Finding you a job is my job…

One afternoon I was woken up by the telephone bell. In this mobile era, the land line ringing has become a rarity.

Kids were away in school which left me even more surprised. Some of their friends preferred the land line to the mobile. More out of curiosity, I picked the receiver up and a hoarse ‘hello’ escaped from my surprised being.

"Hello," said the sweet, yet smart voice on the other end. "Hello," I repeated, this time trying to be sweet.

"Ma'am, this call could change your career path and give you the best options to choose from," said the voice on the other end.

"May I know your name please," I asked, trying to be polite. 

"Oh sorry ma'am, this side is Akash, may I know who is on that side?" he was polite and courteous.

I told him my name and he continued. 
"Ma'am, I am talking on behalf of Maple Jobs and we offer about 150 job related services. We are the only firm offering our client the best of job services and we charge you very less as compared other job service providers," he completed.

The devil in me was taking shape. It was a rather boring afternoon and the call could provide some entertainment for me and some experience for the youngster on the other end. I decided to follow his trail.

"What are the services that you offer?" I asked in a rather formal tone.

Akash was happy that he was given the opportunity to talk and it showed. Beginning from merely displaying my resume on their website to actually making my resume look like  they truly had a plethora of services. Many of those, I thought, may be like some of the buttons on your household appliances, not meant to be used!

I had a few doubts, which he clarified to the best of information available with him. After a brief pause, he thanked me for the time and asked me if I was interested in availing any of the services offered by them.

The call was coming to a logical conclusion and it was time to ask him one more question.

“Where did you get my number from?” I asked him.

“It is available in our database. We have a database that we receive from our head office and it is passed on to us,” he explained.

“Who gives numbers of people to your head office?” I enquired.

“Ma'am, I will not be able to answer this question. Your number appeared in my task list and I called,” he said gingerly.

I sensed the tension building in his voice and finally decided to thank him for the kind call.

“Will you be using our services, Ma'am?” he was curious.

"Your number appeared in my task list"

“You may not be able to find me the right job, son,” I said, by now wondering about these youngsters, whose job, it has become to find meaningful jobs for their co-humans.

“Let me try, Ma'am, give me a chance,” he pleaded.

“Let me see what I can do for you. I My son’s friend wanted a job,” I relented finally.
It was time for my grandchildren to return from school and I had to end the call.

“Every wasted call is an experience gained,” I wanted to tell him before he slammed the phone down, more out of frustration than anger.