In this story, Eddy works in a call centre that operates hotlines for travel insurance holders.
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"Thank you for calling Travel Cover. This is Eddy speaking, how may I help you?"
"I have an international collect phone call from Taiwan, will you accept?"
"Yes, yes we will."
"May I have your name and how to spell it please."
"Eddy, E - D - D - Y"
"Eddy, and last name?"
"陳" Eddy switched languages and pronounces his surname in Mandarin.
"Very good, thank you"
The phone was connected.
"....Hello?"
Mmm, nice voice.
"Hi there. This is Travel Cover. We've accepted your reverse charge call. My name is Eddy, how may I help you?"
"Hi Eddy. Wow. Um.."
The caller was a young man who sounded overwhelmed to hear Eddy's voice.
"Wow... sorry, it's just that it's so nice to hear someone's voice from home"
Eddy smiled into the headset microphone;
"Well I'm glad we connected, too. May I have your name please?"
"Brett. Brett Yang."
Brett's voice trembled as he continues to speak.
"Wow... I can't believe I'm speaking to someone in Australia, it's past midnight over there. You guys are really open 24 hours, God I miss the accent. God I miss home...!"
"Mr. Yang, or may I call you Brett ? ...Great, well, Brett, are you stuck out there because of the border closures?"
"...Yeah... this damn pandemic, it never seems to settle. So, um, Eddy was it ? You're Australian, right ? That accent of yours.."
Eddy smiled.
"Well, I'm pretty close, Brett. I'm a Chen. You are calling me from my country of origin."
"Oh, wow. Are you *ABC?"
"No, not quite but I've lived here for quite a bit. So, Brett, you've called your travel insurance emergency number. Do you wish to make a claim ?"
"Well, I'm not sure. I haven't been robbed or anything. It just said here that I could talk to someone if I was having problems.."
"Yes, would you like to speak to one of our registered nurses about a medical problem? I can also connect you to a counsellor?"
"Um... I'm just really homesick, y'know ? Look, can I just keep talking to you for a bit, please, Eddy?"
"...Of course you can. Look Brett, I'm not a qualified counsellor but I am a very gentle listener. What do you want to talk about?"
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*ABC = Australian Born Chinese (background)