There are four things that are guaranteed at a call center.
1. Yelling/irate customers
2. Crank callers
3. Customer’s that will hit on you based on your voice
4. The safety and security of never seeing the person on the other end
Some people join call centers for these very reasons. As for me, I joined because of the money and the fact that I could quickly forget about a customer once I dropped the call. I could make a connection on that call and sever it without harming or damaging my emotions. It was a perfect relationship without the strings. I loved it. That is, until I met or should I say, heard Jason. Opposed to other call centers, Sprint allows us to transfer internally when transferring to the department known as “escalations.” So we could choose to ask that representative to “stand up” and see who we were talking to. And if you wanted to tell them how awful they were over the phone, you could tell them during your break. It was wonderful. But Jason, Jason was different. He was a “work-at-home” representative. So he was still part of our center, just at home. I loved transferring to Jason. I never knew when I’d get him, but I knew it was him from that slurred speech, that laid back attitude he had over the phone and the fact that he was always breaking the rules. He’d be playing gangster music in the background and I’d ask him, “Are you playing gangster music?” He’d laugh in that drunken way and say, “Naw, wait… can you really hear it?” His unprofessionalism always made me laugh partly because he was taking a huge risk and partly because he evoked a sense of freedom that I wish I could have. Because there are so many internal representatives, the chances of transferring to him were slim, but when we did speak, there was always a connection I didn’t want to sever. Unlike the other representatives, I couldn’t ask him to standup or to hang out after work. He often told me when he was coming to the center and to be there those days so we could meet, but those were usually my days off so I never did. So I gave up on ever seeing the face behind the voice. That is, until one day, unexpectedly, I heard his familiar voice when transferring to him. Excitedly, he told me he was in the building. So we both stood up and there he was, the very opposite of what I’d come to make up in my mind. He was tall, handsome with shaggy hair and brown eyes half closed. He smiled at me and I smiled at him. It was one of the best moments of my life, to finally get to see Jason. And since then, I haven’t transferred to him or seen him. I don’t think I ever will again since he works at home, but it was awesome. And I look forward to the next time we talk, who know's when that'll be, but hopefully it's some day soon.
