Dear Inbox, I Am Not Your Help Desk

After 25 years working in IT and software development, I’ve seen a lot of amazing changes. Technology has evolved so fast, and I’ve been lucky to grow with it. But there’s one thing that hasn’t changed at all — questions from people who clearly don’t read the emails, messages, or alerts they get.

Let me give you some examples. Someone sends me an email, subject line “Is this spam?” They attach a suspicious message from an unknown email address saying they won a million dollars and just need to click a link. Or I get a call: “Why can’t I print?” The printer literally has a blinking message saying Out of Paper. Or my favorite: “Where’s the file you said you’d send?” I already sent it three days ago, with an attachment, clear instructions, and a follow-up email.

It’s not that I don’t want to help people. But these aren’t technical problems. They’re problems of not reading what’s right in front of you. And it’s exhausting. It takes time to answer these questions, and honestly, it’s frustrating to feel like a walking help desk for things people could solve themselves with two seconds of effort.

Why does this keep happening? One reason is that we’re all overwhelmed. People are drowning in emails, Slack messages, and notifications, so they skim or skip reading entirely. They think, “I don’t have time to read this, but I have time to ask…