I've always liked watching Sponge Bob Square Pants, not because the humor is grotesquely suitable for adults instead of children, but because there is one character there that truly catches my attention. Patrick Star. Uncommon to those who don't watch (which I doubt), Patrick is a pink starfish clad in green board shorts and lives comfortably under a rock beside Sponge Bob's pineapple apartment. He rarely says much but if he does, it is sure to crack you up.

"The inner machinations of my mind are an enigma." Patrick once said while he thought of a milk carton tipping over. Whenever he gives Sponge Bob some advice, the words are either meaningless, or he gurgles them out in a way no one can possibly understand. He lives a simple life of eating ice cream, and chasing jelly fish and still I can't help but admire the simpleness in his actions.

Wonder how most of the time we get all cranky and snotty like Squid ward, or how money crazed like Mr. Crab? I guess in this world there are very few people who act like Patrick and if they do, we see them as funny, dumb individuals who know nothing. We laugh at them, criticize them for their slowness, or ignore them with a distance. In grade school before, I had a classmate who was autistic and very few of my school mates paid attention to him. In fact no one ever spoke to him, in fear of being ostracized or simply because they thought he was weird. I was asked to sit beside him in class before and when he talked to me, I realized there was no harm talking to him, despite my friends hating me for doing so.

I found out he was shy. Only because he knew people thought of him as a special kid. He may stumble a little when he spoke but I learned that his autism was not something to be feared about. In fact he was very skilled in Math and uncannily hoping for friends too despite his state. I never heard much about him after high school, but found out soon that he graduated zumma cum laude at his college and is now a successful businessman. What most of us took for granted was even if he was a little slow when it comes to socializing or expressing himself verbally, he was focused on getting things done, and he did.

There was an episode in Sponge Bob where Patrick willingly offered to share his "rock" for an over night stay. Patrick snored, and a had a puddle of saliva over his mouth that Sponge Bob had to cover his mouth with a cork with. I laughed really hard watching that. Patrick didn't know Sandy was a girl..and he said that he can't see his forehead. He once asked if mayonnaise is an instrument, and he asked if anyone saw his underwear when he is actually wearing it. Despite his funny antics, and desperate attempts to be smarter than anyone else, you can't help but think that despite all that Patrick had so much more to offer.

He cried when Sponge Bob decided to leave and live with the starfish, and he played a good friend when Sponge Bob was doing his boating school driving lessons. He takes positivity in all things, and do not nurture any worries as long as he can do what he likes and have fun.

And may of us are less like that. I suppose we all can't just live under rocks, or wear shorts to work. But I realized that it pays a little to be Patrick Star driven once and awhile. When my autistic classmate recognized a friend in me, that was all he needed. He pursued what he wanted and glorified in it. It is rewarding to work hard at the Krusty Crab like Sponge Bob, earn money like Mr Crab, be devious as Plankton, aspiring as Sandy, or even selfish like Squid Ward. But we shouldn't underestimate the fact that being carefree and silly like Patrick is what makes every inch of our lives worthwhile.

I cannot forget one quote that Patrick said "When in doubt, pinky out!" Even if he does crack me up, I can't help but understand that behind his words is the real meaning of living it up. That even if people see you as dumb and pathetic sometimes, being content with who you are and not focusing on yourself too much will still make you happy. Being a friend and understanding loyalty does not require a brain bigger than anyone else. It just takes a heart like Patricks' and the positive attitude that can make you a better person.

We do the evaluations, we do the calibrations, meet our daily goals, submit our reports, join endless meetings, coach agents who go a little hayward with their calls, and so much more that is not specifically indicated in our work load.

Yes we are Quality Analysts. And we are more than just enemies at the operations floor.

A friend once raised her eyebrows at me and asked why I decided to apply internally for this position. And until now I can only raise my eyebrows back and wonder myself for the right answer. Being in the call center industry for almost 8 years now, I am still stuck with the correct response on to why I did. Maybe that's why we analyze so much. She said that being in quality is a dead end, and right now I realized that I beg to differ.

Ever wonder why when you see your Quality Analyst at the floor they seem so distant? Well for one thing they are not thinking of the zero you just got, but how the hell they would be able to explain it further to the client. You think for some reason they are petiks and spend way too much time loafing around instead of working. Well I guess that is one of the fringe benefits of being in the support group, you get to manage your time. But what you don't know is, when you are consciously waiting for the time for you to log out..we're actually dreading it. Because at the end of the day, every bit of report should be delivered conscientiously and without mistake..after all..we're not quality for nothing. (And yes..over time is a way different thing as well.)

