Love At First Sit

A Night In the life of a Call Center Agent

"Take it," Carlito pressed.

She sighed and reluctantly took his ID. "Sorry, Dad."

"Just act normal and follow behind me," he reminded her.

They walked up to the door and gave the guard an unusually big smile.

"How is it going, pare?" asked Carlito as he surrendered his bag for inspection.

"The usual," the guard replied in an unwelcoming tone. "You may get inside," he told Carlito. "Miss, your bag please."

Roxanne opened her bag, shaking.

"You okay, Miss?" the guard asked.

"Y-yeah," she stammered. "J-just hungry."

"Okay, clear." The guard let go of her bag.

Carlito opened the glass door and held it for a moment longer, giving Roxanne the chance to tap his ID on the sensor and look as if she'd used her own access to open the door. She quickly stepped inside.

"Miss?" the guard called.

Roxanne froze. Droplets of cold sweat formed on her forehead.

"Yes, Manong?"

"Eat well, okay? You look pale."

Carlito let out a chuckle.

"Thank you, Manong."

She frantically pressed the elevator button and let out a breath of relief as the doors creaked open.

"That was close." Roxanne shook her head and squeezed Carlito's hand. "Thank you, Daddy. Thank you, thank you."

"I thought you'd pass out. If you only could see your face," Carlito teased, laughing. "Next time, check your belongings before you go to work. I'll go ahead." He tapped her shoulder and got off at the smoking area on level two.

Roxanne almost flew to the biometric fingerprint scanner to log in when the elevator reached the production floor. The scanner dinged and the small screen registered 8:58. She'd made it.

She walked into the locker area and greeted everyone as she always did. She went to the pantry to pour hot coffee into her tumbler. Roxanne wasn't quite herself until she had her coffee. Luckily, there was an unlimited supply for call center agents.

"Hey Roxy, coaching later, okay?" said Mina in a low voice.

She knew that Mina will only use their Aux time to talk about what had happened the previous night.

Logging into the company's phone system, Roxanne put on her headset and remembered her mantra: Empathize with the customer and smile.

"Thank you for calling East Coast Health Insurance Center, this is Roxanne, how may I help you?" Roxanne greeted, delivering her opening spiel in a cheerful tone.

It wasn't where Roxanne wanted to be, but the job paid the rent and expenses. As the sole provider for her children, Roxanne had to shove her dream of being a teacher far into a corner.

It wasn't an easy job either, but Roxanne was good at it. Many of her colleagues started with the intention to leave eventually, and there were some who stayed, like her Team Manager and friend Mina, who recognized the opportunity to climb the ladder of success.

Roxanne was still aiming to set out once again to bag her degree. The call center job was just a pit stop for her. She only needed to buy time and money.