Geek Avoids Helping Family with Computer Problems on Mother’s Day

By Brian Briggs filed Monday, May 10 3:00 AM ET

South Lyon, MI - Ryan Petry had a plan to avoid helping his family with computer problem on Mother’s Day Sunday, and executed it flawlessly.

“I knew, going in, it was going to be tough to avoid doing computer work, because my mom had called on Saturday and said that her computer was running slow. I didn’t let that discourage me though. I promised myself no computer work this weekend,” said Petry.

Petry works in the IT Department at Globochem fixing computers five days a week. “With my job, the last thing I want to do on a holiday is fix computers. I tell my family that, but they never listen,” he said.

The 24-year-old ITT grad wanted to avoid a situation similar to what happened during Easter where instead of looking for hidden eggs, he spent the whole time removing malware from his dad’s laptop.

Petry isn’t comfortable with conflict, so he devised a plan that avoided any. He studied websites that gave tips on avoiding people at parties, redirecting conversation and faking an upset stomach.

“On Sunday my mom tried to trick me by asking me to come to the office so she could tell me a secret, but I faked some diarrhea to get out of there,” said Petry. "A little bit later my dad brought out his laptop to 'show me some pictures,' but I successfully started a family argument by bringing up his affair ten years ago. Old wounds can be useful tools."

Karen Petry, Ryan’s mom, felt disappointed in her son. “You could tell he went to tech school and not acting school with the whole diarrhea thing. If he’s not going to fix our computers then I’m not sure why we should invite him to these gatherings, but please don’t tell him that.”

Ryan hopes to chronicle his success on his blog, so other geeks can learn from his experience. “I’d much rather help random people on the Internet than my family,” he said.