It’s not the shot that bothers me;

It’s where you put that needle that makes me nervous.

The Air National Guard requires all of it’s members to maintain current shot records, which of course implies that I get to be a human pincushion about 3 times a year as vaccinations come due for renewal. I handle shots fairly well…I think.  I always make a joke or try to imagine I can’t feel it, whatever it takes to get past the actual stabbing part, well ok, puncture.

I prefer an older “shot giver” because immunization technicians take a few years before they get really good. There have even been a few times where I haven’t felt the needle at all. There were also times when I wondered if they were using a knitting needle for an injector. I guess no one <likes> shots, but given the necessity of them….., can’t we just take the uncertainty out of the equation?

The last immunization injection I received was for Hepatitis, not a showstopper in the vaccine world; in fact it usually doesn’t hurt much…usually! First, they have to warm up the vaccine. This is because if they pull it from the fridge and jab it in your arm, it’s going to hurt, and they know it! So usually they will warm it in their hand a second, which the young technician did. I thought, how nice, she is going to try and make this painless… ugh, and that’s where it all went wrong.

I rolled up my sleeve and she did that pinch massage thing that makes about as much sense as thumping a watermelon for ripeness. (Does that have any benchmark for accuracy?) Anyway, I looked away, relaxed my arm, and bam!…she jammed that thing in my arm like she was Chuckie the killer doll. My arm involuntarily twitched and she shouted, “Don’t Flinch”!

What?
Do I have to get another shot for flinching? Who flinched?

I was doing my best to hold still until my arm got treated like a dart board. You must be kidding! Don’t flinch?

Are you sure you did that arm pinch thing correctly?

I didn’t realize I had “flinched”, so while thinking all of the above…I said, “Well,, its that whole, you sticking a needle in my arm thing…I guess that can happen.”

She glared back at me, and pulled the needle out, wiping the blood away…a few times (always a good sign) and said, “You can go”.

“Ya promise?” I said as I wondered what kind of clinical manner this was. But then they get paid to give out pain, not to share it with their victims.

Don’t flinch?  Was she kidding?  Who could be perfectly still while a needle is forced into your body? I would think a little flinching would be expected even encouraged?

Maybe they could make it part of the preparation…“Hey you’re gonna want to flinch when I stick this needle in so uh..try to keep it steady, ok?” That would work!

And another thing, while I rant on…Was I the only flincher in the group that day? And what good is that comment after I have been injected? The needle was already in my arm; all I could do now was wonder if she knitted with it after work.

I did several rehearsals with this whole ordeal in my head, typical for me, trying to find the logic in the experience. My conclusions were not about hospitals or shots, but about customer service in the IT arena.

Do we treat our users that way? I think we do…and no wonder they get so perturbed with us when we tell them the obvious. Here’s an example..

User: Help!, I’ve lost a document that I have been working on all day

Tech: Did you back it up?

User: No, I was going to save it when I got done but….

Tech: Well you should always back-up your work as you go

User: Gee Thanks, …do you give shots too?

See what I mean? The obvious has never been much of a comfort when computers go down. People need to hear that the problem was not caused by them, assuming it wasn’t, and they also need to hear that they did everything right. Then you can lead them to a preventative solution.

I’ve found that users are a lot more responsive when I mention the things they did right and then follow on with a fix. This is especially good when you have bad news; ie: “I can’t get your file back.” If bad news follows a comprehensive explanation of the problem, possible options and your best efforts, you will find users accept the loss much better.

Perhaps saying, “But I can set this up so your system automatically saves your documents from now on.” See what I mean?

We all know that shots hurt most of the time, yet we still take them. We accept the brief pain in exchange for the long term benefits. If a customer looses information but gains the understanding to prevent it next time, they can at least feel they are vaccinated against repeating the mistake again.

Now,  about those shots that don’t go in the arm…

Popularity: 13% [?]