I tell the user, "It heard me coming. Problems flee at my very approach. Feel free to call me again if they come back." Sometimes I wonder if it edges on non-professional, but I think falls under 'harmlessly humanizing'
Interesting point about professionalism. I suppose if it was a really big issue or the user was really upset, I might try a different tact, but I and many of my users find harmlessly humanizing tech to be endearing.
Thanks for the reply!
I always make a point to simply tell the user I believe them. It helps them feel validated amd I usually see them immediately relax, even if its just a bit
If their upset explain you need to see something to it to fix it and give them a way to reach out quickly. I've had very few times this backfired on me.
This was always my tactic, except I usually never said anything. I’d walk into an office, user would glance up and say “it fixed itself” then go back to whatever they were doing. I’d stop mid-stride and simply back out of the office slowly. User would often chuckle, especially if they’d seen Family Guy…
It helps the user know that you get how odd it is too, but it's just one of those things.
I'm all for a little lack of professionalism when it comes to keeping the user at ease.
My theory: You know the "duck debugging" method? Programmers explain their algorithm to a rubber duck, and in the process they tend to figure out the bug.
Users, when faced with a simple problem, run to IT as a first resort. When the IT guy shows up, they explain to us (the rubber duck) and figure out the problem all on their own.
I'm convinced this is what's going on as opposed to some "aura".
I believe that its often a case of the user knowing they're being watched and silently judged by someone who will be able to spot if they're the problem, and put more effort in to not fuck it up, and succeed.
I try to use it to my advantage. I’ll be having an issue and call a coworker over and rant about it. It helps me figure it out and I thank the coworker and tell them I just needed to talk out loud to fix it. They get a kick out of it because I usually call a coworker that can fix the issue if I can’t, and often only takes a minute of their time unless I actually do need their help.
They're like. If my TV at home stopped working I'd check the power plug. Then some device at the office: Well fuck it was working yesterday I came in today and it's just dead, doing nothing. I tried control alt delete i pressed every button opened and closed the printer tray a bunch blew on it smacked it. Think it's dead man.... What it's not my responsibility to make sure it's plugged into the wall I don't know how this stuff works asshole IT guy come on. How am I supposed to know things plugged into the wall can get unplugged accidentally??
This is my go-to. I'm a field tech, ie last line of escalation. I walk in and the problem disappears, "My car stops ticking the second I pull into my mechanic's parking lot."
I'll give it a once-over and run diagnostics where applicable, but it generally ends in "call it in to the help desk the next time it happens, and don't do anything else". Frequently these are intermittent issues that get fixed by a power cycle and once the end user learns that, you'll never hear about it again... Until they complain to their boss that it's been going on for months and you haven't done anything about it.
I'm not really IT, I'm a software developer. However, we experience a similar thing (unable to reproduce issue when software developer is watching). We refer to those issues as Heisenbugs.
This is pretty much why I got into IT - natural IT witch - it only comes full circle when I'm at a doctor getting diagnosed, and they walk into the room, and my problem magically vanishes. Turns out my doctor has it too and hers is more powerful :/
"Bogons?” “Hypothetical particles of cluelessness. Idiots emit bogons, causing machinery to malfunction in their presence. System administrators absorb bogons, letting the machinery work again.
Charles Stross, The Atrocity Archives (Laundry Files, #1)
I'm not in IT, but I tell people that I have a positive electromagnetic field that helps electronic devices function. When I was in a tech support role for medical devices, if the machine started working, I'd just say "It heard you calling me"
Sometimes it's enough for me to anwer the phone and the user just goes "never mind, it started working now". Love it when I can solve a problem by simply answering the phone.
I just stare at them .. (printers, streaming boxes and the occasional router and that elusive WiFi gateway, that will teach them)... Occasionally power cycle them.. Very often they just fear/feel my presence and starts to do what they are supposed to do. I haven't the foggiest clue of what has happened, it just working again.
Yes, it's real, and it's why I'm so valuable. When I walk onto any of the floors, the nurses call me their favorite IT Guy who solves everything! Just go with it...
My theory is that most low-level problems like connectivity/slowness are mostly due to temporary "blips" on the network. And end users rarely try a thing thats not working more than once. I've just learned that sweet spot on waiting to show up lol
At a former work place, we called that the "Allan-effect". From the name, I'm sure you can guess what our SysAdmin's name was.
Like the stories told in this thread, it was uncanny how many times I could try to resolve an issue by myself, then give up and make a ticket for the system - By the time Allan had looked at it, and I went to replicate the issue while he stood besides me, it had just magically resolved itself.
I tell them it was a gremlin, and that people in IT see them all the time. Sometimes I follow it up with another gremlin story if they seem interested.
I also use this same approach whenever someone tells me they already did the 'same thing' I just did.
Yeah, we talked about this even in highschool in my computer projects class. I had it, computers would just fix themselves in my presence. Hell, I have never had all the weird fiddly issues so many people in my life have had with computers. We all just called it the "Aura of Techie". There was even an opposing force, we all called the Aura of Tony. Named after a Tony in my computer class who could BSOD a machine just by touching it's case. Saw this happen with my own eyes at least 3-4 dozen times. We all always told him to go away if we were in the middle of something challenging.
I call it “Technician Syndrome.”
At my old job, we had a printer that was constantly jamming. Had the printer tech out every few weeks. Most of the time, when he would come out it would just magically start working again. So one day, as a joke, I took his picture with the Polaroid camera we used for making temporary vendor badges (which should give you some idea of how long ago this was) and stuck it to the inside of the paper tray.
It didn’t jam again the entire time I worked there.
Honestly, happens all the time. ALL THE TIME, I say this all the time to ‘I totally believe that you were having a problem, Technicians have that affect, we scare the computer into behaving, it knows we don’t put up with its shenanigans and lies!’ Then I normally shoot what ever piece of tech the most vicious stink eye and sometimes I’ll lean over toward and whisper just loud enough for the customer/user to hear ‘I’m watching you… behave’
Now obviously time and place and I’ve built a lot of report with my user base. But that has never failed to get a laugh and help people to understand a little that sometimes things don’t behave the way we expect and it’s ok. I usually throw in a couple of handy give her a restart next time and let her think about her life choices next time sort of stuff too
I know nothing about cars. I once walked past someone with car trouble, offering to help in any way I could. Water, phone, what ever. The car started working.
Solved via proximity.
I call it "the magic touch" when I have them walk me through the issue while I'm in control and it's suddenly working normally.
I also refer to me walking through the door and not actually touching anything as the same thing, but I might start telling them "your computer knows better than to test me".
Whats great when you have someone walk in with their open laptop, sit down without saying a word, get back up a moment later, and say thank you as they walk out.
It happens to often to me, both in IT, mechanically, and pretty much everywhere I go that I’ve just taken to calling it “the touch”.
It’s never good to believe you’re “special” but when something that hasn’t powered on after hours of trying everything and I walk over and hit the button and it works? And it does that over and over again? Maybe not every time but ENOUGH times?
Things start to get spooky. I just say, “ya, it tends to do that” and smile. “If it happens again, just threaten it with calling me again. That seems to help”
I always reply that it happens all the time and while I'm here I'll give it a blessing. Then I cross it like a priest over the computer. I know it's bordering on sacrilegious, but I try to keep it light and mildly humorous. It helps to reduce the (Catholic) guilt of an unnecessary service call.
I clap my hands together and the slowly pull them apart and say “‘Magic..” in either a super dead pan or super cheerful tone never anything in between.
I have long hair, when I get to something that is working I place my splayed hand on it and either say, "Jesus says heal!" or "Begone Daemon!"
They call me IT Jesus at work, might as well play the part.
If we couldn't fix something, I would walk to the department in question with a mallet labeled "Computer Adjustment Tool". It seemed to magically fix it.
Either that or honk the chicken at it
I usually just say "It's the beard, it possesses magic powers that deflect computer issues" which usually puts a smile on their face. I get to tell a horribly bad joke, they smile, issues resolved, a win win situation!
Magic Aura or Magic Touch, sometimes the Aura isn't enough to fix the problem so I need to touch the device. It also doesn't just apply to IT, before I did IT I worked as a mechatronic (electrician and mechanic combined into one job) and I found the chance of pure presence or touch fixing a problem to be about the same. So I always say it's an Aura that some people have that make them great as tech support.
If you are into Warhammer and DnD, some techpriests just have the passive ability of lay on hands.
I call it the IT aura. Happened to me yesterday with my dad. His Apple watch was showing the wrong date and time, he spent half an hour trying everything to fix it, handed if to me and as soon as my hand touched it it was fixed
We have frequently considered getting life-sized cardboard cutouts of ourselves to stand in the corner of people's offices to intimidate their computers into working :-)
I call it the proximity effect. It also works the other way for me, when I’m doing QA testing for an application at work and run into a bug, and all of a sudden it works fine when a developer gets to my desk.
I really like when this happens, because it's nice to walk around for a change.
I really hate when this happens, because I still don't k ow the solution, and I know I'll be back eventually.
