Blog: On Call Centers, Fast Food, and a Healthy Lifestyle
This post is in response to Dine Racoma, a.k.a. Sexy Mom’s post.
I write this post not to defend people who frequent fastfood joints (I myself am one), but to present the side that I am in: the side of the people who pay the government the right taxes, the side of the people who work nights and continue to provide revenue to cab drivers and goons alike, the side of the working class dominated by the 20-30 geeks (yuppies, working students, single moms, etc.) — the people who work the Call Centers.
It’s easier to get in a call center than it is in a bank or in a school. All you need is a college diploma, good english speaking skills, or uber-geek technical experience and you’re in. Problem is, business peaks at night so 75% of the employees work nights. Come daytime, you’re too wasted, too tired, and too sleepy to go out to either eat in a decent restaurant or cook, so the best option left is a quick stop over at the nearest fastfood joint. If you do not work in a call center, you cannot imagine the stress of walking an eight year-old lady through reseating a processor over the phone, the stress of convincing a Kansas City plastic surgery patient to grant you temporary remote access to his computer so that you could take a look at his registry and fix it for him, or the stress of bearing the wrath of a disgruntled customer who had a bad day and decided to take it out on you simply because you can be reached through a TOLL-FREE 800 number.
These calls do not take 5 minutes. These calls last anytime from an hour to four hours. But that’s not all, people will call you stupid if you cannot resolve an issue with his/her computer. People will threaten to sue you for not being able to assist them because of your technical support boundaries. People, due to their frustration will cuss, bitch, scream, slam the phone at you because of things that aren’t even your doing; and because you work in the customer support industry, you have no right to scream back, cuss back, terminate the call, threaten a lawsuit, lie, call the customer stupid, recommend a better service, etc. What I’m saying is that when I say stressful, I mean STRESSFUL.
Imagine this. You finally get off your shift at six in the morning. You were only able to make two calls because each call took four hours to resolve. You failed to meet your daily target number of calls. You didn’t have time to take your fifteen-minute breaks. You were late for work because there wasn’t a cab willing to take you to the Mall of Asia at eleven p.m.. On top of that, you were served a memo because you failed the previous week’s goal. You stand around in the corner waiting for the sky to brighten. After forty five minutes you hail a cab and ask to be taken back to Quezon City, where you live, but the driver declines because QC is too fucking far from the Mall of Asia. You wait 30 more minutes and profusely thank the almighty when an MGE cab passes by and agrees to take you home. You’re tired, sleepy, and hungry. Halfway from home, you pass by a McDonalds because you couldn’t bear your hunger and you couldn’t wait to finally get home and rest. So you stop over for a cheeseburger meal.
Are we at fault here? Are we to blame because of the lifestyle we live? In most call centers this pre-packaged poison that we stuff into our starving stomachs is our staple food. At three o’clock in the morning, there aren’t decent restaurants open. Just the 7-11/Mini Stop at the corner and the Jollibee/McDonalds pit across the street.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not flaming here. I’m just speaking on behalf of most people there who want options but don’t have them. I agree that health is wealth. In fact, I’m even willing to go to the gym if only I had a better schedule and better pay. I am fortunate because the company that I work in right now has a cafeteria that serves real food. There’s no need to eat outside and exploit the nutrients found in McDonalds cheeseburgers, but what about the others?
– Keysi Nunez worked for Microsoft, AOL, Earthlink, and is now working in Dell. Keysi Nunez is a Dell Certified System Expert.
– image courtesy of CallCenterComics
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22 Responses to “Blog: On Call Centers, Fast Food, and a Healthy Lifestyle”
By feed on May 22, 2007 | Reply
:lol:
maybe words like *convenience* and *necessity* have been deleted from their vocabulary.
By AJ on May 22, 2007 | Reply
Hear! Hear! Question ko lang sa kanila, if these pre-packaged poisons make the children of today obese, then why oh why haven't I gained weight considering I have been eating poison in the past 3 years. hehehe.
