Have you hugged your system administrator?

• By Patrick Marshall
• Jul 27, 2007

It's a tough job but somebody has to do it. Who else would make sure your network is running properly, and that you get that replacement notebook computer in time for your trip to the field office halfway across the country? Your system administrator, of course.

And who gets the grief when some glitch brings down the e-mail service? Your system administrator, that's who.

So why not add System Administrator's Day to Mother's Day, Father's Day and Secretary's Day?

Well, today is that day, according to IT professional Ted Kekatos.

Kekatos got the idea of System Administrator's Day when he was looking at a printer advertisement showing a long line of employees bringing gifts to the IT person who decided to buy HP printers. That made Kekatos think he deserved similar treatment, according to an article on a Web site devoted to System Administrator Day.

The site receives hundreds of thousands of visitors a year and is supported by a number of vendors, as well as the League of Professional Administrators.

There is no indication of how many system administrators will actually receive gifts, or even just hugs, today. We quizzed the mailing list of the Washington chapter of System Administrator Guild (SAGE) to see if anyone had gotten recognition for their labors. Only one individual piped up, noting she got an Amazon gift certificate and some time off to "actually have lunch today."

The others, we presume, toiled along as usual with no interruptions from bosses bearing either flowers or iPhones.

But it does give us an idea. Why don't we have a day to give gifts to news reporters?

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