Critical Work Days

While the majority of people are in churches or at beaches, us who work in the call center industry (as well as those in the medical, security, communications, food, and travel industry) bitterly scroll down our Facebook news feed, sour graping on photos of people on vacation. We then attempt to comfort ourselves with these two words: double pay.

Yeah, who are we kidding? No amount of money can replace the pleasure of being with the family on holidays.

I remember working last New Year’s Eve, trying to look as happy as I can on our New Year countdown. As people greeted each other and popped balloons for the sake of merriment, I looked at the fireworks outside and fought the urge to turn on my waterworks.

Prior to that I also overheard a mom, talking to her family on the phone while she was on break, greeting them in advance since she wouldn’t be able to do so once she goes back to take calls.

As painful as it is, holidays are critical work days for us. Days when being absent subjects an employee to disciplinary action. In our world, agents have customers to cater to, team leads have agents to coach, and managers have a business to run. Just like nurses, air traffic controllers, policemen, news reporters, and that baker in Arbee’s who saved me from hunger today, we all do it for public service. For Americans, in our case.

No matter who we serve though, at the end of the day, there’s food to eat and a job that’s tough but heartwarming. (Still, I hope Facebook has the option to filter vacation posts for the working folks like us. Kidding aside, instead of complaining that we’re working on a holiday, let’s just be thankful that we have a job.)

About the author:  Pearl Angelie Tanggaan is a Team Lead (TL) at Convergys. She has been with the company for almost four years and went through the agent, trainer, and communication coach posts prior to becoming a TL. Off work, she always eats out for pleasure, is a go-to person when it comes to food places in Cebu or Tagbilaran City, and thus dubs herself a wandering foodie.