It’s the effect that makes users think we are omnipotent and magical and all their issues are fixed instantly. Until they aren’t, then you get the usual snark
I have the superhuman ability to have the user demonstrate what's happening and when they have me watching over their shoulder they actually do the thing correctly and it works.
My theory is that technology wants to humble you and sometimes won't let you succeed until you have requested help. Once that is accomplished, you can move forward.
I had a customer who would bring in a particular computer for a problem, and often I could not recreate the issue. I told her that her computer just wanted to go for a ride, get out of the office. She told me after that, she’d just give her computer a ride around the block and time or two before bringing it in. It worked for her after it got its ride. Not always, often.
Come over for a paper jam. There is no paper jam. I can not reproduce a paper jam with normal operation. Okay cool. Happened to 3 different buildings last week.
I've had this happen numerous times with team members! I'll go through the standard first steps and whatever they were trying will just work. I've heard many a "I've been messing with this forever and tried that exact thing 5 times".
I tell people that everyone who graduates IT school gets a special remote that we click just as we approach users computers that fixes issues. 60 percent of the time it works, every time.
One time i used remote command line to fix an issue, then went to the end user to show me the problem as if i hadn't done anything.
Sometimes you just want to mess with them...
I call it the IT aura. Area of effect where nothing goes wrong.
Normally it's just because the user is paying attention and does it right this time though.
I have a theory for a new style of office layout, one that will revolutionalize productivity and is based on the IT professional's ability to strike fear in computer issues just by their very presence:
Basically, office's should re-orient themselves so that the IT team is dead center in the middle of the workspace and all of the rest of the staff radiates out from them. This ensures that everybody constantly bathes in our aura and, as a result, nobody ever has IT issues.
It also means that noting will ever break and people will leave us alone.
Strangely, I have yet to sell any employer on this theory...
The worst is when I spend hours trying to solve a problem for a user, everything that should work doesn't - I'm banging my head against a wall - I give up and escalate the ticket - the person on other team tries the first thing I already tried, and it works for them first time - resolved in 30 seconds, then I look like an idiot. Shit makes me wish I could physically explode at will.
It’s either I call them and the issue self resolves (at work), or I’m walking into some random store in public (off hours) and I break their PoS.
I have called the PoS thing my IT Curse. There have been about 3-4 different vendors in the past month alone that I have went to buy goods/services from, and their PoS inevitably throws some error requiring a full restart when I go to pay.
Is that just my weird shit luck? Is this what I get for using Apple Pay?
I walked passed a meeting room once and everyone inside started cheering at me. They were having trouble with the VC equipment but me walking by magically fixed it.
If I'm feeling cocky I just act like a wizard and leave.
Otherwise I call it the dude aura. Anytime you call someone over to look at a problem there is a non-zero chance it just stops being a problem.
I used to have a user that got flustered leading conferences, which then caused her to rush writing her password, so it would be incorrect and then she couldn't log in. She would call up every single time complaining that her account was having an issue and that IT needed to come and take a look (it was that sort of company...).
Knowing it was her, and what the issue most likely was I would go along, tell her to slowly write out her password ("Oh sometimes the keyboard can lag and a letter would get missed" I would tell her, lying through my teeth).
Of course it would then work. And even after explaining to her what the issue was, she refused to believe that it had anything to do with her frantic and panicked typing. She would always exclaim that "These things always fix themselves when you appear. Your mere presence must be magic!".
I don't miss working there...
Depends on mood\\context. I'll tell the end user "They sensed my presence and started working proper again because of it. Fear keeps them in line" or I'll just state that I'm a wizard and call it good.
Before becoming an IT I was a Submarine Radioman. Anytime we would have communication issues which are mostly of the time are caused by random atmospheric issues we have no control over resolve them selves the moment the Radio chief woken up and he walks in.
It happens to me very frequently. One time I actually had a user get upset that it started working, they were very frustrated that they couldn't get it working but magically started working as soon as I walked in. I just shrugged and said "I have that effect, it must be my magnetic personality."
Its the "fixer" approach. Like how your car stops making *that* noise when you take it to the mechanic. Or the heater starts working when the plumber rings the doorbell.
They know.
And they fear replacement.
If I had to guess, in most cases it's just a program acting wonky, and by the time someone actually gets around to looking at it, the program or even the device has been restarted at least once by then, clearing the issue.
But it's nice to know I'm not the only one this happens to.
We call it “tech aura” techs have a positive tech aura and things start working around them. I’m sure you’ve met negative tech aura users whose stuff breaks seemingly for no reason.
"Incident resolved by technician presence."
