(no subject)

[bubosquared]

It's a goddamned epidemic now:

Melle: Is that P for Papa?
Customer: No, T for Tea.

Granted, from context I knew what she meant, but ... how is that in any way an appropriate way to spell something? I kow most people who don't work in the call centre industry don't have the phonetic alphabet burnt into their brain like I do, but geez. Also, my hatred of the sales team is now international. Lack of preparation on your part still does not constitute an emergency on mine, dammit, so next time perhaps you want to ask us to send you stuff a little sooner than the day before you need it. You twat. And while I'm being semi-irrationally angry, the women who, when I ask for their name and address, give me their husband's name, sometimes going as far as "Mrs [Husband'sFirstName] [LastName]," are going to make me develop a nervous twitch. Gah!

[ETA] Also, for the record? Calling me "young lady" is not the way to get me to go above and beyond the call of duty for you. Take your condescending arse somewhere else, you twat.[/ETA]

In other job-related news, I've been vaguely looking at job listings these past few days. I've not yet actually applied for anything yet, because, as my dad pointed out to me on the phone this weekend, for once I can actually be picky and take my time looking for a job, because my current job is often annoying and boring, but it pays me enough to make a living, and it's not unbearable or anything. (Occasional rants notwithstanding, obviously, but I'm easily annoyed in general, so this shouldn't be taken as an indication of my job satisfaction, heh.)

So I've been trying to come up with a list of things I want from my "ideal" job. (Well, realistic things, I mean. No one's going to pay me to sit at home and read/write porn all day, so yeah.) One of the items is "Minimal contact with the general public." Aother is "Opportunity to speak Dutch on a regaular basis." I'm starting to think the two are pretty much mutually exclusive, which leads, unfortunately, to a dilemma. On the one hand, not only do I want to keep speaking my native language*, but it's also my main selling point on the job market ... but it's also what keeps me in a bit of a niche market consisting of pretty much nothing but jobs like this one, customer service jobs, and if I look for jobs where speaking Dutch isn't an edge, I have pretty much no edge to speak of anymore.

So I have to decide which one of those is more important to me, and it's not that I dislike customer service in principle; in fact, I quite like helping people and going above and beyond the call of duty if needed. It's the other aspects of the job--the boredom, the asshats, the whingers, the general stupidity of the general public, and most of all the telephones, that I'm tired of. (Also, it's just not where the big money is, and okay, I'm not looking for the big money, but I'm also not going to go through the hassle of changing jobs if I'm going to be earning less or even the same, you know?)

So I'm mulling things over for a while and doing random job searches in the hopes that I'll stumble across, say, a webmaster job that doesn't require a degree in I.T., or some other interesting job that doesn't ask for diplomas and/or a driving license. (Which I'm vaguely thinking of maybe giving in and getting, possibly. My mum would be thrilled. Heh.) my big problem is that I have a variety of skills, and I'm a hard (and independent) worker and a quick learner, and I can and will pitch in heavily if there's a deadline looming, but I have no piece of paper to back up my skills, and the rest isn't really something you can really "prove" unless you've worked somewhere a while, which was one of the reasons I do sort of want to stay internal if possible. Sigh.

So, um, yeah. If anyone in or around Edinburgh knows of someone looking for an admin assistant or whatever, I'm up for just about anything as long as it doesn't require either standing on my feet all day, or something like data entry that would trigger my RSI again. *hopeful look*

Looks like April is the month of expenses. I owe my mum money, and I need to buy a new HD for my iPod, and it looks like it'll either be that or go to London end of the month, and I'm sorry, London people, but it's going to be the former. Sigh. I'll reschedule the London trip once I've saved up a bunch of money again, but for now, I've just too much I need to save for--paying back mum, the iPod, computer stuff, plane ticket home in August, expenses for Connotations in October, Christmas-related expenses, and of course Escapade next year. Also, possibly, going hiking in the Highlands with my brothers, in case a minor miracle occurs and we manage to get our shit together about that. Ahem.

Comments

[wibbble]

When I called the Oriental Trading Company in the US, I consistently used the correct phonetic alphabet, and the person on the other line consistently got it wrong and read it back using names. ('G as in George' was one she used.)

Never calling them again. :o)

[bubosquared.livejournal.com]

The one using names is very popular as well, yeah, which is annoying to me far less in English than it in in Dutch, for some reason. (Possibly because the names in Dutch are all weird names no one actually uses anymore.) I much prefer the proper international phonetic alphabet, because it also eliminates problems with accents, which I have a lot more with the names.

[wibbble]

*nods*

I think was really annoyed me was that if I had said something like 'N for November', she'd reply with 'N as in Norman?'. No! November! FFS!

It doesn't help that she just ignored part of what I said, too, and got us £20 in customs charges as a result. Bah.

[bubosquared.livejournal.com]

Booo! And yeah, those are the worst, when they're so used to their own (srong!) way of phonetic spelling that they can't even think outside their box anymore. Because clearly the N in November is a different N than the one in Norman!

[carelessmemory.livejournal.com]

No one's going to pay me to sit at home and read/write porn all day

One never knows! I'll get back to you after I win the lottery jackpot this weekend, 'k. ;p

I hope you find the perfect job.

[bubosquared.livejournal.com]

Heee! And thanks! Again, at least this time I can be picky, so I'll at least come closer to the "perfect" job. :)

[meacoustic.livejournal.com]

adam, boy, charles, david, edward, frank, george, henry, ida, john, king, lincoln, mary, nora, ocean, paul, queen, robert, sam, tom, union, victor, william, x-ray, young, zebra

[bubosquared.livejournal.com]

alpha, bravo, charlie, delta, echo, foxtrot, golf, hotel, india, juliet, kilo, lima, mike, november, oscar, papa, quebec, romeo, sierra, tango, uniform, victor, whisky, x-ray, yankee, zulu.

:P

[(Anonymous)]

so if she called you 'young lady', are you allowed to call her 'old woman' ?

[bubosquared.livejournal.com]

Was a he, actually, which makes it even worse, really.