It's Friday and not a day too soon. This has been a long week .... and I do mean long. I've spent far too much time working on projects on my own time. I need a weekend in the worst way. We probably all have those weeks where absolutely nothing goes right; if anything can go wrong, it does. You feel completely defeated walking up the sidewalk to the office. You feel the life sucked out of you as go through the doors knowing that it is going to be the same shit nonstop for 8 hours.
I've slowly reached the point to where I can't stand the voices of those around me in the hell center .. oh I mean customer support center where we take calls all day (it's not a call center according to some higher ups). One person in particular, for whatever reason, has just been grating my nerves. This person is way too content with our job. I guess for some people, taking a bite of a shit sandwich everyday, keeping a smile on your face, and going back for more hour after hour is fine. I can't deal with it anymore. This person seems to think we have the greatest job in the world because we can "leave it at work and don't have to take it home with us". I think this person is full of it myself. Sure, you're done after 8 hours, but when you have a lousy day or the job gets to you, you take it home with you whether you acknowledge it or not. This person would be content to stay at the position for another 20 years.
I moan incessantly about my job and if you keep reading this, I thank you. The problem is that naturally we get into a comfort zone that is hard to leave. I can't imagine leaving a job with nothing else lined up (getting laid off is a different matter altogether and I know if they can pull it off without pissing off customers, my company couldn't ship jobs overseas fast enough to India or some country where the representative with a heavy accent gets on the line and claims his name is "Joe" or "Mike"). I worry way too much about not having money coming in to just up and quit. But then again, getting out of my comfort zone is what I need more than anything in this world. The sad thing to me is that someone like this person who is so chipper might be perfectly content kissing ass everyday despite the fact that the person you're talking to is a complete waste of breath and a degree. You talk to someone who is either too lazy, too cheap, or is just plain too stupid to have an advanced degree.
However, a company like mine is always looking for ways to cut costs. Cutting costs more often that not these days means "outsourcing" as corporate America calls it; to be more accurate, they mean shipping jobs to 3rd world countries where they pay $4.00 p/hour instead of the salary commensurate with someone with an advanced degree. Soon enough, America will just be a consumer nation where we truly make nothing. We just consume but I don't know how we'll do it with no jobs left in this country save service industry work. I guess if you're happy doing what you do, do it. Me personally, I can't take a bite of that shit sandwich, smile, and keep coming back for more day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year.
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3 comments:
Cincy... Yes, I can see you are fed up! I was listening to NPR the other morning. (As usual, still half asleep as the news drifted in and out of my dreams.) I have no clue what the topic was, but I remember one line: "In a global economy, jobs go to the lowest bidder."
That's where we are. Thanks to the internet and whatever else, we are here in this global economy. But, hey, you've got skills and education that allow you so many choices. Maybe too many choices? I don't know. that's the part that could make it confusing.
I'll offer a quote I recently read from Pablo Picasso. He had been talking about young artists who wanted to make it big, but take smaller, less important jobs along the way. Sort of settling for meantime situations and wasting too much time. But I think it's timely for all of us who have been feeling somewhat lost lately, and unsure about our "meantime" choices:
"Never take a part-time job; because it will become your full-time life."
I say if you're unhappy, do something bold. Just go for it! Jump in to something new. The crazier the better. If it feels good to plan it out first, fine. But just don't give up! You deserve to be happy in your job and life, Cincy.
(Now, I'll go back to my corner and try to apply all this to my own life, too! ha!)
It's funny you said that because my company last summer investigated the feasibility of shipping some of the customer service job overseas. The verdict: They wouldn't do it because our customers said they didn't like it if the company wasn't passing on savings to them. It's funny how everyone waves Old Glory but it's ole greenback who really determines what is going on.
I'm quickly reaching that "getting the hell outta Dodge" point. I just wanted to get another month or two under my belt so I can snag a new laptop to help out with my grad school applications, plus I would need it in grad school as well. Thanks for the words. Hopefully we both get some wind in our sails and find what we're looking for soon enough in every aspect of our lives.
You should read a book called 50 Facts That Should Change the World by Jessica Williams. I love your passion in your posts :-)
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