Flashback to the early 1970s, when this IT pilot fish first starts working for a government office with not one but two mainframes.

"In our computer room, the two mainframes were about five feet tall and stood side by side," fish says.

"One day, our computer operator happened to place a hand on each mainframe.

"He only found out that the machines weren't properly grounded after he was flung against the wall on the other side of the room.

"So he went to the branch chief to report the problem.

"The branch chief, in turn, went to the computer room, stood in front of the machines and placed a hand on each of them.

"After he picked himself off the floor, he called the mainframe support staff to get it fixed."

Show Sharky how it's done by sending me your true tale of IT life at sharky@computerworld.com. You can also comment on today's tale at Sharky's Google+ community, and read thousands of great old tales in the Sharkives.

Get Sharky's outtakes from the IT Theater of the Absurd delivered directly to your Inbox. Subscribe now to the Daily Shark Newsletter.