I like to take this opportunity to address the unsung heroes of modern Philippine economy. They bring in precious foreign currency to our shores while eking out a living in a different time zone and sacrificing personal contact with their loved ones. I'm talking, of course, about call center representatives. You can call them technical service representatives or customer care specialists or whatever, but for the sake of brevity, they will be called call center representatives.

Call centers are a growth industry, and for all we know, they're still growing (the classifieds can attest). I used to work along Emerald Avenue in Ortigas so I've had my share of personal encounters. FYI, Emerald Avenue is now known as Ortigas Jr. Avenue. That name change won't matter in the slightest bit because the other Ortigas Avenue is apparently older, and the government arm in charge of continually changing street names thinks that if you so much as confuse the two streets, then you are a moron who deserves to pay more taxes. I digress though. I still visit Emerald Ave. - excuse me, Ortigas Jr. Ave. - regularly, and I still catch the good call center folks lined up in front of all the building entrances, even during the oddest hours. That's hard. Please realize that by making them work the graveyard shift, we are essentially robbing them of a nightlife. A nightlife! It's a funny little thought, but if you consider it, most of us who are not tasked with working those early hours probably take our nightlives for granted. These people can't even catch a last full show, for crying out loud... and don't even get me started on happy hour.

After hitting the gym (along Ortigas Jr.) last Saturday afternoon with EmCow, we chanced upon a small bar across the street. The place was dimly lit, and whatever light can be gleaned from the partially open door had a very artificial feel to it. Dance music can also be heard from the street. The place was packed (take note that this was 2pm on a very hot day), and some people (smokers, I assume) were outside, sitting under large umbrellas, with buckets of Super Dry on their tables. It did look like a private party, but only because it was daytime. These people, for all intents and purposes, were on their after hours R&R. EmCow also went on to tell me about her sister, a call center rep herself, whose team went on a summer outing and ended up night swimming at the beach. Cheap offshore labor has made vampires out of our yuppies.

Don't knock them though... they probably earn more than you do. Given their unique schedules, they probably spend less too, especially since 7-11 and Mini Stop fare comes pretty inexpensive. They also don't get to experience rush hour traffic, which is a big plus. Those alone should be worth the price of having your internal clock knocked out of order. I do wonder if they get afternoon curfews.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -