Mianya, you captured the situation exactly. I work as a broadcast engineer…we are responsible in my plant for the studio systems (audio and IT hardware and software) the building, and the transmission equipment outside of the city at remote locations. Thanks to technology and a good boss, we have as much remote monitoring and access implemented as we possibly can in the last several years, but inevitably there are still some ‘2am’ calls that mean I’ve got to climb in the truck and head for the field :). Every commercial that doesn’t play is a make-good that we owe a client.

Balancing that time and frantic activity with diplomacy to co-workers, communication with management/clients and so forth is not easy for anyone involved. Add in the dreaded ‘we don’t know why it is broken’ realization brings in more frustration. Then, go to work for regular shift the next day because someone has to, and deal with the day-to-day issues that everyone has.

What I’ve tried to keep in mind over the years is something you touch on in your article — that the sales person I deal with the next morning at 8am on an unrelated issue has no idea I was up all night, so I need to remain patient with them :)

Whether the systems are hardware, software, even people, they/we all require consideration, respect, and regard.