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I tried, at work several years ago, to get a specific keyboard due to my nerve damage (NOT carpal tunnel; rather a lack of feeling and fine motor control due to a combination of impact damage and thoracic outlet syndrome). I went to the division which handled computer matters and worked with the person who ordered computer equipment to find exactly what I wanted. I followed procedure, did all the paperwork, got the order approved. I knew exactly what I wanted and needed: an enhanced tactile keyboard with audible click, like the old XT keyboards (I believe this was the Model M, which in turn was much like the IBM Selectric keyboard). A couple of weeks later I got a soft-touch "ergonomic" keyboard. Exactly the opposite of what I needed.
Outraged, I went back to the guy I had worked with. He said it was out of his hands; his supervisor had 'corrected' the order to get what he thought I needed. Since this keyboard had been approved for order by the supervisor, there was no appeal, since he knew better than I did what I needed. I said a few choice words about said supervisor and stormed off. (Note that I was not loud or profane, just gave a quiet and accurate opinion of the PHB who had sabotaged my effort.) I was subsequently reprimanded for "interfering" with the work of that entire division. Not because I was wrong. Because I made a fuss about someone else's mistake. (People kept telling me, "Well, you're right, but you shouldn't have said anything.")
I put the "ergonomic" keyboard aside and used the less unsatisfactory one which I had tried to replace. The "replacement" was eventually turned in as surplus. Took me another eight years before I could actually get a keyboard with the features I needed for my work. (I had no problems getting a gel wrist pad. I walked to Cardinal Office Supplies and bought one. But I refused on principal to buy a keyboard of the type I needed. If my work suffered because of having the wrong keyboard, well, that was the state's fault for hiring an idiot and having poor review procedures, and they were the ones paying me the same no matter how much work I did.)
Everyone involved *but* that PHB knew he'd messed up, including the supervisor who 'reprimanded' me. (It was a very gentle reprimand, just enough for him to say he'd done it.) Even without that keyboard I was still their fastest and most accurate data entry person. When I finally got a good keyboard (thank Ghu for turnover) people couldn't believe how quickly I completed their requests.
I wonder who inherited that keyboard after I left... Probably someone who turned it in for a 'good' keyboard.
Outraged, I went back to the guy I had worked with. He said it was out of his hands; his supervisor had 'corrected' the order to get what he thought I needed. Since this keyboard had been approved for order by the supervisor, there was no appeal, since he knew better than I did what I needed. I said a few choice words about said supervisor and stormed off. (Note that I was not loud or profane, just gave a quiet and accurate opinion of the PHB who had sabotaged my effort.) I was subsequently reprimanded for "interfering" with the work of that entire division. Not because I was wrong. Because I made a fuss about someone else's mistake. (People kept telling me, "Well, you're right, but you shouldn't have said anything.")
I put the "ergonomic" keyboard aside and used the less unsatisfactory one which I had tried to replace. The "replacement" was eventually turned in as surplus. Took me another eight years before I could actually get a keyboard with the features I needed for my work. (I had no problems getting a gel wrist pad. I walked to Cardinal Office Supplies and bought one. But I refused on principal to buy a keyboard of the type I needed. If my work suffered because of having the wrong keyboard, well, that was the state's fault for hiring an idiot and having poor review procedures, and they were the ones paying me the same no matter how much work I did.)
Everyone involved *but* that PHB knew he'd messed up, including the supervisor who 'reprimanded' me. (It was a very gentle reprimand, just enough for him to say he'd done it.) Even without that keyboard I was still their fastest and most accurate data entry person. When I finally got a good keyboard (thank Ghu for turnover) people couldn't believe how quickly I completed their requests.
I wonder who inherited that keyboard after I left... Probably someone who turned it in for a 'good' keyboard.
