Missing A Good night’s Sleep

This article was written when I was still working night shift.

I've been awake at night for more than three years now. Doctors had said that it's detrimental to health. I'm craving to be a "normal" human being but to no avail. This is a fact that many have to accept. I will not say that I don't have a choice because Philosophy won't accept that kind of reasoning. I'd rather say that it is the only good choice I have. I wake up at around 7:00 pm. Work starts at 10:00 pm at ends at 7:00 am. I sleep around 10 in the morning. Lucky if I could have an eight-hour sleep if my other housemates would be sensitive enough to feel that there are people sleeping in other rooms.

I must say that being a "day-sleeper," I am a victim of globalization. And my work, which pays better than a daytime job, is its outcome. I could vividly recall one of the callers that I had. She blamed us Filipinos for getting their jobs. Without getting intimidated, I told her that it's the outcome of globalization, which is the brainchild of her mother country. She was silent for a while, but later on agreed to what I said. That was just an exchange of ideas, and she was nice, nonetheless.

Statistics shows that we have a better customer service than American counterparts. Perhaps it has something to do with our culture -- a better edge, I guess. Filipinos like to serve. Look at our titas and titos taking care of their pamangkins; lolos and lolas taking care of their apos. We like to please other people as well. That's the primary reason services and hospitality businesses are thriving in this land.

Meanwhile, I'm just one of the luckiest creatures working in a "call center" because I'm no longer taking calls, being a pioneering batch of a non-voice account. Taking calls is tiresome especially for customer care account where discrimination and irate callers abound. Thousands could attest to it. Despite the fact that I no longer share the same sentiments, I still sleep at daytime. The system that we're using at work is only available daytime in the US, and it is obvious to say that it's nighttime here. Security reasons they say because we are handling sensitive data related to health insurance and finance.

The United States has certain laws governing protected health information, which will be tantamount to prosecution if used or divulged illegally. There are may call center centers where employees were caught mishandling sensitive information and were, at least, terminated from the job or even persecuted. One I heard was when agents of FBI went here to personally arrest contact center specialist for using bank account information of a client to purchase merchandise from e-Bay. Frightening? Not really, as long as you know your limits.

If I were to have a choice working daytime with the same pay, I'd grab it wholeheartedly. Who wouldn't? After all, I'm not a nocturnal being (well, I guess, I am right now). However, I could not survive with a mere income considering the monthly rentals, utilities, food cost and, of course, savings allotment. Who is to be blamed? No finger pointing, please. Nobody is accountable for what one is not responsible of. I think that's the best and safest answer.

Life is cruel. Life is unfair. Who said no? But, of course, life is just a matter of choice and acceptance and making the most with what you have. And if I should feel that life is cruel, I should also think of the moments when life is kind and wonderful. That's when life becomes fair. And if I chose to be in this job, then I must embrace it. I know this won't be for lifetime. "Life is a constant change," Jose Mari Chan said in his song.

One of the best thoughts that were said to me: "It is important to put joy in everything that we do no matter how insignificant it could be. And in so doing, we find meaning to our endeavors." I might be doing things daytime, I might be doing things nighttime, the focal point is that I love my job.

And with these things in mind, I'm optimistic that one day I would say, "Goodbye 'good day' sleep."