You hate your QAs because you think they act as if they know everything. Well for one thing, they weren't promoted if they didn't. As for external hires, you have to sit down and get to know your QA, because you wouldn't know just how much experience she has in the field. We act as if we know everything because we are simply expected to be like that, and not to burst your bubble, we don't exactly take enjoyment in seeing failing scores. Because if you dread a zero and being reprimanded by your Team Leaders, how would you face a group of angry clients who need a score that meets their demand? And if you jump joyously because of a 100% score, or a good ECVOC?CSAT survey, we also frolick in the happiness...believe me..(and sadly without the sodexhos as you guys get to receive).

A fellow QA once heard a few agents inside the rest room talking about how pathetic she is, and how dumb she really was. She stayed inside the cubicle forever until they left. And honestly she cried about it. The agents were pleasant to her at the floor, but outside they talk and laugh about her. I guess it was unprofessional, but you can't prevent people from giving their insights. It's just sad that this kind of reputation continues to be placed on top of our heads, when all in all we are just doing our jobs.

I continued to be oblivious about all the talking and ranting. But when I was a Quality Analyst for a company where I was able to work closely with the agents, I felt as if this job was really meant for me. Of course it is still inevitable that I hear people talk about me behind my back, but I guess what they talk about is what I do and not who I am. Some of the agents are even my closest friends, and I am grateful that there are people who would know the limit between being chums and being professional.

I know most of you call center agents hate your Quality Analysts, hell I hated mine when I was an agent! It just takes more than just scores to furnish a relationship between your QA and you. They are not enemies, they can be your friends if you spare enough time to get to know them. We do not see you as merely numbers, but we see you as people who strive to deliver their calls well. After all for me, a call is just a call, it's the agent that makes it worthwhile to listen to.

I guess I'll be enjoying this job for a long time. With every responsibility, you learn that you just cannot please everybody. I know that recognition can sometimes be bleak, and how other support groups undermine us, I know it's all worth it still. If my friend would ask me again now why I chose this job..well I guess it's because it comes with just about every bit of challenge that I need.

Yes..hate us..love us..appreciate us..swear in heaven's name why we are there..
We are Quality Analysts..we're only human. And we're here to stay for good.

People are now internet based. I remember when my father used to work in the Middle East, it almost felt like forever before we receive any letters from him. Each night my mom would insist that we keep writing and writing, and then the responses were like a gift we kept waiting for, while our friendly post man played as Santa Claus. Phone calls were also very minimal, considering how much a few minutes listening to your dad's voice could cost. We were four children, and during that time my mom was the lucky one long enough to stay on our neighbor's phone. True it was very difficult then, and communication with someone who is far away from you is a part of your daily allowances.

Although now it still is. However the modern ways have made things quite easier. Numerous phone companies compete with each other to be able to offer the lowest rates. and thank God for the internet. No more waiting for a letter, when you can actually chat with the person online. The world has gone a long way from the post office to the mere comforts of our homes and internet cafes.

It's amazing how common websites like Facebook and Friendster, and Twitter has made our lives easier to communicate. I guess with our inclusion to this addiction, most of our lives are pretty much exposed to what we do in our daily routines. Your friends would know where you are and can contact you in a flash. We are no longer bored with just watching TV or listening to the radio, as there are several online games and videos to entertain us. As much as we all deny it, our mediocre ways are somehow controlled by the power of the internet.

I remember when my internet connection went down because of the storm Santi. Honestly I almost went beserk staring at my computer and being able not to do anything but play Solitaire. I came that close to harassing my internet provider with several calls in a day, pleading and cursing (a bittersweet combination of both) for them to return my connection. At the end I waited for an entire week before I could return to my virtual world of farming and owning my restaurant.

For the one week that I was away from my network connections I realized a lot of things. Since I was so glued to being in the net for almost half of my life, I kind of forgotten that there was more to do. I was able to sat down and finish a book from my collection, and had enough time to spare for my cross stitching. I felt guilty that the internet became one of my priorities, instead of doing other things that can also be beneficial to me.

Don't take it against me. We all love and appreciate the internet. And we have been helped by this in several ways. It is just sad that most of the time our lives circle on it. In college we endure having to sit long hours in the library just to research for an exam or project, but now information is available with just one click on the browser. Businesses are far more blooming with investors communicating deals through the web, and jobs are more accessible to find. Loved ones are easier to contact, and friends are not so hard to find.

I guess this age has gone beyond our expectations and each day there is a new technology that people come up with. I wonder where our friendly post man is now, maybe he too is doing some browsing himself. In the modern age where computers are a basis of information and communication, I suppose a part of us comes with it. Do you still remember a time that you received a snail mail? Well I havent for a very long time. It would be somehow nice to return back to the simple times but today that is just a word we can find at merriam-webster.com

Why is it that the smallest things in life give such big meanings?

Why we fail to see the beauty of life when our hearts get worn out from all the pain?

