Back In The High Life Again

I'll be back in the high life again
All the doors I closed one time will open up again
I'll be back in the high life again
All the eyes that watched me once will smile and take me in
--Steve Winwood

Nobody would gush like this at a call center job.

Hello, everyone, I'm Nobody Breadner.

I'm in class for the next three weeks, with two more weeks of on the floor training. Today was the first day. I haven't learned much I didn't already know, but it's coming. Oh, is it coming.
This time I'm in chat instead of order support. Frontline service...but no phones. It's at least three times the knowledge, if not more than that.

And I couldn't be happier, at least professionally.

Confession? The day I left, I was hoping to come back. I applied for over forty other jobs, scored five interviews...and as soon as I found out my old campaign was hiring again, I submitted my resume and crossed my fingers, my toes, and my hot buns.

I'd thought I'd get right back into Order Support, where I had been before. I was told there were in fact no positions available there, but if I could manage to type 60 words a minute with 95% accuracy, I'd snag a job in chat.

I can't type that fast. I was tested at 43 wpm last time I was there. God willing and the crick don't rise, I can hit 50, maybe 51 wpm.

I don't type "right". I never learned how. I don't look at the keys, ever, but I also don't use anything like the proper typing position. And I've been typing out essays since grade four, so learning the proper way would probably involve breaking all my fingers,

I had two typing tests to complete. I can still remember the first one, as far as I got. In one minute, I typed the following:

Aesop was one of the great Greek writers. He is best known for his fables, stories that have a moral. They teach us something about how we are supposed to live. Here are a few.
The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing
Once upon a time, a Wolf decided to disguise the way he looked. He

I practiced this passage over and over: the above represents my best effort. 50. 53. 44 (damn it). 57. Hey, wow, 57 wpm, that's close! Let me try once more.

60. With 100% accuracy. Holy shit, screenshot that before it changes.

The second test was harder. Instead of reading, I was listening to a woman dictate a fairy dense economic statement and attempting to render it in grammatical, spelling-error-free prose. Not a problem for me -- I even whipped a semicolon on 'em -- except there's no way I hit 60 wpm. 50, maybe.

"Great news," I found out the next morning. "These numbers qualify you..."

Mark was sitting next to me as I read that. He can confirm what I felt, because he saw it. I was suddenly lighter, two ways. A weight was lifted off me, and I was infused with light.

And you're still wondering why, aren't you? Here's why:

I went in on Tuesday to fill out the reams of paperwork that are the rite of passage into the land of Employment. My former supervisor greeted me and I said "I'm coming back!" She said "I know!"
"How do you know?"
"Because I sent for you."

And here's why:

I was greeted by name today by people the names of whom I never learned. Also by some people pretty high up in the hierarchy there, such that I was honestly surprised they knew who I was. Probably fifteen people said some variant of "I missed you and I'm glad you're back"with huge smiles on their faces.

And here's why:

Two of my favourite people in the arvato universe are named Amanda and Melanie. Amanda was the person who vetted my accreditation task in Order Support back in July, and she always made me smile. Melanie was the floor support angel I would regularly torment with ugly tasks, since I seemed to get more than my fair share of those. I'd actually kept in touch with those two, along with Ashlea, who got me the job there in the first place. They were super happy I was coming back. They didn't tell me they'd be in the same class with me, learning chat. That was today's surprise. Let's just say the group hug was enthusiastic.

There are a few of us, actually, in chat now who are veterans of Order Support.  One of them is Skylar, the woman who actually graded and passed me on that accreditation. And as an extra added bonus, Raff and Jamieson were the trainers today, subbing in for someone I haven't met yet. Raff and Jamieson split my training last time.

And I even made a new friend while basking among the old ones.

That's why.