That was the high point of my day. I was walking into the supermarket to get a couple of things, when I looked up on the raised letters on the facade of my favorite supermarket and could see little nests behind the letters. They were of course made of the usual twigs and weeds and straw, but there were also red and purple strings, like from an Easter basket. I could hear the birds singing a sort of high pitched improvisational jazz. They were all little grey and brown drab sparrows and finches, but I really like to watch them and listen to them.

What do little drab birds have to do with working in a call center? I'll tell you. No matter how harsh your work environment is, you can always find a way to let life come into a dark situation. Even though the trees and field are gone where they used to live, the birds have still found a way to live there anyway. More than that they have used the parts of that oppressive environment to be part of their home.

Even though I'm monitored, memoed, and mired in monotony, I believe I can find ways to feel alive while I'm in call center purgatory.