“This job would be great if it wasn’t for the fucking customers.” – Randal, Clerks

I’ve performed menial labor as a slave in a retail store. I’ve toiled away for years in call centers where the goal of making customers happy superseded all logic and reason. Thankfully I now work someplace where my boss feels the same as the title of this post: the customers is not always right. But all too many companies blindly adhere to the mantra in an attempt to persuade their clientele to stick with them. Most companies would rather side with someone they’ve known 10 minutes over someone they’ve known 10 years.

Read the article. Give it to your boss if you think you won’t get fired for it. Post it in your cubicle if you can get away with it. Just read it and be happy knowing you’re not alone: there are others out there who feel your pain. There are companies that care about their employees.

Since we’re saving money for the big trip to Puerto Rico this summer, Rachel and I decided a weekend getaway to Los Angeles would be a nice way to spend our 3rd anniversary. All in all it was a pretty nice weekend; we got to visit the Santa Monica Pier, The Getty, Griffith Park and the La Brea Tar Pits. The most memorable part of the trip though was the drive down Mulholland Drive.

It was nice to get away for a few days but Rachel’s thoughts on the city sum up L.A. pretty well: it’s one big, dirty ghetto. Nowhere in the city did we go and get that “I wouldn’t mind living here” feeling. Angry/stupid drivers, the constant brown haze of smog and the overall unsafe feeling we had going almost anywhere that wasn’t overrun with tourists means I may visit again in the future but I’ll never call Los Angeles home.

Sydney University academic Dr Caroline West says while work delivers self-esteem, income and social ties, more than four to six hours a day will bring anxiety, exhaustion and a poor quality of life.

Man I wish I could work shorter days and still afford to pay my bills! From the time I get out of bed to the time I get home from almost 12 hours have elapsed. So aside from sleeping and getting ready for work I only really get about 4 hours every weekday to do whatever. Bummer!

Any technical job that involves helping masses of uncensored human beings understand technology will eventually wear the average man down, causing him to go bat-shit crazy and scream at the top of his lungs

Adam Knight, of After Apple fame, has written an excellent article about his thoughts on life as a phone monkey for Apple Technical Support (a.k.a. AppleCare). It’s pretty long, but a must read for anyone who has suffered the daily routine of life in a call center.