Today I Write The Saddest Blogpost

(As I write this blogpost, I am in the middle of taking in calls. Im not so much in a good mood to play nice and sweet to irate callers. Thus, I'll not be very surprised if I'll have a failed QE or a very dissatisfactory POSE once I get back to work come Thursday. ***Photo credit: photo used for this blogpost was taken from teamcali.multiply.com, perhaps this was shot using TL's digicam***)

Starting today (March the 30th), I think Team 81M02 will never be the same again. It is with a heavy heart that we said our goodbyes to TL Cali San Diego on her last day with the team yesterday (March the 29th).

To speak about parting is an ordeal. Letting go is a Herculean task that could never be accomplished overnight. And yes, Iam sulking. I am disheartened. I am sad.

Please don't get me wrong. Sure, I am really happy for TL Cali that she was favorably chosen by the junior-level management of the company to head one of the three teams for Project Greenlight for we could all vouch for TL's superb leadership and management skills. The team itself is a living proof of what TL can accomplish. There's no denying that TL surely deserves to be given new and more challenging responsibilities.

What saddens the team, or myself for that matter, was the urgency and the immediate effectivity of TL Cali's pull-out from our team. We never thought that after spending our much-deserved early summer getaway trip at Iba, Zambales, we got back to work last Thursday only to find out that we have like a day left to spend with TL. Surprise, Surprise! I can't speak for the other older and more tenured agents in the team if they are sad as I am simply because basic psychology taught me its wrong to assume about how other people respond on a given stimulus. But here's an obervation on the first day without TL Cali: the shift started a bit gloomy, our once imprenta-like QuickComm was only being filled with purely work-related concerns (e.g. pa-add ng ganito, pa-add ng ganyan, pa-order ng ganito etc.), 2 colleagues are absent and miracle of miracles, 81M02's SILENCE IS SO DEAFENING...

I could write here for all I want how disgusted I am with the decision of those never mind... An orgmate in college told me how I should be accepting of this event since Sociology taught us how capitalists are devoid of any human emotion and that this rationalization is done all in the guise of profit maximization! Grrrrrr! Sigh, the pains of being a part of the working class...

Anyhow, back on reflective/sulking/sad mode:

In sociology (or psychology, that I no longer remember, forgive my utter ignorance...), a person's performance in a group or in an organization is sustained or improved by having a "significant other." And in the workplace, TL Cali was the "significant other" that allowed me to persevere and somehow do some "hardwork." TL was also instrumental in changing my views about this work that I do. From her I learned that there is indeed pride in being a call center agent. I was then able to put so much respect on this kind of work since TL helped me to dispel whatever negative notions I initially have.

Now that TL is no longer our "Boss", I'll surely miss the curls and how shy she was when we noticed her straight hair but still insisted to her press release, "shampoo lang yan."; the constant reminders to TLi, Kuya Jeps and Rain not to go on ACW for more than 2 minutes; the day she implemented the EOP on our QuickComm long before the managers thought of it and how bloody our noses and ears were afterwards; the great deal of patience that she and Ms. Annie exerted to teach Mai and myself how to properly issue and comment on a credit. I'll also miss the yosi sessions and those conversations ranging from what is deemed as personal, to professional and work-related issues (performance coaching). And above all, the discourses on socio-politico-economic issues confronting our third world graft-ridden society which only shows that we never turned our backs from what U.P. instilled in us.

It would definitely take time before we'll get use to not having TL around. We might have moved on but one thing is for sure, 81M02 will never be the same again without TL California San Diego.

TL Cali: She'll be the standard from which our next TL/s will be measured. No pressure!