Those IT People
Muffie Benson-Perella (muffie AT dealbreaker.com) is an Associate in the Investment Banking Division of a "Bulge Bracket" bank. She holds a B.A. in French and Art from Vassar College and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. Her regular column "Heard in the Suite" is a probing (and, ahem, fictional) weekly look into the secret lives and behind the velvet curtains of the investment banking world.
I've been having a problem with my network since I changed around my laptop a little bit. IT people are supposed to help Associates like me so we can get things done. I have been mailing back and forth with an IT person a lot in the last two days and I think he's being really rude.
First of all, I don't know him at all so why he is using just my first name I have no idea. That's pretty cheeky. We aren't out for cocktails, after all.
I have attached my email so my fans can see that you have to deal with difficult people in Investment Banking sometimes.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Teenker, Theodore
> Sent: Monday, April 3, 2006 12:42 PM
> To: Benson-Perella, Muffie (IBD)
> Subject: RE: Laptop
>
> Muffie,
>
> If you can send me a screenshot I can do something.
> Without it I really can't tell what's going on.
> Press Control-Prnt Scrn, then go into Powerpoint or something
> and paste. The screen should show up. Attach that to the email
> you reply with.
>
> Thank you,
> Theodore Teenker
> Senior Information Technology Associate
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Benson-Perella, Muffie (IBD)
> Sent: Monday, April 3, 2006 12:54 PM
> To: Teenker, Theodore
> Subject: RE: Laptop
>
> See below.
>
> - Your Boss,
> Muffie
>
> Attached File (114k)
>
>
> Muffie Benson-Perella (Vassar/HBS '05)
> Associate
> Investment Banking Division
Comments
IT are so declasse
Posted by: LOL | April 5, 2006 09:27 AM
Nah, not funny enough. Sorry.
Posted by: eddy | April 5, 2006 09:33 AM
I apologize in advance......This is the first time I have read this blog, Is this woman's blog entries a joke? If it is, it is mildly funny....if it is not, it is tragically sad.
Posted by: Mortimer Haverford III | April 5, 2006 09:47 AM
wow. you sound like a real bitch. i wouldn't want to help you either.
Posted by: fsmall | April 5, 2006 10:08 AM
This is not even amusing. This blog has so much potential but I have to deal with self obsessed cunts in real life. Why would I want to read a parody of the same. If I wanted this level of shit I would just read the cartoon Cathy.
Posted by: Mr. Anonamous | April 5, 2006 10:36 AM
WTF? What are you a friggin retard? Get a life BIAAAATCH.
Posted by: None of ur business | April 5, 2006 10:47 AM
Good God - apparently there's a serious bear market in humor within the troll sector - this is damn funny stuff
Posted by: Jon | April 5, 2006 10:55 AM
Muffy,
I'll give you a COCKtail....
Posted by: Exec VP IBD | April 5, 2006 10:59 AM
That "first name thing" is awesome.
Posted by: fairest | April 5, 2006 11:16 AM
just to get this straight.. is there something funny here?
Posted by: Anonymous | April 5, 2006 11:28 AM
the screenshot of her desktop is pretty funny, I have to admit...
Posted by: Anonymous | April 5, 2006 11:31 AM
The first couple posts were brilliant, but now it's getting tired and I think Muffie should go on hiatus to Miami or something, lest she become overexposed.
Posted by: mp | April 5, 2006 11:37 AM
My Dearest Muffie,
You are a Wham fan despite being 5 or 6 in their heyday? Fantastic, I long for the moment when I can whisper carelessly in your ear about the blasé attitude those IT folks take to higher ups. In fact your (uber prestige) tagline just might have intimidated poor Mr. Teenker to the point you need to send your assistant down with the laptop. You have an assistant don't you, and if not, then in the words of one of your other favorites, Bruce Hornsby, "that's just the way it is..."
Posted by: aw | April 5, 2006 12:12 PM
Music today really doesn't capture the feeling that I crave from artists. I find that the 80s really has what I'm looking for.
Posted by: Muffie Benson-Perella | April 5, 2006 12:16 PM
Agreed. Muffie, I have many leather bound books and the entire "Time Warner" Best of the 80's music collection...isn't this enough for you to accept yesterday's offer?
Posted by: aw | April 5, 2006 12:29 PM
I liked it.
Muffie is definitely real, right?
Posted by: Drano | April 5, 2006 12:46 PM
no WONDER you laptop crashed. Everybody knows Prada and Brooks Bros. don't go together.
Posted by: Duffman | April 5, 2006 01:02 PM
"Your boss, Muffie"... these are getting better by the day... hilarious!
Posted by: Anonymous | April 5, 2006 01:09 PM
IT people live in their world of technology that they've been obssesed with ever since the first girl/guy they ever talked to rejected them. Then they assume that the users that they support (we support their jobs) have the same knowledge as them. They are generally rude, have a chip on their shoulder (it's not our fault you have to crawl around on the floor and in between walls to do your job), and are lazy as shit. If they took the time to understand the business end of their company then they'd maybe one day move out of their parents' basement and be normal. Tip: Call your IT hotline and tell them that the coffee holder (DVD/CD-ROM) on your PC is malfunctioning and see how livid they get!
Posted by: Alex | April 5, 2006 01:40 PM
Alex says: IT people live in their world of technology that they've been obssesed with ever since the first girl/guy they ever talked to rejected them. Then they assume that the users that they support (we support their jobs) have the same knowledge as them.
Finally someone of the proper station to understand what I am talking about! Alex, I couldn't agree more. Which bank do you work for?
Posted by: Muffie Benson-Perella | April 5, 2006 02:08 PM
I hate to say this but it is quite a good parody of I-Banking life. It's a pity a few people don't have a particularly good sense of humour.
Posted by: John Gunn | April 5, 2006 02:29 PM
That or they flat-out can't relate to the jokes.
Posted by: Drano | April 5, 2006 03:02 PM
Is this serious? Banal at best. Although I have always loved the term, cheeky.
Posted by: T | April 5, 2006 05:36 PM
Your IT dept can't remote into your desktop??
you have to send screen shots????
and then he tells you to put the screen shots into Powerpoint, not Word????????
tell that guy to go back to ITT for another week or 2. he is the fool here, not you, even though you have misspelled Kelly Clarkson's name.
Posted by: beanspants1 | April 5, 2006 06:41 PM
oh yeah, is it just me or are you working with a dial-up connection?
that just adds to the fakey-ness of all this!! congrats!
Posted by: beanspants1 | April 5, 2006 06:49 PM
This Teenker guy calls himself a Senior Information Technology Associate but can't figure this out on his own? Yeah, right. He's definitely messing with you, Muff. Write back to him in French and see how he likes that.
Posted by: Christian | April 6, 2006 04:10 AM
That desktop is one of the funniest things I've ever seen on a blog.
Posted by: Erich | April 6, 2006 08:18 AM