I’m sitting in orientation for another call center,
this one contracted to one of the Big Five
banks. We sit in part of a transformed
mall, an old Sears. All signs have been re-
drywalled, carpeted-over, and replaced
so that the mall is both mall
and kidney clinic and call center.
                                                               And
though the logo of the Big Five bank
is painted on many of the new walls, I
will not be employed by the bank. I will be
contracted. Liability.
                                        In training, 
21 of us sit, our backs to 21 computers. For hours,
at a time, we walk to one main computer
with an instructor and complete parts
of an orientation. In between each
round, the trainer passes us
sheets of paper and reads each line. Every
two hours, we are allowed
to leave the room.
                                   We answer customers’
concerns with a wiki. Eventually, he says,
the angry will call the Big Five bank,
and may be upset at their 40
minutes of wait time. Our customers
are just regular customers, he tells us.
Most have less than a thousand
in their accounts. A majority. 80%.
                                    Their preferred customers
have foundations, legacy plans, bank accounts
with balances over $20,000. These folk make interest,
preferred phone calls that go to preferred bankers,
not call-center workers like me.