The Social Research Centre

April 9th

"I can't fake being happy about shit."

Hadyn has said this in reference to work. My giggle perplexes him; after all, he's being serious.
But at $21 an hour for laughably easy work, I can fake happy so well that when I smile, my teeth will sparkle and emit a faint ding like on toothpaste commercials.

This is the first time I've really worked at a call centre (excluding the 5 days at Arts Marketing in Toronto many years ago -- the thought of which still makes me shudder). And to be fair, I haven't been at The Social Research Centre that long. But I'm not selling anything and thus, don't have to endure the endless screams of agony as my soul dies.

In fact, depending on the project, you can almost feel good about the work. My current one isn't terribly earth-shattering: asking kids who've graduated in the last year about work and study.

But it does have its moments of hilarity. And there is a guaranteed dose of apathy with every shift. Sometimes you can even hear the eye rolls! It's awesome.

Talking to the parents is pretty funny, too; it's always brief, mostly to figure out when junior will actually be around long enough to do the interview, but a lot of time, that's all it takes to get a crystal view of the family's dynamic.
I also like that almost all the adults, no matter what their cultural background, say, "No worries." So far, hearing it in a thick Russian accent was tops.

***

The people at SRC are pretty chill and laid back. Victoria, one of the supervisors, adores my accent and has told me several times it doesn't matter what I say, she'll love it and think I'm adorable.
She cracks me up: today as I was leaving, she wished me a good Easter and warned me to be careful of Jesus because he comes out around this time of year.

***

Ultimately, I don't know how long I'll stick it out at SRC. With repetitive jobs I've had in the past, the work dreams typically start in after a few months. The summer I was painting houses, for the last two weeks I'd paint all day and then dream I was painting all night.

My first SRC dream came after only 8 shifts. Whew.