By Beejing on May 22, 2007 | Reply
Definitely, I agree with you. Health is health but working for a Call Center is not that easy. Stressful and are we to blame for that? We earn a decent living here but they shouldn't blame us. Yeah, I have been in this industry for a long time now. Served and Supported different accounts from Technical, Telecommunications and Even Financial Services, hopped from one center to another, but we don't have much options here.
By Beejing on May 22, 2007 | Reply
I've added you to my blogroll too! Hehe hope you don't mind. Link exchange if its ok. Thanks! Keep your entries comin'
By liz on May 22, 2007 | Reply
oh so you know ramil? coolies.
By helga on May 22, 2007 | Reply
I generally stay away from fastfood, and I hardly eat during my shift. But when the hunger pangs strike, I usually find something healthy amongst what the concessionaire offers (I usually have pasta or a sammich). It's the excessive amount of caffeine and nicotine that gets me :P
By dine on May 23, 2007 | Reply
dear Keysi,
I HAVE POSTED THIS COMMENT IN YOUR BLOG SITE TWICE under the name of "sexy mom", but it does not seem to be accepted. It must have been spammed.
Thank you for responding to my post, as you mentioned, not to defend the people who frequent fast food joints, but to present the side of the people who work for call centers.
If you may note, I too for so many years before I took early retirement from ADB, was a fast food person, even if I had a lot of options, working just a few feet away from the Mega Mall. Day in and day out, for the past 15 years since Mega Mall opened, I and my friends would have lunch in just any fast food joint, McD, KFC, Jollibee, Pizza Hut, Shakeys, being the favorites and most frequented. The joke was, if our tummies were opened at any given time, one would find bits and pieces of these food clinging in our intestines. Please stress the word OPTION.
It’s a pity most call centers, as you pointed out, do not have OPTIONS, to provide their workers with healthier food. This is perhaps a wake up call to call center operators and to fast food and coffee shops that are open 24/7 who cater mostly to call center operators. It can also be a wake up call for our government to take initiative in providing call center workers, whom you say pay the government the right taxes, options for a healthier lifestyle—in term of options for healthy food and even exercise facilities.
My intention in writing that post was to stress that “Healthy is Best�, and for parents to take initiative in giving their children a healthier lifestyle. Now that you have written about it, I guess this should start the ball rolling, for HEALTHIER OPTIONS FOR CALL CENTER WORKERS, and even perhaps the other sectors of society and labor as well.
cheers
dine (aka sexy mom)
By Steel on May 23, 2007 | Reply
Most fastfood joint nowadays offer a wide range of healthy food items. It boils down to what the consumers should choose to eat rather than where they should eat. But whatever the case might be, there's always Chef Albert.
You're right about our bitchy schedules getting in the way of exercise. I rarely get the chance to lift weights these past few days. And the cursed DCSE is eating too much of my sleep time!
@liz: So much for my innarnet alter-ego!
By liz on May 23, 2007 | Reply
well, yeah. you didn't have to admit it you know! lol.
By maya on May 23, 2007 | Reply
stress is what makes us unhealthy. our lifestyles and our jobs make us stressed out. one thing which made me leave my call center job i've been sticking to for almost 5 years is STRESS.
fast food? guess what, mcdonald's just added salad to their menu. at least there's an option now.
an option for the government? i don't think the government can support putting up gym facilities in call centers and feed them healthy food. how many call centers do you there are there, just in Makati? Ortigas? Quezon City? Cebu? Bacolod? we had been paying huge amounts of taxes but i don't think it will go back to the call center dudes and dudettes. one thing i can think of which the govt does is free training for future call center agent wannabes.
as for us who work in simple offices, we have options: fast food or canteen food. i have been ordering fish since i have been working here, but in the end, it's nakakasawa.
we can't afford to pay for gym membership fees or for pilates, yoga or bellydancing classes. i used to jog at UP on saturday mornings but it's far from where i live, which is not a subdivision or a safe place. Drunkards still loiter our streets even at 6 or 7am.
we do have options but sometimes, the options are luxuries. we still cant afford them. if we can afford them moneywise, we don't have time. we need to catch up on some sleep.
we're not making excuses here. we're but human.
