Well good news; the ulcer is doing a LOT better. I'm feeling much better than I was last week.
Yay!
I will definitely think about the job thing. Thing is, overall I do really like my workplace, but I do work in a call center and overall call centers attendance policies suck, especially when you are as sick as I've been over the last month and a half. That being said, this is the best call center job I've had.
I've known two other people who enjoyed their call center jobs besides yourself, but generally speaking call centers are hotbeds of exploitation and miserable working conditions and unlivable wages. The whole system is
designed for high turnover. A friend of mine worked at a Pepsi call center last year and couldn't even afford to feed her kids. Generally speaking, I don't think call centers should even exist in their current form. They are built not for customer service but to minimize the business liabilities posed by customer needs. I have nothing but contempt for them.
And the single worst part of it is the wage. It's hard to even survive (let alone graduate from the lower class to the working class) on less than $11 or $12 an hour, yet that's more than many call centers pay. And raises are strictly capped; you're never going to stick around for five years and find yourself earning $18 an hour. Doesn't matter how well you perform, or what your numbers are. Those jobs are designed to be dead-end. They're built to fail the people who work them.
Case in point: On your call center wage, are you able to pay all your core living expenses (including health insurance), contribute meaningful amounts to your savings, and engage in basic consumer activities like going out to eat every now and then and buying luxury products (like movie tickets or video games or makeup) once in a while?
I'm a big advocate for workers rights. I hate to see people being economically exploited or being tricked into an economic pathway that'll end in a brick wall for them. I always encourage friends and anyone else who'll listen: Know what you are worth! Research your skills; get an idea of what the market rates for those skills are. Escape entry-level jobs as fast as possible either at an organization where you can be promoted quickly, or by "trading up" your job frequently (that is, while still employed, accepting an offer for a different job with a higher wage or rank). And be courageous when negotiating compensation! Always remember that a prospective employer isn't the only one who has the power to say no (to your job application): You have the power to say no to an unacceptable offer.
I'm going through this with my sister right now. She's applying for jobs that pay way less than she's worth, and it's hard to watch because I can see the discrimination at work--the exploitation of vulnerable people by large companies, the ruthlessness of the free market, and of course in her case the forces of sexism.
Sorry for the rant. Well, no, not sorry. I have a lot of passion packed into this topic. But hopefully you understand it's not necessarily directed at you specifically. You do you!
My dream is to actually be able to do art; from oil and watercolor paintings, calligraphy pieces, digital paintings and designing logos full time. Honestly, I had forgotten about this dream until I joined here and started trying my hand at fan art, only then did I realize how much I love making art. So that is now the goal I'm working towards. I will still put feelers out there and see if I find something better, however, this place does let me draw at work which is very nice for me. I want to thank you for all of your advice though, I will definitely keep it in mind!
You're never too old to ART!!!
But it definitely helps to have people and settings that remind you of this part of yourself.
