good vibes in the real world

after 5 years and 3 months in college and around 2 months of well-spent bumhood...

i finally have a job!

yes, i have recently crossed that line and entered the proverbial real world (as if life was less real before that). and to add to that, i recently joined the magical world of...

the call center industry!

i'm currently working as a spanish speaking agent at a makati call center. interestingly, i started during the best day to begin a career: november 1. hayop.

anyway, before any of you guys raise your eyebrows and deliver the much-heard spiels and comments about how pathetic call center jobs are and all the "it's a no-brainer job", "dead-end job 'yan", and the "are you really sure you want to work there?" hirits, i just want to say that three weeks into this work, i've had nothing but good vibes all around.

the company is great, there's room for professional growth, the people are fantastic, the work has been challenging (which is good), it pays pretty well and i get to practice my spanish every single day! jobs in other multinational or big pinoy companies can't even provide all of that at the same time.

the only thing i don't like so much though is the night shift but i guess good things come with some sacrifices. it was hard to adjust to the shift at first. as in i felt like i could sleep while standing up. but with a little time and the proper mindset, you basically get used to it.

i don't want to speak too soon though, i'm still hoping that all of this good vibe lasts long. it's just that so far, it seems to me that getting this job has been a good choice. it'll be interesting to hear what i'd have to say after a few months though. hehe. let's see, until then.

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speaking of spanish, it's amazing how i'm actually using this language at work. it feels so weird! haha! imagine, two years ago when i took up level 1 spanish class, it was a significant struggle to say a decent sentence in spanish. but now, i actually say things to help other people with their concerns. you'll really never know where previous decisions (such as taking up a class and sticking with it) can lead you to. ika nga ng milo, great things start from small beginnings. but don't get me wrong, in terms of the language, (inser voice of yoda here) much to learn i have. there are still a lot of instances where i find it difficult to dissect what the person i'm talking to is trying to say.

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ever since i started working, there has been a dramatic decline in the number of hours i spend watching my favorite reality shows like the apprentice and pbb, or just tv in general. i even have less time to read the papers. but i definitely have been very much updated with the recent la salle scandal. no, not that scandal. the one involving the uaap men's basketball team.

i've been a fan of uaap basketball ever since the mid-1990's when ust was still the team to beat and la salle always finished second place. even so, i've always had this beef about how la salle's basketball team is managed and handled. to put things simply, i just think la salle had it coming. this obssession with basketball and the cut-throat manner of recruitment and management just had to bite back one way or another.

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i've always wanted to comment on this. i'm starting to get sick and tired of the inquirer. well, just its lifestyle section.

just a background on how i read the papers: i read everything. i even read the classifieds and the obituaries and the articles that i'm not normally interested in! that's why whenever i read inquirer's lifestyle section, i can't help but feel pretty much dissatisfied and turned-off.

after a few years of reading it, you notice that nothing has changed. columnists like tim, tessa, anton, or even maurice seem to keep on featuring themselves and their friends and what they do in their lives making the papers look like their own friggin' blog! they keep on mentioning "the new..." this and the "'it' boy/girl" that and the "must-have" this and the "super" that. one of them even mentioned that there's a new must-have dog. ehem, since when were dogs a fad anyway? it just doesn't feel like a newspaper anymore. but to be fair, they have some really good writers who actually know how to write and are witty and don't just print out a million photos and a small text to explain how much fun they had one night.

i hope the editors and inquirer attempt to at least change some aspects of this section. the columnists at philippine star (not all though) and businessworld are doing a much better job in actually featuring real pinoy lifestyle stories and issues... not some party a group of friends had on a "super" saturday night.