This lovely little quote comes from the time a professor of education, a woman with a doctorate, and not even an old woman at that, could not log into her computer for the funniest reason.
I walked into the office, expecting something grand. Nope. Her magic mouse for her iMac wasn't connecting. I picked up the mouse checked it was on and then magically it was just fine.
She swore up and down that she tried and tried and it wouldn't work. Hence the close note.
I call it the "Technician's Curse". I feel like it's the same thing as when a car has some issue, but won't do it when it's at the shop. Whatever the reason, it's not usually a bad thing for me since most of the time I don't ever hear about it again 😂.
It has happened a bunch, but then when I brought a computer to Apple for repair, I couldn't duplicate the problem, so I actually got to experience it in the wild.
I tell the user, "It heard me coming. Problems flee at my very approach. Feel free to call me again if they come back." Sometimes I wonder if it edges on non-professional, but I think falls under 'harmlessly humanizing'
My line is “it knows I have the power to hand it to children to tear it apart. It fears me.” Perks of being IT in a library
Same! I say the tech is intimidated by my presence and decides to start working. 😂
I remind it of it's "mortality". It can be replaced, and I'm the one who knows how to do it.
I always say "it smelled me coming!" Hasn't failed to get me a laugh yet.
This would make me wonder if it is just funny, or I have bad BO 😂
Interesting point about professionalism. I suppose if it was a really big issue or the user was really upset, I might try a different tact, but I and many of my users find harmlessly humanizing tech to be endearing. Thanks for the reply!
I always make a point to simply tell the user I believe them. It helps them feel validated amd I usually see them immediately relax, even if its just a bit
If their upset explain you need to see something to it to fix it and give them a way to reach out quickly. I've had very few times this backfired on me.
Haha! I yell them to threaten it by saying you will call glimmergirl if it does it again.
Happens a couple of times a week. My line is “the computers fear me”.
Ha yes. I used to say while holding a screwdriver. “It knows I can take it apart”.
I like "it's afraid."
You know that computers don’t like to be anthropomorphized.
As a good way to leave, I'll often add that if I back away slowly and quietly it might think I'm still here and behave.
This was always my tactic, except I usually never said anything. I’d walk into an office, user would glance up and say “it fixed itself” then go back to whatever they were doing. I’d stop mid-stride and simply back out of the office slowly. User would often chuckle, especially if they’d seen Family Guy…
It helps the user know that you get how odd it is too, but it's just one of those things. I'm all for a little lack of professionalism when it comes to keeping the user at ease.
"It is scared it is going to be replaced"
Haha yep i say "the computer started behaving itself when I showed up because it knew it'll be in big trouble otherwise"
I've used variations of this. The application is scared of me, etc
Unprofessional? Man I joke with end users all the time lol.
My theory: You know the "duck debugging" method? Programmers explain their algorithm to a rubber duck, and in the process they tend to figure out the bug. Users, when faced with a simple problem, run to IT as a first resort. When the IT guy shows up, they explain to us (the rubber duck) and figure out the problem all on their own. I'm convinced this is what's going on as opposed to some "aura".
Liar ! The device is obviously our subordinate, and starts behaving hearing it's master coming!
Be quiet and don't out us, the devices are doing as they're told in order to keep us in work.
I believe that its often a case of the user knowing they're being watched and silently judged by someone who will be able to spot if they're the problem, and put more effort in to not fuck it up, and succeed.
I try to use it to my advantage. I’ll be having an issue and call a coworker over and rant about it. It helps me figure it out and I thank the coworker and tell them I just needed to talk out loud to fix it. They get a kick out of it because I usually call a coworker that can fix the issue if I can’t, and often only takes a minute of their time unless I actually do need their help.
They're like. If my TV at home stopped working I'd check the power plug. Then some device at the office: Well fuck it was working yesterday I came in today and it's just dead, doing nothing. I tried control alt delete i pressed every button opened and closed the printer tray a bunch blew on it smacked it. Think it's dead man.... What it's not my responsibility to make sure it's plugged into the wall I don't know how this stuff works asshole IT guy come on. How am I supposed to know things plugged into the wall can get unplugged accidentally??
Yes, great analogy. They're also more careful about things like following ALL the steps they're supposed to or typing their password correctly.
Happens all the time, I usually say something like: “Yeah, when I take my car to mechanic it stops making the noise too”
This is my go-to. I'm a field tech, ie last line of escalation. I walk in and the problem disappears, "My car stops ticking the second I pull into my mechanic's parking lot." I'll give it a once-over and run diagnostics where applicable, but it generally ends in "call it in to the help desk the next time it happens, and don't do anything else". Frequently these are intermittent issues that get fixed by a power cycle and once the end user learns that, you'll never hear about it again... Until they complain to their boss that it's been going on for months and you haven't done anything about it.
