My horoscope was right; it's been a frustrating month for communication.
But I don't blame the stars, I blame the telecommunications monopoly on pay phones. You see, for reasons too long - and dull - to list, I have no cell phone. I've fared perfectly well in my 30-plus years using landlines and pay phones to get a hold of anyone - okay, I also borrowed the occasional friend's cell, but only when I was too lazy to walk to the pay phone. The point is that whether work-related or personal, I've never been at a loss when wanting to reach out and touch someone that is, until now. Pay phones all over the Lower Mainland are now useless thanks to the Telus labour dispute.
I drove into Vancouver to meet a friend recently and discovered once I got there that I left the directions to her house on my living room table. No problem, I told myself, she has a cell phone, she's always accessible. I tried no less than five pay phones throughout the day all in different areas of town and all to no avail. Many of the phones were too full to take any more quarters, and more than one had been ripped out of its booth (what's up with that?).
I quickly discovered that Vancouver businesses treat people who wish to borrow a phone as they would a panhandler. And strangers on the street react to a request to use their cell phone like a request to have a bite out of their sandwich. It's just not done. But I still have faith.
I remember when I was a student in Vancouver and a bus strike threatened to put the kibosh on my education. I swallowed my pride and stuck out my thumb, and people who'd normally never consider picking up a hitchhiker went out of their way to help me out. Not once was I late for class. Since then I've acquired a car and have tried to pay back my karmic debt, but now I'm returning to the well.
I'm sending out a cry for help on behalf of we communicationally-challenged in the labour-dispute line of fire. Lend us your cell phones! Share your communication devices! Give freely your minutes! If you see someone standing at a pay phone desperately looking around with a useless quarter in her hand, for the love of all that is holy, help out.
Hey, you can tell yourself you're doing it for the cause. If you think Telus is justified, tell yourself you're easing the pressure striking employees are inflicting. If you're on the strikers' side, tell yourself you're undermining Telus's monopoly. It's win-win.
I hope this appeal doesn't fall on deaf ears. If I can reach just one person
