So the beginning of the end has happened. I finished, for better or worse, my first final earlier today. I have four more finals to take. I will be completely done on Thursday at 2:00 PM. I don't anticipate having grades like I did last semester, but I'm fine with it. My main concern is getting across the stage next week Sunday. I'm so happy that I didn't turn back this time. It was easy not going to school all of those years (1993 - 2006) but something clicked for me at the end of 2006 that told me it was time to go back. So in January 2007, I embarked upon a new chapter in my life. I didn't think I would go more than a semester. I certainly did not have to go back to school, as I was in what I thought was a secure and stable job. Looking back, going to school was the best decision I could have made at that time. I had a lot going on in my life from 2005 - 2007, and school brought some focus that I would not have had otherwise. Of course, 2007 - 2009 were some tough years, but I was reminded that I had a working brain, and it needed some food. I couldn't just sit back and watch people get degrees and good jobs, knowing that I had the knowledge to obtain a degree from almost any school.
I look back at this time because I remember what I was like almost 20 years ago, when I graduated from high school. I had no desire to go to college, but I wanted to leave Milwaukee so desperately, specifically leaving my mother's house. Being "grown" meant that I could do what I wanted, when I wanted, and had no one to answer to. No wonder I left college when I did! I tried to go back, but that was not going to happen. I lasted about a semester before I left for good, or so I thought.
I'm jumping around quite a bit tonight, but that's because my academic career is representative of the vicissitudes of life that I have experienced thus far... I'm at my best when I'm in school, especially when I'm doing well in school. When I'm not in school, I waste a lot of time trying to figure out how to exercise my gray cells. If I don't find something constructive, I become destructive. I need to work on the next part of my academic career as soon as possible, as I don't want to lose the focus I have developed. It's kind of funny, talking about having focus when I'm avoiding studying for finals...
I think of all the times my family and friends gave me grief and stayed on me about going back to school. In my head, it was not going to happen because there was nothing that I could do well enough to get a bachelors degree. Then I remembered I could read. Seriously though, I know my degree is not useful for more than certain, specific jobs, but fact of the matter is, in this job climate the only position I could have worked towards with a guaranteed job anywhere was nurse, and sorry, but I'm not nurse material. The minute someone told me I would have to stick someone with a needle is the minute I would walk out of the hospital doors. So although my degree is in History and Religious Studies, two disciplines that basically scream "go into teaching" and nothing else, I'm pretty proud of having accomplished a B.A. in them.
I'm excited. I don't know what the future will bring. I know that it will bring student loans. I'm hoping it will bring an awesome job. Most importantly, I'm looking forward to adding a new title to my life story, college graduate.
Have a good week y'all...
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Sunday, May 8, 2011
About that job thing...
I'm not lying when I say I need a new job. I know a lot of you call in to customer service call centers, and perhaps you're having a shitty day when you all of a sudden remember you have to pay a credit card bill. Well, let me give you a little insight on what my day is like -
Sometime between 6:30 or 7:30, I'm waking up. Now this may seem normal to the majority of you, but for me, since I often don't get off of work until 12:15 AM or later this means I'm not getting the 7 to 8 hours of sleep that my body craves every night.
I'm okay when I get out of bed. My mother usually has something awesome in the kitchen, I throw on some clothes, typical morning stuff. Sometimes I tell my mother about the previous night at work, or we discuss anything that happened in the news recently. Whatever, it's good, and with that I'm out the door...
So driving to school is always an adventure, because people in Milwaukee drive like their wheels are stuck in molasses. Freaking ridiculous if you ask me, but then again, I'm still a California driver. I'm trying to reform myself, but why do 30 when you can do 35? Why do 35 when you can do 40? Just a thought...
I get to school, chat with friends, try and make it through the day without sleeping (I'm usually pretty unsuccessful at that.) All in all though, I'm usually pretty cool with the day up to this point because besides shitty driving, life's been good. After this, I head home to eat something, pack up dinner, and head out the door...
