The Day They Told Us The Office Was Closing

It was on a Tuesday November 16, 2010. It seemed like a fine day as an information operator. I got to the office and went to my special cubical. Us operators can sit at any cubical for an operator that is. It is just some of us had special places that they favored over others.

I liked to sit to the farthest north of the building close to the wall where some of the managers had cubicles. My manager was at the north wall also.

As an operator at the time you had to sell the Business Category Search or what we called BCS if the requested business number from a customer was not found.

One time my manager told me that she could hear my conversation with the customers and would count every time I would sell the BCS. She told me she heard 4 sales in a roll. Then she told me that she thought, he can't possibly sell 5 in a row.

She would listen and I did 5 in a row. Well this was non-commission sales. I did the sale because we were supposed to, plus I always thought that selling was fun.

The office didn't like it that I took too much time in selling and not handling more volumes of calls. Well, what you going to do?

So, yes I liked my job. Actually sales made me more happier I think. I would consciously check myself if I was a happy or angry sounding operator, knowing that if I was on the angry side I wouldn't make the sale.

So here I am just minding my own business talking to my customers and notes are being handed to some of the operators. The note said we were to go to the break room at a certain time. So when that time happened the break room was filled. I think every operator was off the board.

We must have switched all the calls to our Sacramento and Fresno offices. Well I looked at the managers in the front looking at us. They didn't look too happy. Other operators were coming in. When we were all there they said something like, we have something sad to tell you. Then they said something like, OUR office is closing.

I thought I heard that wrong. One girl starts crying and said, We have better numbers than Sacramento. That was true. We did have better numbers than Sacramento.

I remember talking to some of the Incharge, the people that handle how many operators are on the line at a given time. They would tell me that the Sacramento office would ask how to do this or how to do that. I would ask, you mean we can handle stuff that they can not or do not know how to handle? They told me, yes.

I have great respect for our then Incharge people. Some of them have helped me out a lot when I needed help.

Ok, let's get back to our office closing. I was thinking to myself, I know we made more sales than the Sacramento office. Why didn't they close the Sacramento office, I would think? Well, I guess it was political.

Now that I notice that the old office was between two cell towers. Both within walking distance of the old office, maybe that was a good thing. Maybe it saved a bunch of us from having brain cancer.

Well, I didn't think about it that way at the time. I was thinking, man I should have tried to pay off the house and lived more frugal. Always lots of hindsight.

The managers where saying that some of us would be offered retirement with a 30% bonus that were eligible. At 31 years of service I was eligible.

Wow and I was having a really good day too. Now I have to worry about money. I chose to take my monthly pension payments than the lump sum. Also I had to retire by the end of 2010. So I worked until that second week of December, then used my vacation time till the end of that month.

I figured if I didn't get enough from retirement I could just get another job. Well, I guess I am doing ok. I didn't get another job. Well, I do odd jobs. Those are always good, but no 9 to 5 type jobs.

After I retired most of the other operators went to the Sacramento office. Then I heard they closed the Sacramento office after a while. The last office that is standing is the Fresno office. At one time we thought our office would be the last office standing. Oh well, life goes on.

I am enjoying my retirement.

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Thank you, David.
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