There’s this certain elation that comes with being appreciate, or of being acknowledged for the things that you have done. It doesn’t have to be a big matter or action, as long as you receive that certain pat at the back, it gives you a much renewed confidence, as well as strength.
When I opened my friendster page last night, it surprised me that someone will actually give the time to open my blog page. It’s not that it’s something worthy enough to be visited, but at least somebody did. It may be out of curiosity and of wanting to find out what’s up with me and with what I’m doing right now. Anyway, to continue my story, a friend actually commented on my “ramblings”. I will not delve into the details of what the person really told me, but it was a commendation. And it felt good. Alright, I’ll disclose the friend’s name, so to give her proper credit and also to thank her for the appreciation, thabks Ivy!...those were really nice words of encouragement!!!!, hi to the whole Aringay family!!!!
Joey recently told me that I have to put aside inhibitions of thinking that I’m no good at the craft I want to pursue (well, I don’t want to go on ranting about being able write again). He advised that I should try reading lots of blog sites (and well, he even referred me to blog sites which he found really amusing), and also to post my own “literary” works and all that. I was (and is still) hesitant about wanting to post some fiction or poems I have. It’s out of fear, actually of having somebody who will copy your ideas or claim it as their own. As you see, the web is a free for all, marketplace of ideas, and there can be stealing, and other kinds of danger on idea and philosophy claiming…What strength do I have against other “netizens” who have the ability of claiming other ideas and even enhancing it. I’m not even known, more so popular and powerful. I’m just a struggling writer “wanna-be” (oops!, ding on belittling myself! Strike one!)…Anyway, I’m just being careful. Careful to keep things on print rather than cyberspace. Anyway, back to my story with Joey, he blurted out “ano ba! Wala naman mawawala mo, kahihiyan mo lang, e bakit nyanya, meron ka pa ba non?!?”… hahaha…walanghiya ka joey!....hehehe…but kidding aside, It will come in time, and I do have plans with my “works”…meron akong paglalagakan sa kanila!
Joey was absent for the shift tonight. I felt bored and sleepy. Wala akong kaasaran…walang nanlalait sa akin…di tuloy gumagana ang utak ko!. Anyway, this is one of those times you just miss having somebody to bug you and tell you stupid things, it keeps your mind working and get critical! I miss his rants and bloopers!
Czeriza will actually help me with my so-called “works”. I’m not asking her to be careful; I’m asking her to be blunt enough to tell if I actually have a future at the craft. I still don’t know what’s going to happen, but whatever that is, I will not stop!
The tarot cards have told me to brave enough about criticisms and other’s opinion about the things that I want to do and want to happen! Again, thanks to Joey for introducing me to the power of the tarots!
Anyway, it feels good to have a fictionist or creative writer as a friend, especially when you’re in that phase of wanting to know if you want to pursue the same craft. He/she can refer you to the right people and right places, even!
Monday, June 25, 2007
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Workplace Scenarios
I work in a call center. Specifically, my job at one is to collect delinquent American debts and demand them to pay over the phone. Everyday, our job is to convince them thay they need to make that payment or else…(altogether now, dear officemates) “the account will fall into another stage of delinquency, which in time can show as a bad debt if payments are not seen on file”.
Me, together with my officemates create our own strategies on how to make them pay. Some work their way through things by fully knowing the system, the process and the proper rebuttals, others work thru the charm in their voice and sound sympathetic with debtors, some work their way by arguing, some by being too nice and charming with debtors, and some master the art of quick dialing and get the luck of conversing with debtors who are willing to pay, and really want to get the account out collections.
Well, that’s the external scenario. It is also the general dilemma of call center debt collectors.
There’s the other kind of dilemma which call center employees, especially operations people experience everyday of their working lives…in their stay at the company as debt collectors, this I call the internal scenarios:
Familiar everyday line of debt collectors: Sana maka collect ako….sana maka close ako ng high balance…sana maka quota ako.
Most familiar question: May payment ka na?
Most wanted activity: Mag petiks at wag mag dial…611 please (waiting for inbounds)
There are three main classification of agents at the production floor: the performers and the average collectors, and lastly the fast dialers
The performers: These are agents who hit quota every month. They are able to attain their personal goals, and at the end of the month are able to attain those commissions which make them rich, or rather more well-off than the average collectors.
