TFYC (Thank You For Calling): Call Center Chronicles

A Drunk Call and an Epiphany

I started this journey due to lack of money.

When my mom died a few months ago, she left us with a small fortune so we'd continue to live comfortably. But with our house in limbo (aka government mortgage), three kids in college miles away from
home, one jobless kid about to give birth and a disabled dad, I soon realized we won't even make it until the end of the year.

At that time, I was still reeling over her unexpected death. Missing and dropping out of almost all of my classes which caused me to not graduate, spending a lot of time drinking with friends, begging relatives to help us out financially, accepting rations from my very close friends, and finally just shutting myself out from the world.

I wanted to grieve.

I wanted to get mad.

I wanted to disappear.

One day I woke up from my 16-hour sleep to find my two siblings preparing lunch - a single pack of instant noodles and rice. I did not get up and just told them that I'm not hungry so they can just get my portion.

It was a depressing sight.

And that was the first time in years that I started to pray again. I cried. I asked for help.

The next day I visited one of my friends at her house. She had a minor accident and needed help getting around. I also fetched things from town for her. Sometimes, we'd have drinks and I'd end up spending the night.

During my visit, in front of a bottle of GSM blue and iced tea, we talked about plans - what we want to do with our lives, where do we need to start. And in the midst of our drunken stupor, we somehow ended up making a phone call to one of our friends who had just landed a job at a call center in his hometown.

That one phone call was all it took for him to convince us to come with him and work there.

My friend and I parted that day and the next time we met, we were preparing for our very first job interview.