The Pain Ride

Right now, I'm typing this post in my battered, just-out-of-work self.

I decided to hide the link to my blog from the old one, so to keep this pet project of mine that i call this blog totally underground. Why? Because I feel like it. So if you stumbled upon this site because you were click-happy while reading my blog on Friendster, well, congratulations. What you're reading right now is a continuation of my first blog on Friendster, Backwater Wikiality, entitled 'The Barbedwire Confraternity'. Why the title, you ask? Well, it's better than 'Untitled Blog', I can tell you that. Anyway, I'm not here to write about the blog itself, I'm here to talk about the subject matter of the blog, i.e. anything goes.

OK, enough rant. Let's start.

I've been through a lot, lately. Ah, yes, here I was, revelling in the victory that is my regularization, my very proof that I can stand up to the pressures of the corporate grind.

Or, at least I think I can.

Being the first (and youngest) from my training batch to get regularized, I had something of a rock star status from my peers, congratulating me every time I bump into one of them. On the contrary, my status as a 'regular' makes me turn into a jerk when it comes to punk-ass trainees.

You see, I dunno when it started, but the new batch of trainees tend to be cocky for reasons I somehow can't explain. They hog the shuttles (we'll come to that later), talk in very loud voices in the sleeping area, play games in the game room (a fact that my peers and I severely dislike), generally, they act as if they 'own' the place. Normally, I wouldn't be an asshole to trainees, after all, one man's 'noob' is another man's 'pwner', but man, their attitude is appalling at best, as if they know that our job is piss easy.

And it seems that my short-lived 'rock star' status didn't stop there. In the days before the next "schedule shift", I was stunned to discover that I was made 'Team Employee of the Month', because I was aggressive enough to improve my stats. The prize: a few gift certificates from colonial-mentality capitol Starbucks Coffee and SM.

Then comes the "schedule bidding". This is the time that you can pick a schedule that you want, and if it isn't taken yet, it's yours for keeps. In my line of work, the most 'normal' schedule you can get is one that runs from 9 PM - 6 AM, with day offs on weekends. Naturally, I picked that sked, because with it, I could easily go home early because of an available shuttle in the morning.

Which brings us to the main point of this post: the shift and the shuttle.

My shift's alright, guaranteeing me a good working station every time. And who wouldn't love an earlier shift? The bad thing is the shuttle: it's always late. I mean, there have been several times that the shuttle is extremely late for it's loading and departure times that I often get tempted to try an alternate route. Second, the damn trainees tend to clog up the bus that regular CSRs like me end up standing up clinging on to the handlebars. Third, I don't have any close friends in the shuttle, and I'm not a very sociable person, really. I only trust the friends that I value the most. Thing is, they're not with me because they're on later shifts. Bummer.

And I have to endure this sorta thing every frickin' day.

Coupled with the fact that I couldn't move to an easier job in the center because HR tends to put me on hold, essentially imprisoning me in the job I'm too tired to do nowadays.

I realized that as of this moment, I have no choice but to take the Pain Ride.

Oh, and if you were wondering what the hell 'pain ride' is, it's fake grunge lingo for a bus ride.

But, what is grunge? Well, that's another post entirely.