The average collectors: These are agents who usually struggle in their attempt to hit quota and have that extra money at the end of the month. They don’t usually hit quota every month, but at times they feel that they are able to attain it, thanks for the help of high balanced accounts and high number of accounts which they are able to close.
The fast dialers: These are agents who have the gift of quickly dialing every account in a pool, in the hope of landing on an account and talking with a debtor that they can convince to pay.
Agents develop their own strategy in the belief that at the end of the shift they can collect. They believe that collecting does not entirely depend on knowing the process and developing that golden voice that convince debtors to pay. Some believe that it is also a matter of luck and having in front of them their own material inspiration that will motivate them to collect; some rely on certain anting anting. Some bring in their lucky coins, their waving golden cats or green frog figurines with a coin placed at their mouths; some rely on having their own (literally) security blankets, or pillows, or stress balls that will energize them after ever call and again have the willing ness to work again and dial; some post pictures of their loved ones at their work stations.
Some agents have developed the ability of looking at the workplace as an episode from a reality show, either Big Brother or Temptation Island.
The workplace seem like a show at Big Brother wherein you will see the closeness of groups of people. They are able to form a great big barkada from it, Some take lunch and break scheds together, either eating or just simply chatting with one another and laugh at one another’s bloopers. At those times they feel bored or sleepy, they create their own:
Music videos: for agents who just feel like listening on their ipods or music phones and simply singing. Not minding other people
Advertisements and scandals: With the help of up-to-date gadgets such as cellphones, they try to create new advertisements for products such as katinkos, or reenact tv commercials such as Rejoice’s Kering-keri and Knorr’s Makulay ang Buhay. Some also create their own scandals made from singing out loud and all out at videoke during one of those team buildings, or scenes from drinking sessions showing “bangag” agents who have gone tipsy.
Others try to simply sleep off the boredom and drowsiness. They are seen at different corners of the production floor, or even under computer stations, a pillow beneath their head, or a blanket wrapped around their body.
The workplace seems as well a scene from Temptation Island. There are agents on the floor who seem to target every cute guy or pretty agent they see. They ask for their name and try to make friends, with dark motives on their sleeves, and that is to get hooked up and have another guy/girl on their flings list. There are some who cannot help but to give in and develop another blooming relationship with another co-agent, eventhough outside the call center environment, they each have their own girlfriends or boyfriends, or worse, spouses. Some see the workplace as an opportunity to get seriously hooked up in their attempt to find their perfect match. Some make diskarte to girls, appearing like a “Mr. Suave” or jologs gigolos. Some attempt to fill the void of their unfulfilled childhood romance, develop crushes, and try to send pa cute and pa tweetums signals to somebody they like.
All in all, these are some of the workplace scenarios seen in a call center, specifically, the call center I’m in. On the one hand, I just hope it gave you a picture of what we are like at our own workplace. It’s up to you whether you find us all enjoyable, amusing, or simply socially-wild or whacky groups of people, trying to make our own big moolahs and wait for our high or fair enough pay checks at the end of the month.
On the other hand, I guess, our everyday habits, our everyday scenarios make us feel at ease, and de stress us from taking all the bad mouths and bad arguments and phone hung ups we get from careless, rude Americans. Fair enough, right?
Me, together with my officemates create our own strategies on how to make them pay. Some work their way through things by fully knowing the system, the process and the proper rebuttals, others work thru the charm in their voice and sound sympathetic with debtors, some work their way by arguing, some by being too nice and charming with debtors, and some master the art of quick dialing and get the luck of conversing with debtors who are willing to pay, and really want to get the account out collections.
Well, that’s the external scenario. It is also the general dilemma of call center debt collectors.
There’s the other kind of dilemma which call center employees, especially operations people experience everyday of their working lives…in their stay at the company as debt collectors, this I call the internal scenarios:
Familiar everyday line of debt collectors: Sana maka collect ako….sana maka close ako ng high balance…sana maka quota ako.
Most familiar question: May payment ka na?
