Saturday, October 20, 2007

Do Not Try This at Work


“City and State, please?” I mumbled into the headset.

I was about six hours into my shift, it was 4am, and I was really cold. I couldn’t understand the caller. The woman on the other line was so impatient she was practically screaming.

“One moment please, while I search that for you.” I lied.

I wasn’t typing. I was gazing lethargically at the incandescent bulbs they formed as a rosary at Makati Med’s façade. My eyes were drawn to the cross. I felt so weary; I threw my competitive nature out the window. Screw statistics, I thought. Goodbye Employee of the Month.

Larry passed by my aisle, throwing a glance at me as he made his way to the washroom. I would have jumped at the opportunity at any other time, but I was too sleepy to care about playing games with my crush. The call ended.

Toot toot! Another call comes in.

“Shit!” I screamed in my thoughts. Here we go again.

“And in what city would that be?” I asked, trying to sound pleasant.

“Massapequa, NY” The voice on the other line said.

He had an accent. I liked his voice, he sounded gentle, and he enunciated really well. I wonder how he looks like. He’s probably educated, goes to a nice office, has a lovely house in the suburbs…



Silence. Around me, it was gray. Was it about to rain?

“Hello…” I heard a voice say.

I looked around. No one was there.

“Hello?”

I frowned. Where could that voice come from? Suddenly, someone taps me sharply on the shoulder.

“Ahh!” I exclaimed as I woke up with a start. Shit, shit, shit! I had fallen asleep midcall!

The screen blinked 4:05 in the call. A search that would have lasted less than 30 seconds have extended into minutes.

“Hello? Just another moment, while I transfer you for further assistance.” I said.


Uh oh, I was in trouble. If the caller tells the sup, I’d be dead. Andrenaline, no, coffee pumped though my veins as I make the transfer.

“Hi, in Massapequa, NY…” I fill in the sup the details of the call.

It takes her twenty seconds to find it. Then she approaches.

Shit! Please, please, please don’t give me any corrective action. I was just so tired, I moved apartments yesterday. I pleaded silently.

“Log out.” She says.

I log out and face her. She hands me a piece of paper and smiles.

“You should have used your captions. The listing was just inside. Good thing the caller was not irate.”

Whew! I exhaled. I live another day. It was past dawn, and the sun was peeking in the horizon. It bathed the streetscape below casting an ethereal glow. I had to smile, it was a beautiful morning.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

DA
Sometimes we tend to sleep at work.
I know its very humdrum and stressful.

Ok lang yan :)

Thad said...

@ foxyreign: I miss those days = ) hehe

Anonymous said...

so the piece of paper is the Corrective Action Form or the equivalent?
Hehhe

Thad said...

@ foxyreign: it was just a note of the listing and how she found it

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails