I have not posted for a long time, and I felt I should give you an update, if there are any of you still reading this blog. I have missed blogging, especially anonymously. That's especially freeing as you can imagine. No filters, no worry about the consequences of your words as long as you keep things undercover. I was probably never as disciplined about anything else in my life as I was about staying out of sight. There's only one person outside of my wife who knew my identity and they kept the secret well.

Well, let's get to an update of my life, shall we? Due to COVID19, and just waiting way too long to make a change, I lost my job and found myself looking for work again. I landed in a totally different job making much less money, but I'm finally doing something that matters to the world. I'm finally getting paid to make a difference in lives, and I'm not a cog in a capitalistic machine. I work in a school now, and spend my day surrounded by kids. I'm finding myself becoming very fond of the little buggers, and as I'm in my 50's now, it's got a grandfatherly vibe. It's not a bad way to end your career.

It's still very stressful, but it's totally different in a challenging way. Not gonna lie, I miss the money, but not the cold alienation that is part of corporate life. But a word about that, while my previous job sent me on my way unceremoneously with that awful icky feeling that is a part of so many separations, they treated me right during the quarantine, and I had a paycheck from them until I started my new job. They did more than they were required to as a business, so this cog left mostly intact.

I'm not sure how I feel about revisiting my writing on this blog, in my present situation, it's not necessary. I'm tempted to leave it alone because there have been call center workers that found it helpful in their times of need. You know, being the "voice crying in the wilderness", even though almost 15 years later I'd see things differently. But the heat of the moment*, writing purely to make sense of a world and emotions that were weighing you down has value, even if later on you could pick things apart. Without writing those blog posts and without the readers feedback I received, I may not have made it to where I am now, and that's worth something. I don't think I'd be the writer I am now without Call Center Purgatory. I found the voice I had kept hidden for a long time here, and it helps me everyday.

So there's your update. Hope it had all the appropriate "feels". Speaking of feels...feel free to drop me a line at anonymous.cog at gmail.com (hows that for a lame segueway?).

Oh, and Lisa who keeps emailing me, if you are not simply a spam-bot why don't you write more than just telling me you're "from Lancaster" and not saying anything else? Also, remember there are Lancasters all over the English speaking world, so narrow it down a bit, hmmm? Write a real email if you want to know something or talk, otherwise I'll have to add you to the Everest that is my Spam filter.
And as always...

Thanks for reading,

AC

(*Telling me what your heart meant. The heat of the moment shown in your eyes...love that song. )