reddit

Leave through the door or window?

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meitemark@reddit

Window, but only if we are on the 4th floor or higher.

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HerfDog58@reddit

I told several teachers (before I started the teaching portion of the gig) "If we each had 30 days to prep, I could do your job, but you couldn't do mine." I used to get SO much condescension from teachers because they had master's degrees, and teaching certification, and I "only" had a bachelor's degree. One particular person got under my skin so bad I challenged her to a trivia contest and IQ test.

I bested her in both. She stopped asking me for help. I considered that THREE wins.

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One-Reflection-4826@reddit

maybe call it click for left click and clock for right click? (/s but not really)

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s-mores@reddit

You mean left left click or left right click?

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One-Reflection-4826@reddit

Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A-click, obviously.

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HerfDog58@reddit

This is the same group of people who, any time they couldn't get to a particular website, would call or come to my desk asking "Is the Internet down?"

Me: "No, I'm searching Google right now."

Teacher: "Well it's down in my classroom."

Me: "Did you login to your computer successfully? Are you able to get our email? Can you get on the school's website?"

Teacher: "Yes"

Me: "OK, then it's not the internet that's the problem, it could be that specific website is offline. Is it one of our school sites?"

Teacher: "No. But I need to use it. Can't you get it back up?"

Me: "What's the name of the site?" She tells me, I Google it, it comes right up. "OK, the site is working when I access it. Let me connect remotely to your computer. Ah here's the problem. You misspelled '.com' as '.cmo' and there's no such website with that name."

Teacher: "But that's the name I always use..."

So I type in the correct name in the remote session and the site comes right up. "Yup, you just typed the name wrong. If it happens again, just check the spelling, or bookmark it so you don't have to type it in."

Teacher: "I don't believe you. There was an internet problem and you fixed it while I wasn't looking."

Me: "You're right. In fact what you did actually took down the whole internet, not just for the school, but for the whole world. You mistyped that website and that actually caused the internet to reboot. So yes there was an internet problem which you caused. I hope the Internet Authorities can't track it back to this building..."

She believed me, and ran back to her room to get the "evidence" off her screen. The lab aide I was assisting looked at me, and then we started laughing so hard for the next 10 minutes we were in tears.

For the next month, if I saw the teacher I'd say something like "Hey you didn't take down the internet again, right? I got a call from The Internet Command Center asking if I knew about an outage they had experienced." I finally let her off the hook after about the 5th time.

I was in about year 17 of working in K12 IT at that point, and had ZERO. POINT. ZERO fucks to give.

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mafiaknight@reddit

But...why would I move my fingers to click the left button with my middle finger, when my pointer finger is already on it?

(You've a typo)

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HerfDog58@reddit

Copy/paste fail...

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K1yco@reddit

What's scary is a lot of these people drive a car.

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TinyNiceWolf@reddit

GPS: "In 400 feet, turn left onto Maple Drive."

User: "A left left or a right left?"

GPS:

User turns right, drives off road and into lake, blames faulty GPS.

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jeffrey_f@reddit

And get to and from work on their own.

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hit-diggity-dang@reddit

Do you note it down in your work log as an ID-10T error??

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d_vickery@reddit

Nope, everyone knows that. It gets logged as a PICNIC error. Problem In Chair Not In Computer.

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dpenton@reddit

PEBCAK

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hit-diggity-dang@reddit

Whats that?

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dpenton@reddit

Problem exists between keyboard and chair

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Knarin@reddit

I like to call them 'Layer 8' issues.

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hit-diggity-dang@reddit

Please explain??

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Knarin@reddit

It's to do with the OSI model and its 7 layers.

Physical layer
Data link layer
Network layer
Transport layer
Session layer
Presentation layer
Application layer

The joke is that the 8th layer is the user, so it's a funny way to say 'user error'.

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Nois3@reddit

Who the hell has a two-number MFA?

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NotACat@reddit

The Microsoft Authenticator needs a two-digit number to confirm that a login is legitimate. It's been a little while since it bothered to ask me but I think it offers you a choice of three and you have to pick the right one? It doesn't feel great but that's what we've been given.

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CafecitoHippo@reddit

Yeah Microsoft Authenticator does a 2 digit confirmation. It displays 2 digits on your computer (or whatever device you're signing in to) and then on your phone you enter the two digits to confirm the sign in. It's not a 6 digit number you enter from your authenticator that's refreshed every minute or whatever.

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qqby6482@reddit

It’s a button. Not even necessary to type it.

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CafecitoHippo@reddit

No it's not in Microsoft authenticator. It makes you type the 2 digit code on the device you're trying to log in to.

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K-o-R@reddit

Ah, I read that as "the two 3-digit numbers that are shown", at least in Google Authenticator (it displays as 2 groups of 3).

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himitsumono@reddit

And what a dumbass bit of codefluff it is.

I've been using it for a couple of weeks. It wants you to click the correct number of the three it presents.

And the correct number is *ALWAYS* the middle one of the three.

MS security at its finest.

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Noch_ein_Kamel@reddit

Sometimes. Sometimes you have to enter the number instead of choosing it.

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lauriys@reddit

it's probably two number as in 123 456, not two digit

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Pandahatbear@reddit

Microsoft authenticator app will show you a random 2 digit number you have to then type into the thing you're logging into. It's what happens when I try to log into work emails at home.

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lauriys@reddit

sooo the chance to just randomly guess is fairly high?

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Pandahatbear@reddit

I guess it's 1 in a 100 chance but the app can only be opened with my fingerprint

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subterfugeinc@reddit

You first need to use an unlock PIN or fingerprint to open the authenticator app on your personal device. It's like 3 factor in that case

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lauriys@reddit

does the app let the server know it's being opened?

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thatpaulbloke@reddit

Microsoft Authenticator - to stop users from just hitting "yes" in the app and letting some Russian rando into their email they have to type in the two digits on the screen into their app. There's an alternative version where it throws up three numbers on the app and you have to choose the correct one that is displayed on your email screen, but that's not used in business because it still gives the idiots a one in three chance of letting Vlad in.

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Nois3@reddit

Thanks, I'd forgotten about that option in MS Auth. Makes sense now.

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lunarwolf2008@reddit

google accounts is

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Mandarita42@reddit

Many companies have this set up with Microsoft. It is just a 2-digit number on the screen you are trying to sign in on. Then your device, usually a phone, gives you the MFA prompt and you put in the number. This was added because people would just hit the “Yes, it’s me” whenever their device asked. Sometimes because they shared their password, but sometimes it was a malicious login. Now they can’t just hit that yes button.

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Nois3@reddit

Ah, thanks. I understand now.

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lucky_ducker@reddit

Microsoft Authenticator can be set up to authenticate with just a tap, OR it can display a two-digit number that you have to type in on your computer to log in.

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Slight-Ad-3306@reddit

This may not match your question but my company uses a piece of software where you install an app on your phone. A 2 digit number pops up on computer login screen and the software pops up on your phone and asks for the 2 digit number which you enter and then you have to click Yes that is me. It then allows network access if everything matches up

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CeilingHamster@reddit

The concept of two apps - Outlook and Authenticator - seems to have an affect on peoples minds where they just can't cope. But switching from TikTok to Amazon at their desk is a very straightforward task. Do they just act stupid about this? Why?

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frac6969@reddit

My tech was helping a user set up MFA and he sent a screen shot telling the user exactly which app to download.

He told the user to download it while he went to grab a coffee. When he came back the user had downloaded a wrong app and also paid for it using IAP.

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