By Shari on May 23, 2007 | Reply
You know who I blame? Who's at fault? The whole of the Philippines --- the Philippine government, the Filipinos, the frigging people who know nothing but exploit the people and take advantage of everyone. If the government would just provide decent jobs, if the Filipinos would just cooperate, you know that kind of stuff. But nooooo...Everyone has to have their way, kaya walang nangyayari. The effect? The Philippine situation right now.
E-ni-weeeyyy...I'm not at all very partial when it comes to fastfoods. Sabi nga ni tatay ngayong college ako eh magbaon na lang ng tinapay or something, which is actually more nakakaengganyo para makatipid din siguro. But who am I to say something, I'm not even working full-time yet.
PS: I like MGE cabs, harhar.
By keysi on May 25, 2007 | Reply
Feed: Anong maybe? Hehe
AJ: Maybe you have hyperthyroidism or your metabolism's really just uber-hyper-ultra-fast :) Added you to my blogroll as well. Thanks for dropping by.
Beejing: Yes, there are only a few callcenters that serve real food. Some have cafeterias but they still serve fastfuckingfood there. :lol:
Liz: I don't know Ramil personally, :lol: but I've added him to my IM
Helga: Caffeine and nicotine ain't bad at all in my vocabulary. These things are a necessity... Much like internet. :)
Dine: I apologize for the glitch. It's prolly due to the name (it contains the word sexy, which most spammers include in their post, or use in their names, maybe if you change the alias or the spelling :)). Believe it or not, this is my first time working in a callcenter that has a program for their agents' wellness, and yes, this should start the ball rolling. Maybe if all pinoy bloggers campained for wellness. How about a "NO FAST FOOD DAY?" :lol: just a thought.
Steel: Yeah, good thing there's Chef Albert. I just wish they stop recycling food and keep the grease to a minimum. I agree with Liz, you didn't have to admit it. :lol:
Maya: They sex helps diffuse stress. Is this true? Free training for call center agent wannabes? Where? I wanna train! :lol:
Shari: I think we need to blame the Pinoy mentality for everything. This type of thinking's been rooted in everyone that instead of progressing, we're sinking. Dad's right. Magbaon ka, but there will come a time when you will get tired of it. :lol: Been there. I heart MGE cabs as well.
By feed on May 25, 2007 | Reply
okay, I take that back.
words like *convenience* and *necessity* have been deleted from their vocabulary.
:lol:
By Steel on May 26, 2007 | Reply
I.ph might be using my blog as a launchpad for an upgrade or something. I couldn't log on to it either. I can't find the time and the drive to write any decent entry as of late anyways, though I have a few ideas in the back burner.
Again, DCSE is killing my bloglife. :(
By keysi on May 26, 2007 | Reply
Feed: better! :P
Steel: someone's hacking into your blog! :lol:
By maya on May 30, 2007 | Reply
keysi.. yeah, "they" said sex helps when you're stressed. who are "they"? i say, MORE sex helps when you're stressed. kaso walang time. bwehehe
har har... for a callcenterwannabe, not for people already working in cc's.
By keysi on May 30, 2007 | Reply
lol. keyword = more!
By marko on Jun 4, 2007 | Reply
I've been working in the call center industry since late 2001, I've mostly brought baon to work than eat out. It works for me because I'm cheap and it's healthier that way :) Ever watch "Super Size Me"?
By keysi on Jun 4, 2007 | Reply
hell yeah! after watching that, i didn't eat a single mcdonalds treat for two years! LOL
By abbee on Nov 19, 2007 | Reply
tangina I also wish I had more time to work out, but I barely have enough time to SLEEP! & I wish there would be better food available to go, sigh, as I'm too tired to cook din. with my 4 x 11 schedule, kamusta naman?