Saturday, April 03, 2010
Babeling about work
The past few weeks at work have been very difficult for me. I've been working on an upgrade of a software that one of our finance groups uses, and it was a high visibility upgrade that had to be done before the end of last week since the company had to start compiling and presenting its numbers for Q1 (I work for a medium-sized corporation that is publicly traded so Wall Street's happiness with us is important).
Then, starting on Thursday, we had a major problem with a different piece of financial software. This one I was not very familiar with as I inherited it last year from someone else who didn't document much of the work he'd done on it over the past few years. The application is usually very stable which, ironically, made it that much harder to fix the problem since I'd had so little experience troubleshooting it.
These two pieces of software are similar in a number of ways: they very important to the financial processes of our company, they are (subsequently) the focal point of my fear and loathing, and they are supported by a staff composed mostly of people who are not native English speakers and often live in other countries. The case of the financial software that stopped working these past few days stands out in my mind in particular (probably because I also just spent most of my Saturday working on it).
Because of that software, I found myself at one point working late in an office in Massachusetts on Thursday night, frazzled and overwhelmed by anxiety. I was also lonely because I hadn't seen my girlfriend all week. We were had planned to see each other that night (she'd just returned from a business trip) but my personal life was now on hold until this problem could be fixed.
My lifeline in that dark night was an immigrant working on the West Coast of the US and a woman in India. We spent hours on the phone as they walked me through different processes, all to no avail. I was irritated and over-caffeinated and totally reliant on these women since I had no relevant experience with the software and the one person in my company who knew the software was out of the office.
It was an interesting experience. On the one hand, I had a hard time understanding their accents and having to ask them to repeat themselves time and time again was driving me mad. On the other hand, there was something, well, comforting about being in such a scary situation and feeling alone and yet also feeling connected to these people from different cultures and countries by phone and computer.
Then, starting on Thursday, we had a major problem with a different piece of financial software. This one I was not very familiar with as I inherited it last year from someone else who didn't document much of the work he'd done on it over the past few years. The application is usually very stable which, ironically, made it that much harder to fix the problem since I'd had so little experience troubleshooting it.
These two pieces of software are similar in a number of ways: they very important to the financial processes of our company, they are (subsequently) the focal point of my fear and loathing, and they are supported by a staff composed mostly of people who are not native English speakers and often live in other countries. The case of the financial software that stopped working these past few days stands out in my mind in particular (probably because I also just spent most of my Saturday working on it).
Because of that software, I found myself at one point working late in an office in Massachusetts on Thursday night, frazzled and overwhelmed by anxiety. I was also lonely because I hadn't seen my girlfriend all week. We were had planned to see each other that night (she'd just returned from a business trip) but my personal life was now on hold until this problem could be fixed.
My lifeline in that dark night was an immigrant working on the West Coast of the US and a woman in India. We spent hours on the phone as they walked me through different processes, all to no avail. I was irritated and over-caffeinated and totally reliant on these women since I had no relevant experience with the software and the one person in my company who knew the software was out of the office.
It was an interesting experience. On the one hand, I had a hard time understanding their accents and having to ask them to repeat themselves time and time again was driving me mad. On the other hand, there was something, well, comforting about being in such a scary situation and feeling alone and yet also feeling connected to these people from different cultures and countries by phone and computer.
Comments:
<< Home
God, you UN "We Are the World" types make me sick. These people are taking American jobs and you're praising them because you feel 'connected' to them? These people are different from you and me. Especially the Indian types. They'll kill you and your children and eat you for dinner because they worship elephants as gods, for Christ's sake!
You make me sick. I'll never read this blog again.
You make me sick. I'll never read this blog again.
# posted by 
: 5:18 PM
: 5:18 PM
Carl, you're missing the point. The first woman was working in the US and may have been a citizen for all I know. She just had an accent. Second, no, they're not taking American jobs; American companies are GIVING them the jobs because they work for less money. So how is it these people's fault for taking those jobs? Are they supposed to turn those opportunities down? It's the American companies that are sending jobs overseas to they can make a bigger profit.
Oh my god. You're so insensitive. The fact that you didn't make your first point the point about it being American decisions to send jobs overseas means that you're a fascist pig.
Second, I think it's good that you had to rely on people different than you. White people are inherently guilty for everything because of slavery and because of the British Empire and now how because the American Empire. We are all just so evil and I think that we would be a lot better off if we were forced to rely on foreigners like you were. Or better yet, be dominated by them. I think a lot about how much of a better person I would be if I was dominated by a dark skinned man, if he put a leash on me and spanked me and called me a dog in a thick foreign accent. Sometimes, on the days when I spend a lot of time thinking about how much more of a sensitive and better person I'd be if I had a dark man like an African rubbing my face in dog feces and calling me a whore and anally pillaging me with his great big black genitals, I have to replace my underwear two or three times because of all the guilty sweat I feel down there.
But, of course, I'd never let an African touch me because they probably have some disease. But I make up for that by buying lots of their crafts online.
You're such an elitist pig. I'll never read this blog again.
Second, I think it's good that you had to rely on people different than you. White people are inherently guilty for everything because of slavery and because of the British Empire and now how because the American Empire. We are all just so evil and I think that we would be a lot better off if we were forced to rely on foreigners like you were. Or better yet, be dominated by them. I think a lot about how much of a better person I would be if I was dominated by a dark skinned man, if he put a leash on me and spanked me and called me a dog in a thick foreign accent. Sometimes, on the days when I spend a lot of time thinking about how much more of a sensitive and better person I'd be if I had a dark man like an African rubbing my face in dog feces and calling me a whore and anally pillaging me with his great big black genitals, I have to replace my underwear two or three times because of all the guilty sweat I feel down there.
But, of course, I'd never let an African touch me because they probably have some disease. But I make up for that by buying lots of their crafts online.
You're such an elitist pig. I'll never read this blog again.
# posted by : 5:31 PM
: 5:31 PM
Yes, Jack, yes! That's exactly the point! They should be refusing those jobs! Those are American jobs that belong to Americans, and God loves us more than anyone else! It's true! It's in the national anthem and the Constitution and everything! So by providing technical support for old pieces of software produced and used by major corporations, these foreigners are basically being terrorists and Satan worshippers!
And Lilly, you're such an idiot. Foreigners need to be controlled! You can't let them dominate you. You have to show them who's boss. Whenever I see a small foreign guy at my gym, I shadow him until he goes to the locker room then I make sure that I corner him and press my body up against him and run my hands through his hair so he knows that I'm the boss!
Post a Comment
And Lilly, you're such an idiot. Foreigners need to be controlled! You can't let them dominate you. You have to show them who's boss. Whenever I see a small foreign guy at my gym, I shadow him until he goes to the locker room then I make sure that I corner him and press my body up against him and run my hands through his hair so he knows that I'm the boss!
# posted by : 5:36 PM
: 5:36 PMSubscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]
