Ah, Workforce. We Meet Again.

Originally, I was scheduled to start my first temp job tomorrow doing data entry for a non-profit downtown. However this morning I received a phone call from the staffing agency at 9am asking if I could work for another company at 11, just for today. Having woken up T-minus 30 seconds ago, I had the urge to decline, but forcing myself to think about the $66 I was going to make was motivation enough to get out of bed. 
I was told that I would be helping with phone calls, and, not knowing what the company does, assumed I would be phone banking either to recruit people for something or advertise. I was surprised when I arrived to find that I would be calling department stores across the country, checking off which brands of designer shoes they sell, how many styles in that brand, and two designers that particular clerk recommended. The purpose of collecting this information remains a mystery to me.
Everything was pretty straightforward. Since I can type and dial a telephone I didn't need much training. However when I asked how I should introduce myself, i.e. the standard greeting and introduction from the company, I was told to "just act like a customer." A bit nerve racking since I don't recall putting "actress" down as one of my skills on the application, and my real-life experience shopping for designer shoes is nil. Needless to say my stoic interrogation of the first store was met with "is this some kind of survey or something?" I replied with that high-pitched oh-too-friendly "no" that pops out when one is desperately trying to keep a lie above water, and continued my questions trying to sound as curious as I could, the poor clerk becoming ever more suspect.
After the third call I had it down to a T, however, learning the proper pronunciations and grouping together the brands that clerks informed me were more similar styles to one another. I actually was able to convince 95% of the people that I was genuinely interested in buying 12+ pairs of shoes. Which to me was the scariest part of all. Yes, in America, some people actually do this.
I don't think I would take another job offer like this one. After the first half of the day my ear actually hurt from being crammed between the receiver and my glasses so much, and pretending to be interested in something you're not gets tiring pretty fast. But, at least I have money in the bank again. I'll see how data entry goes. Since I'm committed to this position until Friday, hopefully better.