Wow- How time flies! Suffered through a brief bout of depression the past couple of days. I'm attributing it to the culture shock and lack of a set schedule I'm experiencing over the new job. It's such a 180 degree turn for me. I'm not joking, yesterday I was literally nauseated at the thought of having to go back to that place. I'm better now. I believe things are starting to settle in.

What do I mean by culture shock you ask? Well, let me tell you a little about call centers:

Where I came from, we were a gaggle of engineers. We didn't deal with people too much and when we did, it usually wasn't a pleasant experience (for them). Bottom line, we, as engineers, are more comfortable in the company of hardware rather that wetware(people). So, with that being said, we had a tendency to be a bit on the uncouth side.

Enter the Call Center-

Now this is an environment that has taken customer service as well as phone etiquette and dissected it to the point that every word, every phrase, every detail is logged, analyzed, and improved upon to the point that you actually feel like you are in Disneyland when talking to these people! The happiness abounds. It's unbelievable. And that's just the customer service side of the house! The helpdesk technicians are an amazing breed. As I walk around the place, you hear conversations that eerily repeat themselves from cubicle to cubicle. There are "canned responses" to every possible scenario that could possibly come up during a typical call. Should anything deviate, you call a supervisor and the supe will get things back on track.

The name of the game is call volume in these places. And literally thousands of calls are handled every month all to the glee of the helpdesk technicians. It's a sight to behold. I keep waiting to see some poor sap stand up and yell at the top of his lungs - #%$@#!%#!^@!! &*#$^#%#$$@#!$(!@&#$)(*#@! &$^$%@$!@#!$*%&#*#()!!!!!!!!! Because I KNOW I would have by now. I just can't be that "happy" all of the time. And I think that is the crux of my problem.

But like I said, this was only my fourth day on the job and as I said earlier, it's getting better. Today my hours are 11:00am to 8:00pm. And for the record, THOSE HOURS SUCK BIGTIME! But good news! I was told yesterday that my hours will be 7:00am to 4:00pm. And I would possibly work 1 weekend day each week something like a Tuesday through Saturday or Sunday through Thursday. I can deal with that as long as I get days!!

Well, now that I got that off of my chest, I feel much better now. Things are looking on the up. Everybody take care out there, it's a rough world and we are all in the mix together. Till next time:

Peace