there was very little I could
do other than make the shadows deeper.
But this was a new
age, and now the air was threaded through with circuits and
lightning. The suicide's shade had dissipated under the wireless
onslaught long before I got to the next intersection. And, like a
benediction from unnamed gods, not twenty steps away hung a green
and white sign, Lady Liberty smiling at me with the promise of
caffeine.
Latte in hand, I sought out an ATM. Less than three hundred
dollars for the foreseeable future, with rent due in two
weeks. Perhaps you should
tone down the lattes.
As if to reward my
wholesome thought, my cellphone went Bing!, startling a young woman
to my left. Giving her an apologetic smile, I pressed
talk.
"Good afternoon is
Mr. Penn there" said a monotonic female voice.
"Speaking"
"You applied for a
position at Rogers."
"Yes?"
"We've already
finished hiring for customer service. Would you be willing to do
cold calls."
"Um..." Pride warred
with the memory of my account balance. "Sure."
"We're doing group
interviews at nine on Monday at our Yorkdale office. Please bring
two references. Be on time. Do you have any questions."
The lack of any tonal
quality to her voice made me wonder if the requirement for
'enthusiastic' and 'helpful' on the posting had been a
sham.
"Not at this time,
thank you."
"Goodbye."
Cold calling.
Breathing deeply, I enumerated the merits of humility. Which led me
to the next problem - references. Well, I had Petra on speedial for
such things.
#
"Thank you for
calling Petra Credit Services. Please enter your thirty-two digit
personal identifier, followed by the pound key."
I probably looked
like a lunatic, stabbing at my cellphone for a good minute. At
least the system accepted the number on the first try, putting me
on hold while it went to fetch a 'customer service
representative'.
"Good afternoon Mr.
Penn, my name is Sajiya dePetra, do you mind if I ask you some
questions for security purposes in order to access your
account?"
"Go ahead." You have
my voiceprint and SIM on file. Is my birth-date really
necessary?
"Could you please
give us your birth-date?"
"November 11th 394
CE, Julian adjusted."
"Thank you sir. And
what is your full mailing address including hyperspatial
coordinates?"
A shopping-bag laden
woman crossed the street to avoid walking by me. Understandable,
given that I was, to all intents, hissing and croaking into my
phone.
"Finally, sir, do you
have a consort or a partner you are sharing your checking account
with?"
"No."
"Thank you for your
patience. How may I help you?"
"I need three
references generated for an entry-level position."
"Please hold while I
pull up your account."
Didn't she just
access my account when she asked me all that? But it took two full
cycles of Gaga's Bad Romance, played on what sounded like a
ukulele, before Ms. Petra returned.
"I'm sorry sir, your
credit account with us is fully extended. Do you have any other
means of making a payment for the service?"
Switching ears, I
decided to stop for a red light at the corner of Yonge and College.
"I thought I had access to whatever services I needed?"
"You still do sir, but as with all our services, there is a
fee associated with reference generation. You were set up with a
no-limit credit account on May 30 th , but as
there have been no payments posted in that time, and there is no
employment of record on your file, your borrowing privileges have
been suspended."
"And when was I going
to be informed of this? And how the hell am I going to get a job?"
The light turned green, a horde of humanity moving me along with it
across the road.
"The notification
will go out with the July statement. And I'm sorry sir, I cannot
answer your second question."
"Is there nothing you
can do? I need the references to get a job to pay you back. It
seems rather ridiculous to cut me off now."
"I'm sorry sir, the
system won't allow me to add any further purchases," she
said.
The couple
do other than make the shadows deeper.
But this was a new
age, and now the air was threaded through with circuits and
lightning. The suicide's shade had dissipated under the wireless
onslaught long before I got to the next intersection. And, like a
benediction from unnamed gods, not twenty steps away hung a green
and white sign, Lady Liberty smiling at me with the promise of
caffeine.
Latte in hand, I sought out an ATM. Less than three hundred
dollars for the foreseeable future, with rent due in two
weeks. Perhaps you should
tone down the lattes.
As if to reward my
wholesome thought, my cellphone went Bing!, startling a young woman
to my left. Giving her an apologetic smile, I pressed
talk.
"Good afternoon is
Mr. Penn there" said a monotonic female voice.
"Speaking"
"You applied for a
position at Rogers."
"Yes?"
"We've already
finished hiring for customer service. Would you be willing to do
cold calls."
"Um..." Pride warred
with the memory of my account balance. "Sure."
"We're doing group
interviews at nine on Monday at our Yorkdale office. Please bring
two references. Be on time. Do you have any questions."
The lack of any tonal
quality to her voice made me wonder if the requirement for
'enthusiastic' and 'helpful' on the posting had been a
sham.
"Not at this time,
thank you."
"Goodbye."
Cold calling.
Breathing deeply, I enumerated the merits of humility. Which led me
to the next problem - references. Well, I had Petra on speedial for
such things.
#
"Thank you for
calling Petra Credit Services. Please enter your thirty-two digit
personal identifier, followed by the pound key."
I probably looked
like a lunatic, stabbing at my cellphone for a good minute. At
least the system accepted the number on the first try, putting me
on hold while it went to fetch a 'customer service
representative'.
"Good afternoon Mr.
Penn, my name is Sajiya dePetra, do you mind if I ask you some
questions for security purposes in order to access your
account?"
"Go ahead." You have
my voiceprint and SIM on file. Is my birth-date really
necessary?
"Could you please
give us your birth-date?"
"November 11th 394
CE, Julian adjusted."
"Thank you sir. And
what is your full mailing address including hyperspatial
coordinates?"
A shopping-bag laden
woman crossed the street to avoid walking by me. Understandable,
given that I was, to all intents, hissing and croaking into my
phone.
"Finally, sir, do you
have a consort or a partner you are sharing your checking account
with?"
"No."
"Thank you for your
patience. How may I help you?"
"I need three
references generated for an entry-level position."
"Please hold while I
pull up your account."
Didn't she just
access my account when she asked me all that? But it took two full
cycles of Gaga's Bad Romance, played on what sounded like a
ukulele, before Ms. Petra returned.
"I'm sorry sir, your
credit account with us is fully extended. Do you have any other
means of making a payment for the service?"
Switching ears, I
decided to stop for a red light at the corner of Yonge and College.
"I thought I had access to whatever services I needed?"
"You still do sir, but as with all our services, there is a
fee associated with reference generation. You were set up with a
no-limit credit account on May 30 th , but as
there have been no payments posted in that time, and there is no
employment of record on your file, your borrowing privileges have
been suspended."
"And when was I going
to be informed of this? And how the hell am I going to get a job?"
The light turned green, a horde of humanity moving me along with it
across the road.
"The notification
will go out with the July statement. And I'm sorry sir, I cannot
answer your second question."
"Is there nothing you
can do? I need the references to get a job to pay you back. It
seems rather ridiculous to cut me off now."
"I'm sorry sir, the
system won't allow me to add any further purchases," she
said.
The couple
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