For me it was the collective solidarity during the manual data entry shifts we did when elections came around. Those were some of the most soul crushing experiences of my life, and the incredible feeling of coworkers you didn't even know that well covering for you as middle management wondered where I was (I had to take a short bathroom break because I couldn't take a leak for hours) were so heartwarming. Of course there also was all the bad stuff: lying to customers who were having real problems that you couldn't do anything about, being insulted by people you called for a survey and you can't even seriously argue against them, terrible pay, the list goes on. If you have anything to contribute, please do so! I'd love to hear your perspectives.
I remember one time I took a call center gig while I was waiting for a buddy to get me in at his spot, just to get some checks. So boring. Cold calling leads to try to sell water purifier systems. You call their cards, and when you run out of cards you start calling the same cards again. Gross. I’d done a few stints in call centers so none of this was a surprise.
But after calling through my cards twice, I was not about to call a fucking third time, so I just took a smoke break and went on my phone. Did it at my desk too, I had already hit the quota of whatever.
What got me was how some other non-manager lead person came up to me and was like “I saw you were on your phone at your desk. If you want to be a part of our family, you have to be present here”.
Like wtf. Family? What kind of horrific family is this? Bear in mind, it’s dead silent in there except for dialing, you can’t even see the other callers. There’s no break room. I didn’t even know anybody’s name, there’s no introductions.
Just really pierced through how all these jobs are built from people with lies and self-delusions. I felt sorry for her, because she’s suffering under one of those same as me.