So I get to work. I start praying about people in the car. I know some of you don't believe in the power of prayer, but I have to do something to keep my sanity. I continue to pray as I walk through the doors, and usually I can sit at my desk. But there are times when I have to find a seat and I'm not happy about that. Seriously? You're a multi - billion dollar company and you can't afford to set us all up with our own desks? Stupid.
I get on the phone and most of the time my first call is normal. But then there are times where one of my first calls of the day will go a little something like this...
Caller: "I'm calling about the late fee on my account."
Me: "Ok, let's take a look at your account and see what we can do about that late fee... May I have your name please?"
Caller: "Mary Smith"
Me: "Thank you for that information Mrs. Smith. For verification purposes, may I have the last 4 digits of your social security number?"
Caller: "1234"
Me: "Thank you for that information. For further verification purposes, may I have your telephone number please?" (at this point I have already removed the late fee, but I can't say anything because I'm not done verifying her information)
Caller: "Why do I have to give you that information? I already gave you the last four digits of my social security number! Why can't you just remove the late fee?"
Me: "Mrs. Smith, I just need to verify that we have the most current number on file in case we need to contact you about your account. If you could just give me that number, I'll be glad to see what we can do about the late fee."
Caller: "Well, I'm not giving you that number so you can just close my account!"
Me: "Ma'am, if I close your account, you will still owe the late fee on the account" (yes, I have it put back on because I'm not removing a late fee for someone who's closing their account. That's counterproductive.)
Caller: "I'm aware of that. Close my account."
In my head, all I can think is "you crazy bitch." I'm looking at her phone number! All she has to do is say it. At one point, I actually told her that if she could give me any phone number that would be acceptable. I just wanted to remove her fee and go on to the next call. She wants to argue and act as if closing her account is going to make this company go out of business. She must have drunk a pitcher of crazy if she thought that was going to happen!
Throughout the rest of the night, I get more crazy calls from more stupid people. However, I'm supposed to sit there and take it because that's what we do, we "take care of people." How about taking care of the people that work for your company? In doing this, you make it impossible for people to feel as if they are a valued part of your corporation. I know that they are convinced that customers are the reason why we're in business, but I can guarantee that if you do not take care of your employees, you will lose quality people. If you lose quality people, you will lose business.
I count the minutes before I can leave. I get home and I'm exhausted, but I can't go to sleep so I watch whatever is on my DVR. I replay calls over in my head, not to see where I went wrong or what I could do to make the next calls better, but because I want to remember to tell people about the stupid shit folks say to me.
I know you all have bad days. For whatever reason, when someone calls customer service, they think that being mean and disrespectful to the person on the other line will accomplish whatever goal they had. Just asking for what you want and answering my questions is just as likely to get you what you want. You don't have to be upset with my company because you don't have your life together. I'm here to help, not hurt.
Regarding the company where I work, I have lost some great co-workers because of your policies. You have got to do better. I'm not sure why companies stopped treasuring their employees. Maybe it's because unemployment is so high. Maybe they stopped because turnover means you can pay the next person less than you were paying the last person that worked there. I don't know. All I know is when people realize they can do better, they will leave. Your goal should be to keep people who are good at what they do, but I see that you couldn't give a shit.
I really need to find another job. I'm too old to get an ideal job as a movie/restaurant/hotel/airline critic. I would love to get a job as a trainer somewhere. I just can't continue down this current path. I'm far too old to put up with people's bullshit. Of course, I'm thankful that I have a job, so I guess I should just shut up. I can't see that happening though...
Sometime between 6:30 or 7:30, I'm waking up. Now this may seem normal to the majority of you, but for me, since I often don't get off of work until 12:15 AM or later this means I'm not getting the 7 to 8 hours of sleep that my body craves every night.
I'm okay when I get out of bed. My mother usually has something awesome in the kitchen, I throw on some clothes, typical morning stuff. Sometimes I tell my mother about the previous night at work, or we discuss anything that happened in the news recently. Whatever, it's good, and with that I'm out the door...
So driving to school is always an adventure, because people in Milwaukee drive like their wheels are stuck in molasses. Freaking ridiculous if you ask me, but then again, I'm still a California driver. I'm trying to reform myself, but why do 30 when you can do 35? Why do 35 when you can do 40? Just a thought...