Most wanted activity: Mag petiks at wag mag dial…611 please (waiting for inbounds)
There are three main classification of agents at the production floor: the performers and the average collectors, and lastly the fast dialers
The performers: These are agents who hit quota every month. They are able to attain their personal goals, and at the end of the month are able to attain those commissions which make them rich, or rather more well-off than the average collectors.
The average collectors: These are agents who usually struggle in their attempt to hit quota and have that extra money at the end of the month. They don’t usually hit quota every month, but at times they feel that they are able to attain it, thanks for the help of high balanced accounts and high number of accounts which they are able to close.
The fast dialers: These are agents who have the gift of quickly dialing every account in a pool, in the hope of landing on an account and talking with a debtor that they can convince to pay.
Agents develop their own strategy in the belief that at the end of the shift they can collect. They believe that collecting does not entirely depend on knowing the process and developing that golden voice that convince debtors to pay. Some believe that it is also a matter of luck and having in front of them their own material inspiration that will motivate them to collect; some rely on certain anting anting. Some bring in their lucky coins, their waving golden cats or green frog figurines with a coin placed at their mouths; some rely on having their own (literally) security blankets, or pillows, or stress balls that will energize them after ever call and again have the willing ness to work again and dial; some post pictures of their loved ones at their work stations.
Some agents have developed the ability of looking at the workplace as an episode from a reality show, either Big Brother or Temptation Island.
The workplace seem like a show at Big Brother wherein you will see the closeness of groups of people. They are able to form a great big barkada from it, Some take lunch and break scheds together, either eating or just simply chatting with one another and laugh at one another’s bloopers. At those times they feel bored or sleepy, they create their own:
Music videos: for agents who just feel like listening on their ipods or music phones and simply singing. Not minding other people
Advertisements and scandals: With the help of up-to-date gadgets such as cellphones, they try to create new advertisements for products such as katinkos, or reenact tv commercials such as Rejoice’s Kering-keri and Knorr’s Makulay ang Buhay. Some also create their own scandals made from singing out loud and all out at videoke during one of those team buildings, or scenes from drinking sessions showing “bangag” agents who have gone tipsy.
Others try to simply sleep off the boredom and drowsiness. They are seen at different corners of the production floor, or even under computer stations, a pillow beneath their head, or a blanket wrapped around their body.
The workplace seems as well a scene from Temptation Island. There are agents on the floor who seem to target every cute guy or pretty agent they see. They ask for their name and try to make friends, with dark motives on their sleeves, and that is to get hooked up and have another guy/girl on their flings list. There are some who cannot help but to give in and develop another blooming relationship with another co-agent, eventhough outside the call center environment, they each have their own girlfriends or boyfriends, or worse, spouses. Some see the workplace as an opportunity to get seriously hooked up in their attempt to find their perfect match. Some make diskarte to girls, appearing like a “Mr. Suave” or jologs gigolos. Some attempt to fill the void of their unfulfilled childhood romance, develop crushes, and try to send pa cute and pa tweetums signals to somebody they like.
All in all, these are some of the workplace scenarios seen in a call center, specifically, the call center I’m in. On the one hand, I just hope it gave you a picture of what we are like at our own workplace. It’s up to you whether you find us all enjoyable, amusing, or simply socially-wild or whacky groups of people, trying to make our own big moolahs and wait for our high or fair enough pay checks at the end of the month.
On the other hand, I guess, our everyday habits, our everyday scenarios make us feel at ease, and de stress us from taking all the bad mouths and bad arguments and phone hung ups we get from careless, rude Americans. Fair enough, right?
Monday, June 4, 2007
being the ate
My mind's a big clutter right now. Picture it as a big abstract collage with different things, different concerns that I need to do, things that will hopefully improve my life.
Hopefully, it's supposed to improve the state that I'm in right now. Doing those things with ease, with grace serves as a form of practice for the bigger things that I need to do.
Well, laugh at me for being so praning once I have told about the things I need to do!
I need to file my sister's sss application for work. Before leaving the house, I have made a plan inside my head that today, I'll be going early to the ss office, then submit applications for my freelance writing stints.
