It's 12:30pm, the afternoon heat of the call centre is draining on my powers of concentration. Ten rejections in a row will do that to you. My brain is a mess: I'm a terrible amalgamation of devil's work and failure to succeed. I'm a terrible bastard.
Peter picks up the phone, he has a thick Yorkshire accent, which I could have guessed from greedily browsing his bricklaying company's website - I'm sure he's going to hate my 'southern fairy' dialect (ignorant as he is of my proud Leeds student pedigree). The boss peers out from the crack in the door of his quasi-office cubicle to make sure I'm on the phone and not "resting on my laurels". What a tosser.
I feed Peter the spiel. It's the same line I've been giving every businessperson this side of the equator with no luck, but Big P's loving it. The conversation leads on to something like this:
"Would it be of interest to you if we could generate some business enquiries for you in a cost-effective way?"
"Well yes, now that you mention it. We're in the process of expanding the business and it's something we're looking at." The Bricklayer's enthusiasm is unlike anything I've experienced here. He genuinely thinks I can help him. Naturally, I'm completely thrown, and lose my way.
"You there?", grunts Peter in his Bradfordian tones, rousing me from momentary silence. His grubby voice recalls the incessant banter of regular publicans during my time at Leeds University and I immediately find his face in my mind.
He's one of those incongruously old fit people, probably eats his wife's steak pies before busting out infinite reps in his garage 'gym'. He was on-site when I tried him earlier, so he must be active all the time, but now, on the phone, he just sounds tired, and I find myself impressed by his industry and desire to do more, even if its just advertising in my (my?!) irrelevant little magazine.
"Yes, yes. Sorry. Errm... so you want a quarter page advert?"
"No, no lad!" he chuckles, "If I get too many people calling me up, how'll I build all them walls?"
Dan (Edinburgh)
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