I did it. Yes, I did.

[Eireann]

I just told my supervisor at the call center that I'm leaving.

Why?

Because I've been getting freelance work from a truly great guy. We met yesterday morning, and he's very enthusiastic about my ideas. I'm writing for him, taking photos, and now I'm going to be shooting videos!

We haven't yet worked out the price for the videos (3 minutes long or thereabouts), but he pays me the price I asked for the articles and photos. PLUS, when I go to a picturesque town to photograph it, he'll reimburse me for my ticket!

Not to mention my dear friend who is going to sell my jewelry for me.

Not to mention my lip balm. I finally decided, fuck it. I'm going to order little glass jars for the stuff so I can finally sell it.

Yay me!

[Moirae]

That all sounds like so much more fun than working a call center. I read an article last year that working a call center is the most stressful job a person can have. I couldn't agree with it more. Did I mention that work reservations which is essentially a call center?

[Eireann]

No, I don't think you did. My condolences. I've heard that the suicide rate among call-center workers is enormous; possibly the highest of any profession.

No wonder, with the pressure to make the sale, the hatred from people who are called incessantly, the low benefits.

[Moirae]

Lets put it this way... I had much higher faith in humanity before I started working in a call center. The amount of utter stupidity most people seem capable of makes me wonder how humanity can possibly be the height of the food chain. I'm not collections (thank goodness. I'd have quit a long time ago), but its just the incessant ignorant foolishness...

I worked as a phone based internet tech for Comcast for a while, and thats even worse. And they kept wondering why they couldn't keep any staff beyond 6 months.

I had one lady tell me "I spilled some pop (soda) on my modem, so I filled the bathroom sink with water and dunked it in to clean it off because I was afraid the pop got inside. Now it wont work"

I had another lady scream at me for 45 minutes calling me every name in the book while she told me I was the most useless living being on the planet in as many ways as she could think of because Comcast uses 8 digits for their passwords at a time when most people use 6. It got so bad that I was crying and I escalated it to a supervisor myself but the supervisor couldn't make it in time. She was so loud that my coworkers around me could hear her. I had the guy next to me standing behind me with his hand on my shoulder to calm me down. We weren't allowed to hang up or we'd have been fired (it was outsourced so I'm pretty sure it was this particular company that was to blame, not Comcast). They were forced to take me off the phones for an hour or I'd have walked right that second.

And the inanity of working in a reservations office... admittedly most of the calls go well, but those that don't.

I hate doing this job. I was better off at the front desk. I'd rather have someone try to leap the desk than have to sit in a chair listening to people be complete and utter morons.

Sorry, I'm stressed to the max. Its a really long story. Just take a look at my other posts on here and those posts don't even begin to cover everything thats happened because I didn't start posting here until well into all the problems.

[telecom_goddess]

No, I don't think you did. My condolences. I've heard that the suicide rate among call-center workers is enormous; possibly the highest of any profession.

No wonder, with the pressure to make the sale, the hatred from people who are called incessantly, the low benefits.

SUICIDE? Damn. I've done my time in call centers but for the most part it was pretty ok cause the one I worked in the longest was pretty small.....and the one big one I was in I didn't do call center stuff that long and moved on to other things. But yeah I know that kind of work can suck.

And I remember something about the lip balm, what were you making it out of again?

[Dilorenzo]

That's great news Eireann, and may luck be with you.

[Eireann]

The lip balm is made of all natural ingredients, no artificial flavors or preservatives.

[telecom_goddess]

The lip balm is made of all natural ingredients, no artificial flavors or preservatives.

Well I figured that Like what ingredients?

[Kara]

Good luck! Sounds like you'll be happier, which is always good.

SUICIDE?

From what I understand, call center workers are among the highest. Corrections Officers have the second-highest suicide rate, while people who work for airlines, especially customer service, have the #1 highest (because everyone hates airline companies, apparently).

[Eireann]

Beeswax, cocoa butter, coconut oil, honey, peppermint extract. It held me through a Prague winter, and THAT is saying something!

My call center is all about telesales. We call people and try to convince them to buy the company's product. Hence the talk about such places having high suicide rates. I've heard that some of the other people in the center (not in my team) are alcoholics and/or drug addicts who couldn't find other work. It's a weird place.

I'll miss the people. I told them today that I'm leaving, and most of them were crestfallen. One doesn't show emotion much, so I don't know what he thought. There's talk of a going-away party!

So, yes, I am glad I've had that job. I've met great people, we'll get together outside of work and after I'm gone, I actually have something like a social life, it got me out of the house, and it has paid my rent with some left over. Now, though, I'm moving upward to more pay, my own hours, ENORMOUS job satisfaction, travel, and a good reputation!

[Moirae]

I really wish you luck. Much better to be doing something you enjoy than something you hate.

[Eireann]

Don't I know it! I've waited a long time to be able to do work like this. I've already made a good name for myself with the guy I'm freelancing for, and I'll be getting some traveling in, too.

I'm still going back home. I haven't changed my mind about that. Having worked so hard to get residency here, I don't want to throw it away, so I'm looking for an opportunity to get some kind of partnership going, or invest in a business, so I can have an income here and return for a month or so at least once a year.

[Talon]

SUICIDE?

Wow. Strangely enough that comes as a surprise to me.

I managed 3+ years of it without resorting to smoking, drugs, alcohol, suicide or homicide. How I'll never know, but it might have been helped that I was allowed to hang up on abusive callers. It was a power I almost never used, but having it was enough.

That all sounds like so much more fun than working a call center.

I doubt that anyone actually enjoys call centre work, just something you have to do to pay the bills. Beats being homeless and all that.

[Eireann]

Exactly, Talon. It beats being homeless! Nobody ever says, "I want an exciting career in telesales! It's so rewarding, and there's so much opportunity for advancement!"

You do it, generally, as a last resort. Though one guy who worked there, just did it because he was bored. Another worked there to have something to do.

By and large, though, it's where you go when you have to. They ALWAYS hire.

[BookstoreEscapee]

That sounds awesome! Best of luck to you. Any time frame for when you hope to get back to the states?