Why we choose to hate and ignore what the possibilities of happiness could bring us when all we are left with is anger?

Why we close our emotions to people who will sacrifice anything to pry those locked doors open?

And why is it so easy to feel something wonderful for someone you barely know...

Because we are all connected to each other.

God was not drunk when he whipped out that magic staff and created human beings to intertwine and live in one environment. He may have designed each and every one of us differently...but through it all...we reach our hands and find that similarities are not so hard to tap on.

Everything happens for a reason...may it be for good or bad.

I opened my heart last night and sought an answer to all my anxieties. Why my life seemed empty...why tearrs could no longer pacify my distraught.

My loneliness choke me but somewhere out there is someone also clutching to his sanity...wondering the same things that run through my mind at this very moment.

Questions left answered...it did not stop me to think of this person. Could it be that one day we will meet each other for real...or have we met already and just failed to allow our souls do the searching?

I know you are there.

And I want him to know that I'm here.

Waiting for the perfect moment...for our eyes to meet and our hearts to whisper words that our mouths could no longer utter. Desperate and longing...hungry for the empty space to consume all the power and break down anymore walls that separate these two souls.

The feeling engulfs you...pulling you down into a helpless nirvana. Crushed between the realities and the wonders of imagination. But you are not alone with this query...you want the same thing that all people in the world feel. To belong to that person...destined for you.

Must I keep searching for that person?

Or is he out there asking the same thing...

Or possibly reading these words...?

There are no more reasons to be afraid...to hold back.

Because when it's written in the palms of fate...it's bound to happen despite all misforgivings. It's simply waiting for the right time...

And the right time is...now.

Photos from Google Image Bank

I faced them like a sheep being offered to a lions den. They were just seated there, watching my every move, and listening to every word that came out of my mouth. It was as if one wrong turn could possibly lead to my own succumbing and that if I try to steer away from what is true, then my neck is bound to be bitten off. I actually feared this day, of adjusting to new people to handle, afraid that if I don’t make any correct actions, then my career is very much going down the hill. After one dreadful hour, I came out of that room, realizing that what I feared at the beginning of the day was merely a figment of my imagination. When I motioned my senses to assume the worst, things turn out beautifully in the end.

I ask myelf, why do we commonly pre-conditon our minds to situations that seem threatening to us just because it rquires a certain amount of change? When my boss first announced that I would be transferring to a new team, I felt as if my comfort zone was suddenly closed down for renovation. Automatically my mind resisted the thought, and I was battling my own strength for any rationalization. The change was scary enough for me to have lost my wits.

Evidently, situations like these do not only exist when it comes to adjustments at work. Most of the time in our existence, change comes in when we least expect it. And when it does, we lose ourselves and panic. Sometimes with the gravity of it, we close our minds to the possibility of it bringing a brighter result in the end.

When you are young, you fall in love, you think about the future, you envision that little fairy tale in your head. But when the love story tumbles down the road, you start hating yourself for the big changes it is packaged with. Years you will hide in the dark and eventually scorn the man who broke your heart. But with the years where we wallow in pain, the situation may not be so favorable for us, but it might be for the other person.

As much as we plan to make things happen to our own desire, sooner or later the things that we accustom ourselves to may bend somehow. Little do we realize that at the onset of it, there might be something bigger and better for us. I guess it is only human to react violently to what is new to us, but with the passage of time you will see that it wouldn’t be as bad if you drive your senses to accept first and then deal with it like an adult.

I remember a friend who has been working for almost 8 years now, and he hated his job with this undescribable passion. But he somehow manages to wake up every morning, get into his suit, and go to work as if it was a part of him that can never be removed. It was one big routine, and despite him abhorring the daily mantra, he did it because he considered it as a safe zone. Something where he didn’t have to be anything else what he commonly did everyday.

Then one day he was given the opportunity to work with his father-in-law, a job quite different from the one he had, so he immediately turned down the offer. Of course with his wife’s persistence, he grudgingly took it, and now 2 years after he did, I have never seen him happier. He said that at the time he was working 9-5, he only accepted what is expected, not because he wanted to do something that would make him better.

It dawned to me that one cannot blame the reactions to change. Of course we tend to see the bad part of something before we even set our minds to try it. We only weigh what the negative is when we haven’t even experienced the change itself. The big question is, how many changes how you resisted yourself to just to remain in that same scene bubble you’ve living in?

Maybe change is interrelated with chance. I thought of all the opportunities I turned down because I was simply afraid of losing the non-complicated life I was already leading. But things get complicated only because we make them. And changing it doesn’t necessarily mean you are losing yourself, when in fact it is adding to what other potentials you can be.

Leaving something old for something new should not be a threat. It should be a risk. After all, if one does not take a risk, then you won’t ever know where you’ll be happy.