Sir, is that a bullet hole?

My first job ever was in a small PC repair shop in a small town in Central Florida called Plant City.

I was 16 and worked about 20 hours a week. $10/hour was big money, I enjoyed the heck out of it, and learned a lot from the owner/lead tech.

A user walked in one evening while I was manning the register. He wore tight fitting Wrangler jeans, a plaid shirt, and a John Deer cap (Pretty typical for my small farm town) and was holding one of our house labeled PCs which he bought a couple of weeks before. I remember our brushed aluminum labels well, and we normally slapped the processor logo on the face, I remember this one had a Cyrix 686, but can't recall other details.

RedneckMcNuttyPants: Yall's warranty is 30 days, right?

Me: Yes sir, we guarantee our machines for 30 days. What seems to be the problem?

RNMNP: It stopped workin'

Me: Okay, I'll be glad to start a ticket and have one of our technicians take a look (I was merely a pimple faced apprentice then).

RNMNP: You won't be able to fix it he said, placing the tower on the counter top.

I notice a hole in the side of the machine and hear internal parts kind of shuffling around inside like a bag of potato chips.

Me: Okay, why is that?

RNMNP: Because I shot it.

Me: Sir, is this a bullet hole?

RNMNP: Yeshir.

Me: Why did you shoot your computer?

RNMNP: I didn't shoot it, my wife did.

Me: Okay(a little nervous now). Why did your wife shoot your computer?

RNMNP: Actually, he said lowering his eyes she caught me looking at something I shouldn't have been looking at. She shot the screen first, but then I told her that wasn't the computer, then she shot the computer. Can you fix it?

Me: Actually, yes, but it won't be free, we don't cover gunshot damage in our 30 day guarantee. You'll have to pay.

RNMNP: That's okay, ya'll just keep it then, I won't be needing it now.

Me: You could have it mounted.

The man glared at me for a second as if to say "This is not a joke", but then smiled, saying "Okay, fair enough, thanks young man".

He took the machine and left.

I loved technology as a kid, but seeing a PC with a bullet hole and hearing the back story made me even more sure I wanted to pursue a career in IT.

Happy Tuesday,

Austin