#laborstories

They told us. . . “Study hard so you do not end up answering phones for a living.”

But here we are. College graduates. Former honor students. Working professionals. Speaking better English than our politicians just to say

“I am sorry for the inconvenience, sir.”

Call Center Is the Country’s Great Accidental Gathering Place

You will find everyone here.

The Psych major who can profile a customer’s trauma mid-call. The Nursing graduate who could not get a visa but memorized their QA metrics. The rich kid na naka tatlong course bago nag decide na pera muna, growth later. The loud bakla na may British accent on Mondays, Australian on Fridays. The breadwinner who types “I understand where you are coming from” while hiding past due bills.

Hindi ito dream job. Pero hindi rin ito basta basta.

It is the job that pays your rent, feeds your siblings, and slowly takes your soul one call at a time.

What They Do Not Tell You

The BPO is not just a job. It is a parallel universe where

3AM or 4AM is lunch break. Productivity is counted in mouse clicks and bathroom time. You learn to cry silently between calls, kapag baguhan ka pa. You get shouted at by someone 8000 miles away and still say thank you.

Pero Masaya Rin Kahit Papano

Yes, we joke about it.

We say call center trap yan. We laugh at each other’s fake accents. We tease each other for having a call center barkada na parang kulto sa pantry at smoking area.

But deep down, there is a strange kind of love in it.

You have not really lived until you have

Slept in the sleeping quarters beside a stranger na amoy Lucky Me. Chismisan sa floor habang may crisis tungkol sa metrics. Na promote tapos nag resign two weeks later dahil wala nang thrill. Inampon ng bakla sa wave mo kasi wala kang baon.

So What If This Was Not the Dream

We did not sell out. We just did what we had to.

Because in this country hustle is not ambition. It is survival.

And if you think we are less than just because we take calls at night and speak in accents that are not ours