I get to school, chat with friends, try and make it through the day without sleeping (I'm usually pretty unsuccessful at that.) All in all though, I'm usually pretty cool with the day up to this point because besides shitty driving, life's been good. After this, I head home to eat something, pack up dinner, and head out the door...
So I get to work. I start praying about people in the car. I know some of you don't believe in the power of prayer, but I have to do something to keep my sanity. I continue to pray as I walk through the doors, and usually I can sit at my desk. But there are times when I have to find a seat and I'm not happy about that. Seriously? You're a multi - billion dollar company and you can't afford to set us all up with our own desks? Stupid.
I get on the phone and most of the time my first call is normal. But then there are times where one of my first calls of the day will go a little something like this...
Caller: "I'm calling about the late fee on my account."
Me: "Ok, let's take a look at your account and see what we can do about that late fee... May I have your name please?"
Caller: "Mary Smith"
Me: "Thank you for that information Mrs. Smith. For verification purposes, may I have the last 4 digits of your social security number?"
Caller: "1234"
Me: "Thank you for that information. For further verification purposes, may I have your telephone number please?" (at this point I have already removed the late fee, but I can't say anything because I'm not done verifying her information)
Caller: "Why do I have to give you that information? I already gave you the last four digits of my social security number! Why can't you just remove the late fee?"
Me: "Mrs. Smith, I just need to verify that we have the most current number on file in case we need to contact you about your account. If you could just give me that number, I'll be glad to see what we can do about the late fee."
Caller: "Well, I'm not giving you that number so you can just close my account!"
Me: "Ma'am, if I close your account, you will still owe the late fee on the account" (yes, I have it put back on because I'm not removing a late fee for someone who's closing their account. That's counterproductive.)
Caller: "I'm aware of that. Close my account."
In my head, all I can think is "you crazy bitch." I'm looking at her phone number! All she has to do is say it. At one point, I actually told her that if she could give me any phone number that would be acceptable. I just wanted to remove her fee and go on to the next call. She wants to argue and act as if closing her account is going to make this company go out of business. She must have drunk a pitcher of crazy if she thought that was going to happen!
Throughout the rest of the night, I get more crazy calls from more stupid people. However, I'm supposed to sit there and take it because that's what we do, we "take care of people." How about taking care of the people that work for your company? In doing this, you make it impossible for people to feel as if they are a valued part of your corporation. I know that they are convinced that customers are the reason why we're in business, but I can guarantee that if you do not take care of your employees, you will lose quality people. If you lose quality people, you will lose business.
I count the minutes before I can leave. I get home and I'm exhausted, but I can't go to sleep so I watch whatever is on my DVR. I replay calls over in my head, not to see where I went wrong or what I could do to make the next calls better, but because I want to remember to tell people about the stupid shit folks say to me.
I know you all have bad days. For whatever reason, when someone calls customer service, they think that being mean and disrespectful to the person on the other line will accomplish whatever goal they had. Just asking for what you want and answering my questions is just as likely to get you what you want. You don't have to be upset with my company because you don't have your life together. I'm here to help, not hurt.
Regarding the company where I work, I have lost some great co-workers because of your policies. You have got to do better. I'm not sure why companies stopped treasuring their employees. Maybe it's because unemployment is so high. Maybe they stopped because turnover means you can pay the next person less than you were paying the last person that worked there. I don't know. All I know is when people realize they can do better, they will leave. Your goal should be to keep people who are good at what they do, but I see that you couldn't give a shit.
I really need to find another job. I'm too old to get an ideal job as a movie/restaurant/hotel/airline critic. I would love to get a job as a trainer somewhere. I just can't continue down this current path. I'm far too old to put up with people's bullshit. Of course, I'm thankful that I have a job, so I guess I should just shut up. I can't see that happening though...
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Tell me what it takes...