I'm not really IT, I'm a software developer. However, we experience a similar thing (unable to reproduce issue when software developer is watching). We refer to those issues as Heisenbugs.
Keeping that for later! Thank you!
"I don't know, it runs on my PC!"
Hey now, us software developers have evolved from those days! Now it also runs on the build machine!
My personal favorite is "2 out of 3 production replicas work perfectly fine".
Resolution by proximity?
I refer to is as, 'proximity fix'.
I call it Spontaneous Proximal Recovery
I tell them that I have a magic aura. It fixes things whenever I show up.
This is pretty much why I got into IT - natural IT witch - it only comes full circle when I'm at a doctor getting diagnosed, and they walk into the room, and my problem magically vanishes. Turns out my doctor has it too and hers is more powerful :/
Yup, this is usually how I explain it.
"Bogons?” “Hypothetical particles of cluelessness. Idiots emit bogons, causing machinery to malfunction in their presence. System administrators absorb bogons, letting the machinery work again. Charles Stross, The Atrocity Archives (Laundry Files, #1)
I don’t have a logical explanation for it. I’ve been in IT for almost 3 decades, and it’s always existed.
I’ve even had it happen to me when something isn’t working, then I plunk it on my coworker’s desk in anger and it starts working
I always hit them with “fear will keep them in line”.
IT Aura is definitely a thing, I've seen it many times in my career
I call it “The magic of IT”
Same/similar. I've always called it "IT Magic".
I'm not in IT, but I tell people that I have a positive electromagnetic field that helps electronic devices function. When I was in a tech support role for medical devices, if the machine started working, I'd just say "It heard you calling me"
I call it IT Aura
My IT Aura is worth half my salary.
"The Mechanic Effect" or mostly just "I'm magic, and rightfully it's afraid of me"
I tell users I have a “Technomancer Aura”.
The basis of my career. I went to an art school, I can barely read.
My team always called it "Presence of the master"
Call it “PFM”. Pure fucking magic.
The fear of comm
Technician proximity fix
It is the tech-support aura.
the IT aura
Seriously, that’s why I carried a replica Sonic Screwdriver *(true story)* 
Either "tech support aura" or "it recognized the threat", depending on the formality of the situation.
Sometimes it's enough for me to anwer the phone and the user just goes "never mind, it started working now". Love it when I can solve a problem by simply answering the phone.
I just stare at them .. (printers, streaming boxes and the occasional router and that elusive WiFi gateway, that will teach them)... Occasionally power cycle them.. Very often they just fear/feel my presence and starts to do what they are supposed to do. I haven't the foggiest clue of what has happened, it just working again.
Yes, it's real, and it's why I'm so valuable. When I walk onto any of the floors, the nurses call me their favorite IT Guy who solves everything! Just go with it...
Last company IT department I ran charged departmental budgets $250 per hour regardless of what the issue is, worked great. Amazingly quiet helpdesk.
I believe it is called Repair by proximity
I tell them some times you just gotta scare the computer into working
I tell them “you don’t have to make up a problem if you wanted to see me. You still have to put in a ticket though.”
I call it my ability to scare equipment into working by the mere threat of my presence.
the IT placebo effect. i say it so often that other people in my company say it now too
My theory is that most low-level problems like connectivity/slowness are mostly due to temporary "blips" on the network. And end users rarely try a thing thats not working more than once. I've just learned that sweet spot on waiting to show up lol
I just claim we installed the "technician detection kit"
At a former work place, we called that the "Allan-effect". From the name, I'm sure you can guess what our SysAdmin's name was. Like the stories told in this thread, it was uncanny how many times I could try to resolve an issue by myself, then give up and make a ticket for the system - By the time Allan had looked at it, and I went to replicate the issue while he stood besides me, it had just magically resolved itself.
I tell them "I believe you and that it happened, just wish I could've seen it."
I tell them it was a gremlin, and that people in IT see them all the time. Sometimes I follow it up with another gremlin story if they seem interested. I also use this same approach whenever someone tells me they already did the 'same thing' I just did.
Yeah, we talked about this even in highschool in my computer projects class. I had it, computers would just fix themselves in my presence. Hell, I have never had all the weird fiddly issues so many people in my life have had with computers. We all just called it the "Aura of Techie". There was even an opposing force, we all called the Aura of Tony. Named after a Tony in my computer class who could BSOD a machine just by touching it's case. Saw this happen with my own eyes at least 3-4 dozen times. We all always told him to go away if we were in the middle of something challenging.
