introduce yourself...

La Familia Dieta
Part I: Self-Edit

Thought: Hmm.. tough crowd. Suddenly the half room doesn't seem so small.
Speech: Hello everybody *ahem* before we begin I'd like to introduce myself.


T: Introduce yourself, no way, introduce yourself, okay!
S: *ahem* My name is...

T: I am 21 years old. I am 21 years old! Damn it, I can't say that. Must... build... credibility
S: ...I am a trainer here at DIET. I've been in the contact center industry for...

T: 14 months.
S: ...over a year now...

T: I've been a trainer for 2 months. Took calls for a day shy of a year. Scratch that. BE CREDIBLE $#!%@$^!@!!!
S: ...half of which was spent here at this company.

T: Oh crap. Should I have said that? T1: No. Remember the part about building credibility? They can do simple math. 1 year divided by 2= 6 months = boo!
T2: Oh shit.
T3: Oh shit (echo, enter London Bridge Intro)
S: Anyway, I started here as an IP Relay operator. We basically made phone calls for the deaf and hard of hearing. Those with call center experience would probably know what I'm talking about.

T: What's next? Hmm... Training is my passion because...
T1: Is it? You gotta talk about moving to DIET, silly.
T2: The spiel about marriage of both worlds.
T3: The Grey Goose got your girl feeling loose. Now I'm wishing that I didn't wear these shoes.

S: After that, I...

T: applied?
T1: got promoted?
S: ...moved to DIET. Which is so much fun. I love it here. I really do (with matching eyebrow action towards Bossman) Training is my passion because I find that it's the marriage of my 2 worlds. I am a teacher. I have a degree in Secondary Education from UST but after college I...

T: Sold out?
T1: Slipped into the dark side
T3: (sirens)
S: joined the industry because of the...

T: money
T1: money
T2: ...the wonderful opportunity and the...
T: money
T2: ...sheer joy of getting to meet new people everyday...
T1: money
T2: ...and also because I'm a people person...
S: (high pitched shriek + horse neigh) *mental breakdown*

Sounds stressful? Nope. Just another day at the office. When you self correct a lot, you start to hear four, at times five different voices all at once. Since when did introducing one's self become so difficult? I realize now that despite introductions being tough, I have to do it right at the risk of losing my (big word today) credibility in front of the trainees. I always thought that my youth and lack of experience would be a testament to the company's stance on equal opportunity but after some re-education, I know see that my previous introductions have made me look unqualified and this casts a negative light on the company. Oh, what I'd do for a do over right about now.

I used to think this move to Training meant one thing: less stress. I've always felt comfortable in front of a class and at the time that I decided (to apply), I really felt like I was coming home. I still remember getting really delicate calls and how my heart would just jump out of my chest each time. I figured this change would do me good (I believe I talked about that in some of my previous posts) but with a new scene comes new challenges and this latest one is just the beginning. It's like there's another voice in my head that seems to say...

T5: there's plenty more where that came from (evil laughter)

But I am learning. Learning has been defined as a change in behavior and I can feel it. I hear it, smell it, taste it. Change is all around me. In a mock extempo, a trainee asked me who I look up to and (cheesy answer) in a hushed voice, I said "Let's keep this to ourselves but I really look up to the other trainers. Sometimes, I just watch them in the war room and I'm so amazed at what they've accomplished. Here are people who have lives and families and have made names for themselves and most of them have been in the very same place I find myself in now. So yeah, if there's anybody I look up to, that'd be them."

No, I am not the greatest. I'm not even in the top half. But I'm learning and that's all I need right now.

Part II: Toshie's Dead, well not really.

People who have seen my phone usually say one of two things. The polite ones would probably say "wow, that's a unique phone. hmmm... what's it called?" to which I'd go on about how I found it on eBay and how it's Japanese and blahdiblahdiblah... The crude ones would probably say "wow, diba call center ka (oo, building ako)? Bat ganyan parin phone mo" Kasi, this doubles as a deadly weapon. Blag! As I wipe their brain particles of the phone's display, I feel glad to have defended my phone's honor.

But it's dead now. Well, not really. It turns on and off at different times of the day. The repair guy said he could probably fix it but it would have a 50/50 chance of surviving surgery. So I guess that makes Toshie an ICU patient. Blame it on the Starbucks not-so-spillproof tumbler. I found Toshie wet and coughing as it buzzed goodbye.

I'm still thinking if I should get a new phone or have this one fixed. I really love the camera in this phone and a lot of people who have used this particular model would agree that it captures natural light pretty well. This picture (which I've got up on Multiply) is from the fifth floor of the office and it's one of the reasons why I'm really going to miss good old Toshie. *sad face*