[Blog Entry] Babblings When You’re Stranded or A Blog Entry if my Life Were Fictional

Babblings When You’re Stranded or A Blog Entry if my Life Were Fictional

Currently writing this, by hand (!), at Seattle’s Best in Eastwood, Libis while waiting for a date that just got cancelled. Unfortunately, I ordered the wrong drink. My fault really, one for not looking carefully and missing the “hot classics” part, and two for underestimating how much chocolate my drink contains (I was distracted by the “raspberry” in Rasberry Mocha Kiss).

My sole consolation in all of this is that there’s no distractions while I write. Well, that is until my allergies kick in, and I have to contend with a cold with thanks to all the chocolate I’m imbibing. But I can always pass off my cold as a result of the weather.

Moving on, the most striking event the previous week was attending a friend’s birthday party (to be honest, I was only invited by chance, and I don’t get invited to birthday parties often as of late). What caught me off guard that evening was when the women in the room unanimously agreed that a guy has a better chance when the woman says “no” to a relationship, as opposed to “I’ll think about it.” Just goes to show how different men think from women, and how each one can misinterpret the other’s words and actions.

Normally, guys will take an answer literally. “I’ll think about it” translate to “I have an actual chance, even if it’s small.” How are we supposed to know that it’s actually “I pity you and I haven’t the heart to break it to you,” or “I never even considered it, so let’s end the conversation here.”

Of course judging from my track record of females hating me, this should be good news. But chances are, if I ask a girl that I’m actually interested in or remotely attracted to, I’ll probably get the “I’ll think about it” answer as the image I’ve been cultivating for the past few years is the nice, meek guy (or so I’d like to believe). I’m the occasional friend you meet and have a nice chat with but that’s probably the extent of it. There’s absolutely no sense of mystery, danger, or allure surrounding me. If I was a flavor, I’d be vanilla.

The other question I’d want to ask is how do you ask someone out? Is it like asking a normal friend out, except you’re carrying all this emotional baggage and sexual innuendo? Perhaps the better question isn’t how you ask someone out, but how would you like to be asked. In a realistic sense, of course. We all want the romantic, heroic courtship but life’s usually more mundane. If I could directly ask a person if I can go out with them, that’s perfectly fine with me, but that’s most likely the fastest way to get turned down as well. Unless you happen to be this handsome, suave guy. Which I’m not, I’d like to remind you (or for the sake of the people who haven’t met me in real life).

Allow me to take a break as I start feeling my fingers again. Ahhh. Another reason to stick to typing on a keyboard.

Again, I’m here at Eastwood, Libis, which is one of the call center hubs in Manila. It’s not even a weekend, and the night is very much alive. Had to briefly stop writing as one of my friends from college dropped by, and we said hello to each other. Apparently, the Cyber Mall (which is anything but a Cyber Mall, unless you count all the call center offices stationed above it) is the perfect spot to stalk call center agents. I can just sit down here and acquaintances will pass through the door (as far as I know, there are only two entrances/exits, and one of them involves taking the stairs).

The other evening I was here, I ran into three familiar faces in just ten minutes. It seems my generation is marked by call center employment. Either that or network marketing escapades. I mean who here is 24, and hasn’t experienced either one? At the very least, you’ll know someone who’s tried it. For me, call centers are the McDonalds of the middle-class. It’s usually a job you’ll take for the money but won’t stay too long in. And you still have shifting, especially with the recent 24-hour trends of fast food chains.

Call centers have also been known to throw a monkey wrench into relationships, especially with the prevalence of such “career opportunities”. I have a friend, a call center agent, who used to court a 9 am – 6 pm employee. Sacrifices in time and priorities have to be made. Not to mention you don’t necessarily have the weekends off.

Usually, it’s long distance relationships that guys tend to shy away from. I wonder if dating call center agents will be the next taboo. Of course if you’re a call center agent and you’re dating a coworker, there’s not really much of a problem there. I’ve seen it happen, and it’s all too common seeing call center couples. Some are even married (but God forbid they marry at the work place), or so I hear. Of course one of my male friends was complaining the other day at how he can’t use his paternal leaves (applying for leaves is a tedious and uncertain process in the call center industry, to say the least). Don’t blame the company though, it’s because he’s single, and he’s frustrated that he has leaves which he doesn’t have access to.

Just got two text messages, one from my boss telling me to clean up my desk. Never thought I’d see the day when an employer would allot office time for an employee to clean his desk, unless it’s time to fire them. The other text message is from the person I’m supposed to meet. She’ll be here. Soon. I reply that I’ll be here, waiting.

That’s a turn off, right? A guy that’s perpetually waiting for the girl. Sure, it might sound romantic to some, but when it’s staring at you in reality, romance isn’t the first word that comes to mind (hint: it starts with the letter p).

It’s surprising how much writing you can get done while waiting for other people. It’s been what, an hour and a half? I once had a photo shoot where my photographer was late for three hours. I had to—

--end it here. The person I’m stalking meeting just passed by.