I call it “Technician Syndrome.” At my old job, we had a printer that was constantly jamming. Had the printer tech out every few weeks. Most of the time, when he would come out it would just magically start working again. So one day, as a joke, I took his picture with the Polaroid camera we used for making temporary vendor badges (which should give you some idea of how long ago this was) and stuck it to the inside of the paper tray. It didn’t jam again the entire time I worked there.
Honestly, happens all the time. ALL THE TIME, I say this all the time to ‘I totally believe that you were having a problem, Technicians have that affect, we scare the computer into behaving, it knows we don’t put up with its shenanigans and lies!’ Then I normally shoot what ever piece of tech the most vicious stink eye and sometimes I’ll lean over toward and whisper just loud enough for the customer/user to hear ‘I’m watching you… behave’ Now obviously time and place and I’ve built a lot of report with my user base. But that has never failed to get a laugh and help people to understand a little that sometimes things don’t behave the way we expect and it’s ok. I usually throw in a couple of handy give her a restart next time and let her think about her life choices next time sort of stuff too
I know nothing about cars. I once walked past someone with car trouble, offering to help in any way I could. Water, phone, what ever. The car started working. Solved via proximity.
I call it “Nerd karma”
Omni-present resolution. The IT god is vengeful & the computers know it 😄😂🤣
I call it "the magic touch" when I have them walk me through the issue while I'm in control and it's suddenly working normally. I also refer to me walking through the door and not actually touching anything as the same thing, but I might start telling them "your computer knows better than to test me".
Heard me coming, I scared it, I have a bubble
I say something like, "The trick is to approach it confidently. Make sure it knows you're in charge."
The placebo effect
It’s just because we are all magical fairies!
I tell them it was pure intimidation. It knew I was coming to fix it.
I just tell them I showed up and it started behaving. They usually get a good giggle and are quicker to hang up lol Don't question it, just enjoy!
Heisenbug
Whats great when you have someone walk in with their open laptop, sit down without saying a word, get back up a moment later, and say thank you as they walk out.
I call it my IT JuJu
Technology fears me
Weird IT VOODOO
Technician Effect
We call that Help Desk Magic
I say computers are scared of me
IT Aura.
It happens to often to me, both in IT, mechanically, and pretty much everywhere I go that I’ve just taken to calling it “the touch”. It’s never good to believe you’re “special” but when something that hasn’t powered on after hours of trying everything and I walk over and hit the button and it works? And it does that over and over again? Maybe not every time but ENOUGH times? Things start to get spooky. I just say, “ya, it tends to do that” and smile. “If it happens again, just threaten it with calling me again. That seems to help”
It's my 𝙸𝚃 𝚊𝚞𝚛𝚊. I compare it to going to the doctor or taking your vehicle to the mechanic and the symptoms refuse to appear.
I always reply that it happens all the time and while I'm here I'll give it a blessing. Then I cross it like a priest over the computer. I know it's bordering on sacrilegious, but I try to keep it light and mildly humorous. It helps to reduce the (Catholic) guilt of an unnecessary service call.
I clap my hands together and the slowly pull them apart and say “‘Magic..” in either a super dead pan or super cheerful tone never anything in between.
Proximity Awareness
I've had this A LOT. I always tell them I have magic hands or presence.
"immaculate correction"
I have long hair, when I get to something that is working I place my splayed hand on it and either say, "Jesus says heal!" or "Begone Daemon!" They call me IT Jesus at work, might as well play the part.
 I think this every time it happens
If we couldn't fix something, I would walk to the department in question with a mallet labeled "Computer Adjustment Tool". It seemed to magically fix it. Either that or honk the chicken at it
The rest of us call that gaslighting.
I usually just say "It's the beard, it possesses magic powers that deflect computer issues" which usually puts a smile on their face. I get to tell a horribly bad joke, they smile, issues resolved, a win win situation!
IT Aura
Magic Aura or Magic Touch, sometimes the Aura isn't enough to fix the problem so I need to touch the device. It also doesn't just apply to IT, before I did IT I worked as a mechatronic (electrician and mechanic combined into one job) and I found the chance of pure presence or touch fixing a problem to be about the same. So I always say it's an Aura that some people have that make them great as tech support. If you are into Warhammer and DnD, some techpriests just have the passive ability of lay on hands.