Unfortunately, I woke up late. (I'm so tired, I need sleep because I 've been from the office for work the night before). I woke up at 11am, had my brunch, rested a little, then at 1pm, went out to start my days adventure.
Kamalas malasan, I forgot to bring my sister's birth cert. (w/c needs to be submitted for an sss applctn.),. So I had to go back, all the way from mkna to taytay jus to get that badly needed document.
Suddenly, it rained. Then, there was the building traffic which I had to endure.
I decided to proceed at the nearest ss office, (which services only include initial applicatn for ss and other loans,) unfortunately they don't have id appplicatn as one of their services which I also need and planned to submit as well since Im there already.
Then, when it was my turn to be assisted, the clerk told me, "oh, we will be needing an authorized letter from your sister for her application, and a valid id that serves to verify her signature"
darn. that means I had to go back again.
It was still drizzling outside.
I texted my sister about it.
Of course, her initial reaction and reply to me was "paano yn, di ako mkakasweldo?!"
At the back of my mind, I was like, "kailangan ko pa bang problemahin pati iyon?!?"
So much for being the responsible ate.
Still, I've decided to help her. Of course, I mustered all my strength, all my patience that I need. I don't want to let my angst and stress clod me. I'm trying my best to manage that myself.
I went to sss mkna to make her application. Baka sakaling makalusot.
My sister texted, "wag mo nlng sabihin na para sa kapatid mo yn, sabihin mo sa iyo"
so I did.
when I went at the counter, the clerk told me, "ano to!" she was referring to the thumbmark made by my sister by shading her thumb with ink just the other day. (just to describe how it looks like, mukha shang binaboy, hindi maayos!)
add to that the signature, wriiten in blue, when it was supposed to be black.
"at bakit blu an ginamit mo dito?" asked the clerk
I told her, "hindiko po kc nabasa na kailangan black"
(hmm...hmm so much for taking the embarassment my sister should have experienced herself.
Hopefully, it's supposed to improve the state that I'm in right now. Doing those things with ease, with grace serves as a form of practice for the bigger things that I need to do.
Well, laugh at me for being so praning once I have told about the things I need to do!
I need to file my sister's sss application for work. Before leaving the house, I have made a plan inside my head that today, I'll be going early to the ss office, then submit applications for my freelance writing stints.
Unfortunately, I woke up late. (I'm so tired, I need sleep because I 've been from the office for work the night before). I woke up at 11am, had my brunch, rested a little, then at 1pm, went out to start my days adventure.
Kamalas malasan, I forgot to bring my sister's birth cert. (w/c needs to be submitted for an sss applctn.),. So I had to go back, all the way from mkna to taytay jus to get that badly needed document.
Suddenly, it rained. Then, there was the building traffic which I had to endure.
I decided to proceed at the nearest ss office, (which services only include initial applicatn for ss and other loans,) unfortunately they don't have id appplicatn as one of their services which I also need and planned to submit as well since Im there already.
Then, when it was my turn to be assisted, the clerk told me, "oh, we will be needing an authorized letter from your sister for her application, and a valid id that serves to verify her signature"
darn. that means I had to go back again.
It was still drizzling outside.
I texted my sister about it.
Of course, her initial reaction and reply to me was "paano yn, di ako mkakasweldo?!"
At the back of my mind, I was like, "kailangan ko pa bang problemahin pati iyon?!?"
So much for being the responsible ate.
Still, I've decided to help her. Of course, I mustered all my strength, all my patience that I need. I don't want to let my angst and stress clod me. I'm trying my best to manage that myself.
I went to sss mkna to make her application. Baka sakaling makalusot.
My sister texted, "wag mo nlng sabihin na para sa kapatid mo yn, sabihin mo sa iyo"
so I did.
when I went at the counter, the clerk told me, "ano to!" she was referring to the thumbmark made by my sister by shading her thumb with ink just the other day. (just to describe how it looks like, mukha shang binaboy, hindi maayos!)
add to that the signature, wriiten in blue, when it was supposed to be black.
"at bakit blu an ginamit mo dito?" asked the clerk
I told her, "hindiko po kc nabasa na kailangan black"
(hmm...hmm so much for taking the embarassment my sister should have experienced herself.
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