Currently, I work shifts. Sometimes I start as early as 4am until about lunch hour then on Sundays I work graveyard. I am required to a rest day once a week, but it all depends because if I get lucky, I get two days off in a row.

Yes, I am a call girl. Well, not that kinda girl you’re thinking. I work in an office where it’s 18 degrees Celsius and everyone is inside a booth named after a State. I’m actually a market researcher now, I do surveys and I talk to a whole lot of Americans over the phone for 7 hours! And it has dawned upon me now that I am actually doing this for a living. Ayayay!

But at least I have a job. It’s not as stressful as my previous one where I was a customer service representative of a huge online travel agency — yes, I was with Expedia.com for a while. It was really a mentally-draining job because I had to be extremely familiar with all airline matters, hotel arrangements and car reservations. I felt like a ground stewardess as I book travelers on destinations all over the world, plus I get to call hotels internationally to get them the best deals while earning a small commission while doing so. But it was exhausting! I worked weird shifts since it was a 24-hour agency and I worked an 11-hour shift. It almost killed me!

But now I’m happy where I am. The job doesn’t require much thought just good conversational skills and of course, work ethics. It’s perfect. Policies aren’t even that strict so we’d like to call them ‘guidelines’. The only disadvantage is that the pay ain’t that great. Not the kind you’d be thrilled with by payday, but it’s good enough for a stress-free occupation. You don’t find a lot of such these days. Nowadays, you’re supposed to be working to live, but it’s like working your way to your grave instead. I’d be lucky to last another 6 months here in good ol’ Cebu.

Ooops, I might be speaking too soon. I better stop right here.