Thursday, November 28, 2013

Ode to the Graveyard Shi(f)t (by Lon Jambalos)

I'm singing goodbye to the 10 Million Fireflies
The midnight bus chase and 
The streets of sleeping vendors

Drowsy zombies drinking San Mig Light at 5 AM on the steps of 7/11
With the cool breeze and the puff of cigarette
We sighed our dreams to the dawning sky
For money, for freedom, for love and for some normalcy in our lives

Goodbye to the solitary parades along Ayala on business holidays
I owned the empty stretch
With my heels going click...clock...
Click...clock... and nobody hears it.

This is for the Sleepy Heads.
The Day Sleepers.
Graveyard Fireflies toiling in the night

Can't stay awake in their stations
Can't fall asleep on their beds.

Lulled by the moon...
Stirred by the sun!

Coffee pulsing in their veins.

Shock absorbers.
Scapegoats.
Shopaholics.

Here's a Toast to the nights you brace
With courage and a faked twang
You try to do the impossible
Of understanding...
Those who doesn't want to be understood.


Note about the poem:
This is something I wrote on October 1, 2010 when I finally got a day job after working night shift for years in the Call Center. The song Fireflies was playing the background. And I remember how in one poem, I used the term Graveyard Fireflies to refer to Call Center Agents (graveyard for 'graveyard shift' as well as a metaphor for the kind of work we do).

©2010 Ma. Leonor Jambalos. All rights reserved to this poem.

About this Blog


That's me with the red jacket when I was pregnant and working at my messy desk. I was totally spoiled by my team with my own special chair, a stuff toy and an ottoman.


I wanted to write something I consider myself an expert on--and it is the Call Center Industry in the Philippines. I started working for a Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) company in 2004 and worked my way through call center hopping and eventually towards management positions. This industry financed me through college and graduate school, fed me and my family and to which I owe so much I can only repay by sharing my hard-earned wisdom.

This is for:
1) The curious outsiders: who wants to know what we do in a call center aside from taking calls and those fishing for information on whether this job would suit you.

2) The insiders: those who are in the Call Center Industry and wants to survive, thrive while staying sane

3) The future outsiders: I guess these are the ones who  are burnt out and wants to know how to get out of the call center industry. Also for those who are not in the industry anymore but would like to either reminisce or share your past glory days of NTE's and DA's with a smile and a dose of laughter for your days/nights of folly.


This is a collection of poems, stories (of me and my friends), anecdotes, jokes collected by me and previous colleagues about the Call Center. Of helpful links and tips on interviews, trends, products and services, and career opportunities specially catering to call center workers.

If you are ready then let's begin our adventure in the Call Center limbo!