IT Worker’s Sarcastic Response to a Colleague’s Absurd Request

A Strange Request from a Colleague on a Business Trip

Sometimes, the most absurd requests come from the most unexpected places. In this case, an employee made a request that was technically possible to fulfill but completely impossible to meet due to the nature of the task itself. The situation led to a humorous response from the IT team, which ended up being shared widely online.

The story begins with a marketing staff member who was preparing for a conference. She had followed proper protocol by requesting a loaner laptop several days in advance, which was provided in time. That was the last logical action she took before her trip.

The conference was 700 km away, so she had to fly out the day before. However, right before she left, she opened another support ticket. The timing was particularly bad—her IT team had already gone off-duty, and only one person was available via the on-call number.

When the IT manager arrived at the office the next morning, he was met with a colleague who looked visibly confused. The colleague was unsure how to handle the ticket and decided to escalate it to the manager.

Upon reviewing the ticket, the manager found the request to be incredibly strange. The user had asked:

“Please put the attached files on a USB stick. They contain my presentation media for tomorrow’s conference. The files are very important for this event, so please make sure there are no errors in copying.”

Just minutes later, the user added a note to the ticket:

“Be aware I won’t be in the office tomorrow.”

This raised a lot of questions. How could someone expect the files to be transferred to a USB stick and delivered in time if they wouldn’t be in the office?

The Only Logical Response

After thinking through the situation, the IT manager decided the only reasonable solution was to copy the files to a USB stick and send them back with a sarcastic response.

He wrote:

“Attached files were transferred to a USB stick as you requested. Delivery of said media in time is, unfortunately, impossible due to a lack of USB mass storage teleportation capabilities.”

He then closed the ticket.

This response quickly gained attention online, especially on Reddit. Users were amused by the clever and sarcastic reply. Some commented:

Bless you for giving her this much credit.
LOL don’t give them ideas.
Maybe, but that’s not his job.
Exactly! Thank you.
He’s just not trying hard enough.
Closing tickets must feel nice.

The Humor in the Situation

While the situation was clearly a misunderstanding, it also highlighted the importance of clear communication in the workplace. The employee seemed unaware of the logistical challenges involved in fulfilling their request.

It also sparked discussions about how IT teams often have to deal with unusual or unreasonable requests. In this case, the response was both practical and humorous, showing that sometimes the best way to handle an ignorant or entitled person is to point out the absurdity of their request and move on.

Lessons Learned

This incident serves as a reminder that while some requests may seem straightforward, they can often involve hidden complexities. It also shows how humor can be used to address situations that might otherwise be frustrating.

For those interested in more stories like this, there are similar accounts of employees dealing with ridiculous internal requests. One such story involves an employee who got revenge on a coworker who kept grading their work suspiciously low.