Our Phones
   		      by Jesse Smith 

	I'll assume that we all know how to use the many 
pay phones around the province. Indeed, I find it 
hard to
imagine being able to walk around a town without 
seeing at least one. Where there are people in Canada, 
there are
phones. Where people may not take their homes, we 
are provided with cheap phone service. How wonderful.

	Now, here's my thought. The phone companies can't 
be making all that much money off of these things. 
Sure, we
may put a thousand bucks a year into every pay phone 
you see, but how much do they pay the guy that collects 
the
money. What about the maintenance? The cost of using 
the phone itself. I think that they are making enough 
money off of
us already. The only reason we pay the money is so 
that we use our own phones and not just run out to 
the nearest pay
phone.

	What if...What if the phone companies (or even just 
one) suddenly decided to be really nice and provide 
the
service for free. What if you could just find one 
of these pay phones, pick up the receiver and dial 
up the number. No
charge, no bill, free. Now, what it THEY DIDN'T TELL 
ANYONE THEY WERE DOING THIS?
That's right. What if the phone company kept their 
mouth's shut? How many of us would still walk up 
to the phone, drop
the quarter in and THEN dial the number? I bet at 
least 80%. We would still be paying for the service 
and not know
that we had no reason to, besides habit. On the other 
hand, new comers to Canada, may very well not bother 
trying to
pay. If they didn't grow up with the things, they 
wouldn't have any reason to think they had too pay. 
We, on the other
hand, (have different fingers) have become so ingrained 
to the idea, that unless we have a calling card, 
we'll drop
the money in first and ask questions later.

	So the next time you go to pay for a service, anywhere, 
first think, is it necessary? Or is it custom?