How do I cope with being at the bottom of the tech ladder?

You are the person everyone calls only when they are already angry, standing at the bottom of the tech ladder while it grinds you down. That is a hard seat. All day you absorb other people's frustration, and rarely their thanks. Of course it wears on you. Remember that the anger walking through your door was there before you arrived. Their tech broke, their day derailed, and you are simply the first human they reach. It is not really aimed at you. When you stop taking it as a verdict on your worth, you can fix the problem without carrying their mood home. And do not mistake this rung for the whole staircase. The bottom is where you are standing, not who you are. Every fire you put out is teaching you how systems really break, which is exactly what the roles above you need. Keep an eye on where you want to go, and treat this seat as the training ground it is, not the ceiling it feels like.