kolgirl

a colleague send me an email containing this article. I found it interesting and informative so I decided to post it here in my blog.


‘Kolgirl’
By Pamela
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 01:13:00 01/08/2009

If you are familiar with the terms “QA,” “Queuing,” “EOP,” “ACW,” “AHT,” “avail,” then you are one of us, the thousands of “kolboys” and “kolgirls” in the Philippines .
We belong to the sleep-deprived, nicotine-inhaling, cab-riding new breed of Filipino youth. We infuse our anemic, caffeinated veins with ferrous sulfate every day so that we won’t be “NCNS” (no call, no show) for our next shift. “Ginagawa naming araw ang gabi.” [We make the night our day.]
Glamorous? Well, if your idea of glamour is staggering down Ortigas Avenue wearing Paris Hilton shades at 8 in the morning, looking dog-tired while everybody else looks fresh and new, then we are the kings and queens of glamour.
Bohemian? Ha ha! We follow a very rigid schedule. We cannot go on extended breaks. We cannot hang up on cursing customers. We cannot refuse to take calls. And we have to ask for permission to answer nature’s call. We are like prisoners in our stations for eight whole hours. Ours is a Spartan life.
I cannot help but be catty and melodramatic about it. We say, “Good morning” when we all know that everybody but us (at least in this part of the Pacific) is in his deepest sleep. We say (with an audible smile), “I’d be glad to assist you,” never mind if we had to leave a feverish son under the care of his “yaya” [nanny].
We can afford to miss family occasions and national holidays because we know we will be well compensated. Every birthday of a family member that we miss means we have P700 more to pay the bills, rent and tuition. The added pay for every national holiday that we worked helps pay our taxes. Yes, my friends, we are paying for the street lights along the avenues and highways that we must brave every night.
Contented cats we are not. “Laway lang ang puhunan” [Saliva is our only capital], we some people say, but we are in one of the most stressful and draining jobs you can find. And like the rest of the working class, we are overworked and underpaid.
We are forced to defend big banks, superstores, telecoms or any account we are handling. Just like any member of the proletariat, we are alienated from the giants that we work for. We apologize for things that we do not have anything to do with. We fix problems we did not create. We are the cheap, apologetic and docile answering machines at the other end of the line, the receiving end of the frustrations and ire of customers who feel shortchanged.
Apolitical? I have to disagree. We are tax-paying citizens like most working Filipinos. Yes, most of us get the latest news from Inquirer Libre (while riding the Metro Rail Transit on our way to work), but we are also appalled by the P500,000 “cash gift” congressmen got to kill the Arroyo impeachment complaint last year. We are also furious with this government for spending half of the national budget on debt servicing so that it can borrow some more. And we are enraged that some people cheated their way to high offices.
We may speak in English for more than half of our waking hours, but it doesn’t make us less Filipinos. We share the sentiments and burdens of every landless farmer, every laid-off factory worker, every out-of-school youth, every hungry Filipino mouth. We find time to mourn slain activists, priests, journalists and innocent civilians. Most importantly, we share the aspirations of the Filipino people to build a just society where we can say, “I’d be glad to assist you,” and actually mean it.

Pamela, 28, is a single mother who works as a call center agent, a job that pays her enough to splurge on mango shakes, banana cues, rambutan fruits and Marlboro reds. She has a generous health card that takes care of her brain scans, EEG and MRI, paid for by her call center company, which she thinks is the source of her migraine and headaches.

shangri-la

shangrila crossing is just a few meters away from office. walking outside this mall always gives me some time to reminisce the past. I don't know if I will smile because i had sweet memories there or I have to cry because those memories will not happen again. i remember it was night when the two of us part ways outside that fancy mall. He was holding me inside his arms and we were planning many things for the future. That was so sweet. Me inside him, he is talking about future, giving me kisses at my forehead and smelling my hair. An experience that is pricless.Something that you can't buy from a glamorous store. I'm in my drama mode again. That is why Im writing every thing here in my sanctuary. I can't help myself to think of this scenario. His smell still lingers. His smile was sweet. But for some reasons and complications in our lives our memories will not happen again. Honestly, I don't want to think of the way we parted ways that night. I have to walk fast and help myself not to look back after i utter the words "Ingat ka". He's not aware that when I said those words I also mean "goodbye" Few months that we had. Few months of care and love. It may look weird but I am always like this. A crazy coward girl whose afraid of commiment. Scared of risking the 'us'. Afraid to jumped in and face the complications that this relationship will bring. Stupid me.. I am not ready to give in. I don't use my heart when I decide, I use my brain. I don't know why Im like that. It is hard to explain. Maybe it is just not the right time.

Tagged from Roge and Jham

dahil nasa blogger/emotera mode ako today... sasagutan ko ang tagged nila Jham at Roge....hehehe


Here are the rules:
1. Each blogger must post these rules.
2. Each blogger starts with ten random facts/habits about themselves.
3. Bloggers that are tagged, need to write ten facts about themselves. You need to choose ten people to tag and list their names.
4. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they've been tagged and also to read your blog.


10 random facts about shamy/emotera..
1. Tahimik sa una pero pag medyo na kapag observe na ayun daldal ever...hahaha

2. I like people who are fun to be with at may sense of humor

3. I like to travel kaso Baguio lagi ang destinasyon ko sa pagbabakasyon....

4. Emotera ako kaya yan ang pen name ko dito sa aking blogspot account...

5. Takot ako sa mga rides kaya hindi ako enjoy pag pumupunta ng EK or star city...

6. I love to learn new things...

7. Pag mamimili gusto ko mag isa lang ako...

9. Kahit na hindi halata sa akin... I have a big faith in God...

10. Mahal ko ang pamilya ko... Handa akong gawin lahat para masapasaya sila...


NOW..
Hindi ko ito ipapasa... basta kung sino magvisit ng blog ko at basahin ko... automatically kasama na kayo sa tagged na ito... okeis???

disappointments

first day of 2009. We see each other, it is always our plan to meet up every time he stays in manila . I am glad that we meet after few months of not seeing each other. He is my crush, I admit. We spend time together. we checked the latest books in the bookstore. We looked for new artworks at the art work display. We talked about things in our lives. But disappontment comes in.

I got disappointed because some of the things that I love to do is not his thing. I mean he doesn't want to do the things I always do. He is not the person I am looking for. We agree on some things but not always. Maybe I expected him to be as open as I am.

He is disappointed. I can see it in his actions and reactions that he got disappointed. I told him that I need to meet my colleagues. He did not have the chance to go with me because it is not his thing. Goody goody side of him,I guess.

My mom got disappointed. I did not go home at that night and my mom did not get any text message from because I'm having fun with my friends from work. When I got home, sermon galore si mudrabells.

Disappointment is part of life. You might me the cause of other's disappointment or others disappoint you. I don't want to elaborate the things that happened. I just wanted to burst out the feelings the I have right now. I am in my emotera mode right now.

Anyway, I would like to thank Roge sa pag ampon mo sa min nila Gail at Lian. Sa uulitin. Hehehe.