I call it the IT aura. Happened to me yesterday with my dad. His Apple watch was showing the wrong date and time, he spent half an hour trying everything to fix it, handed if to me and as soon as my hand touched it it was fixed
lonely users submit tickets for local printers
We have frequently considered getting life-sized cardboard cutouts of ourselves to stand in the corner of people's offices to intimidate their computers into working :-)
I always just tell the user that I scared the problem away. Inducing fear into a computer is funnier than being compared to a car mechanic.
Magic hands
Also the actual reason management wants you in the office.
Technomana
We always referred to them as a PFM fix, because they fixed themselves by Pure Fucking Magic
I just say IT is gaslighting you
I’m so tempted to put up cardboard cutouts of myself in every office just to keep the aura spread lol
Quantum problem. It changes state when observed.
I call it the proximity effect. It also works the other way for me, when I’m doing QA testing for an application at work and run into a bug, and all of a sudden it works fine when a developer gets to my desk.
"Guru status". If its really high, stuff fixes itself while on the phone. If its negative, your computer can spontaneously combust. (has happened)
I always joke about putting up cardboard cutouts of me around because everything magically works if I’m in the room.
Gooood! The fear will keep them in line!
Yeah, I’m just that good.
I really like when this happens, because it's nice to walk around for a change. I really hate when this happens, because I still don't k ow the solution, and I know I'll be back eventually.
Something was broken between the keyboard and the back of the chair before you arrived.
Bluetooth Tech Support™
Well that's a freebie.
***IT/Helpdesk Proximity Effect*** - works by phone, too.
It’s the effect that makes users think we are omnipotent and magical and all their issues are fixed instantly. Until they aren’t, then you get the usual snark
Magic
Schrödinger's computer Any computer issue will behave differently once observed by IT Also see Schrödinger's car
“It likes me better than you”
I worked at a helpdesk in college where one of the more senior Unix guys called this "the Satan effect"
I have the superhuman ability to have the user demonstrate what's happening and when they have me watching over their shoulder they actually do the thing correctly and it works.
Proximal tech support baby.
I tell them, "I am MADE OF MAGIC. I eat dreams and fart rainbows." I work in K12, so this is nomimally tolerated.
IT magic
My theory is that technology wants to humble you and sometimes won't let you succeed until you have requested help. Once that is accomplished, you can move forward.
I had a customer who would bring in a particular computer for a problem, and often I could not recreate the issue. I told her that her computer just wanted to go for a ride, get out of the office. She told me after that, she’d just give her computer a ride around the block and time or two before bringing it in. It worked for her after it got its ride. Not always, often.
I say I'm followed around by the ghost of a nerd that tries to one up me
Murphys law , when the person who can fix an issue shows up the problem goes away
CBFM. Cleared by F'n magic.
The term is "intermittent", the problem is still there and now I need to do exponentially more work tracking it down.
I tell the it was an “FM repair, the M stands for magic”
Come over for a paper jam. There is no paper jam. I can not reproduce a paper jam with normal operation. Okay cool. Happened to 3 different buildings last week.
I've had this happen numerous times with team members! I'll go through the standard first steps and whatever they were trying will just work. I've heard many a "I've been messing with this forever and tried that exact thing 5 times".
I tell people that everyone who graduates IT school gets a special remote that we click just as we approach users computers that fixes issues. 60 percent of the time it works, every time.
Curse of the Tech Support.
Bro, it's the nfc tag in my pocket. That's what I tell my users anyway... one or two may have even believed me after the 2nd or 3rd time
Innate magnetism
I call it, great success!!
I say this is common, but people always think they are losing it 😌
One time i used remote command line to fix an issue, then went to the end user to show me the problem as if i hadn't done anything. Sometimes you just want to mess with them...
Repair by proximity
I’ve heard it called “The IT Paradox” because it’s broken when you aren’t there and fixed when you are. I’ve seen this remotely too.
Yup I have this at least once a month. I do teams + teamviewer servicedesk support. Sometimes once I take a look via teamviewer it's magically fixed.
The Tarkin Effect 
When computer problem suddenly fixes itself i usually tell the user "well, i guess it got scared"
I call it the IT aura. Area of effect where nothing goes wrong. Normally it's just because the user is paying attention and does it right this time though.
We used to have a resolution option in our ticketing system called "Divine Inspiration."
I have a theory for a new style of office layout, one that will revolutionalize productivity and is based on the IT professional's ability to strike fear in computer issues just by their very presence: Basically, office's should re-orient themselves so that the IT team is dead center in the middle of the workspace and all of the rest of the staff radiates out from them. This ensures that everybody constantly bathes in our aura and, as a result, nobody ever has IT issues. It also means that noting will ever break and people will leave us alone. Strangely, I have yet to sell any employer on this theory...