So earlier tonight I was leaving the movies with my friend Jules. She announced to me that bin Laden was killed based on orders from President Obama. This week, my President has proven that he is, in fact, from Hawaii and NOT Kenya, he came close to killing Gaddafi, he showed his sense of humor by gently ribbing Trump (who, might I add, does not take kindly to people picking on him... wow!) and proved he could laugh at himself after Seth Meyers said some pretty funny stuff about him. Now, he announces to the world that he ordered the killing of the most wanted terrorist in the world and our troops successfully accomplished the goal he set for them... Yet he still can't get a fucking break?!!? People amaze me. I am not kidding, people truly amaze me. Don't get me wrong, I'm still plenty pissed about Obama not raising taxes on the rich/ continuing the Bush tax cuts. I'm also not a fan of his school policy, and as long as he continues to be against cleaning up public education in favor of setting up more charter schools, he and I will continue to be at odds about that. But I don't care what anyone says, the quagmire we were in just a few years ago under Bush had me thinking we would never recover, yet somehow under Obama we're getting on the right track. Yes, there are some 25 million plus people out of work, and gas is too high (as is rent) but at the same time, I guess I was always one of those people that knew Obama wouldn't be able clean up everything in a few years. So while it remains to be seen if he will go down as one of the best presidents ever, what I can say for Obama is I'm praying to my God for you. Of course, according to some dumbasses my God isn't the same as Obama's God because he's a Muslim. As a religious studies scholar I can say with authority that the God that my brothers and sisters in the Middle East call Allah is the same that my Hebrew brothers and sisters call Adonai, and the one they call Adonai is the one we call God the Father. Also, I'm pretty comfortable with referring to Obama as a Christian, since he has said on multiple occasions that Jesus Christ is his Lord and Savior.
I'm writing this while listening to Rage Against the Machine... "Killing In The Name" and I want to stop writing from an angry place. I can't help it though, because people get on my last fucking nerve. Between the dipshit in Oklahoma that thinks I don't want to work because I'm black and Donald Trump (I hope you're still enjoying your relationship with "the Blacks") I just don't even want to deal with people that have no common sense anymore. I don't give a flying rats ass what you say in front of your family and friends about people of other races, but if I can't say shit about yours, then I'll be damned if you think it's okay to say shit about mine. I know I'm not supposed to let it get under my skin, but if I keep trying to brush my shoulders off, people won't know that I don't like them. I told my friend Danielle at work this week people continue to make the mistake of thinking I need them. I need my mother, everyone else in my life is a nice extra. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate you all, and I love you too, but I can guaran-fucking-tee you that as easily as you came in my world, I can walk away with great memories of days gone by. I've bitten my tongue and now it's bleeding. I've been going through some real shit in the past year, and I mean "real drama could be on a talk show shit", but that's all about to change. I graduate in three weeks. After that, if people can't demonstrate they are for me, then they are against me. If they are against me, I'm erasing them from more than Facebook. I'm tired.
Y'all have a good week.
I'm writing this while listening to Rage Against the Machine... "Killing In The Name" and I want to stop writing from an angry place. I can't help it though, because people get on my last fucking nerve. Between the dipshit in Oklahoma that thinks I don't want to work because I'm black and Donald Trump (I hope you're still enjoying your relationship with "the Blacks") I just don't even want to deal with people that have no common sense anymore. I don't give a flying rats ass what you say in front of your family and friends about people of other races, but if I can't say shit about yours, then I'll be damned if you think it's okay to say shit about mine. I know I'm not supposed to let it get under my skin, but if I keep trying to brush my shoulders off, people won't know that I don't like them. I told my friend Danielle at work this week people continue to make the mistake of thinking I need them. I need my mother, everyone else in my life is a nice extra. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate you all, and I love you too, but I can guaran-fucking-tee you that as easily as you came in my world, I can walk away with great memories of days gone by. I've bitten my tongue and now it's bleeding. I've been going through some real shit in the past year, and I mean "real drama could be on a talk show shit", but that's all about to change. I graduate in three weeks. After that, if people can't demonstrate they are for me, then they are against me. If they are against me, I'm erasing them from more than Facebook. I'm tired.
Y'all have a good week.
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