My sympathy. Until the break up, US had the best comm system in the world. 1971, I was in Paris attempting to call my office in Philly. After a half hour I finally made it. During that call, my secretary gave me a "secret" numeric code which bypassed the French switching system. It was a dedicated direct cable path to the corporate switching center in New York. I then received a dial tone which allowed me to dial a ten-digit number direct to my office. These are the times I reflect on the phrase, "I'm from your Government. I'm here to help you." Maestro, a rim-shot please. Ta Da, Bump!
My apologies, I have lead us way off topic. However, it has been on topic in that it has shown how corporate offices and especially our government lose sight of how our infrastructure, railroads, communications, etc., and everyday life actually operate, quite smoothly if left alone.
My mothers parents worked for MaBell in a small town operating the local switchboard. MaBell kept that board operational until they retired, at whiuch time it was replaced with a box. That there is evidence of the humanity of a corporation taking care of it's people. The old Railroads used to find jobs for their injured and or older employees quite often also. As did so many other outfits.
I remember when they broke up AT&T, all these smaller companies sprang up and bragged about all the better services they could provide at a cheaper rate. We found out most of them were lying. Doug