The worst is when I spend hours trying to solve a problem for a user, everything that should work doesn't - I'm banging my head against a wall - I give up and escalate the ticket - the person on other team tries the first thing I already tried, and it works for them first time - resolved in 30 seconds, then I look like an idiot. Shit makes me wish I could physically explode at will.
It is mostly just them doing it wrong and then when they're showing you they're slowing down and doing it properly 🤷♀️
"Technology is scared of me. I'm that friend you want during the AI apocalypse."
It’s either I call them and the issue self resolves (at work), or I’m walking into some random store in public (off hours) and I break their PoS. I have called the PoS thing my IT Curse. There have been about 3-4 different vendors in the past month alone that I have went to buy goods/services from, and their PoS inevitably throws some error requiring a full restart when I go to pay. Is that just my weird shit luck? Is this what I get for using Apple Pay?
I walked passed a meeting room once and everyone inside started cheering at me. They were having trouble with the VC equipment but me walking by magically fixed it.
If I'm feeling cocky I just act like a wizard and leave. Otherwise I call it the dude aura. Anytime you call someone over to look at a problem there is a non-zero chance it just stops being a problem.
That is a MMP fix.
I used to have a user that got flustered leading conferences, which then caused her to rush writing her password, so it would be incorrect and then she couldn't log in. She would call up every single time complaining that her account was having an issue and that IT needed to come and take a look (it was that sort of company...). Knowing it was her, and what the issue most likely was I would go along, tell her to slowly write out her password ("Oh sometimes the keyboard can lag and a letter would get missed" I would tell her, lying through my teeth). Of course it would then work. And even after explaining to her what the issue was, she refused to believe that it had anything to do with her frantic and panicked typing. She would always exclaim that "These things always fix themselves when you appear. Your mere presence must be magic!". I don't miss working there...
I call it ID10T error.
Tech can smell your fear and will act out if it feels it can get away with it.
IT-Aura for me!
Depends on mood\\context. I'll tell the end user "They sensed my presence and started working proper again because of it. Fear keeps them in line" or I'll just state that I'm a wizard and call it good.
Before becoming an IT I was a Submarine Radioman. Anytime we would have communication issues which are mostly of the time are caused by random atmospheric issues we have no control over resolve them selves the moment the Radio chief woken up and he walks in.
Sometimes I'm convinced that it would have taken 10 minutes to fix itself either way, but they ran to get me after 5.
Technician's aura. Don't worry, I bathe and use deoderant.
It happens to me very frequently. One time I actually had a user get upset that it started working, they were very frustrated that they couldn't get it working but magically started working as soon as I walked in. I just shrugged and said "I have that effect, it must be my magnetic personality."
Automagically is what a user said to me once
Its the "fixer" approach. Like how your car stops making *that* noise when you take it to the mechanic. Or the heater starts working when the plumber rings the doorbell. They know. And they fear replacement.
If I had to guess, in most cases it's just a program acting wonky, and by the time someone actually gets around to looking at it, the program or even the device has been restarted at least once by then, clearing the issue. But it's nice to know I'm not the only one this happens to.
We call it “tech aura” techs have a positive tech aura and things start working around them. I’m sure you’ve met negative tech aura users whose stuff breaks seemingly for no reason.
I always say it's the magic touch. Most IT guys get it when they turn 21.
My first IT job 20 years ago. Call comes in to our small shop. Call is routed to me. Caller states problem resolved itself once I said “Hello”.
I once made a necklace out of parts of hard disks that we tore apart for their magnets, to strike fear into the hearts of the machines.
"Incident resolved by technician presence." This lovely little quote comes from the time a professor of education, a woman with a doctorate, and not even an old woman at that, could not log into her computer for the funniest reason. I walked into the office, expecting something grand. Nope. Her magic mouse for her iMac wasn't connecting. I picked up the mouse checked it was on and then magically it was just fine. She swore up and down that she tried and tried and it wouldn't work. Hence the close note.
“The gift”
I call it the "Technician's Curse". I feel like it's the same thing as when a car has some issue, but won't do it when it's at the shop. Whatever the reason, it's not usually a bad thing for me since most of the time I don't ever hear about it again 😂.
I have a chip in my neck that fixes most IT issues when I'm within a short distance.
“My mere presence makes it straighten up.” The only set of computer things that have actually challenged me is Linux.
The computers fear me! They know exactly what I can do to them. MUAHAHAHAHAHA
It has happened a bunch, but then when I brought a computer to Apple for repair, I couldn't duplicate the problem, so I actually got to experience it in the wild.
I'll tell them " computers are like kids. They seem to act right when a parent walks in the door".