Sometimes I think I am the only person left in the world who doesn’t have a cell phone. I had one for a short period of a time a few years ago. I found that I didn’t need one. I have an answering machine at home. Nothing is so important that I need to be interrupted wherever I am by a call. I also don’t need the extra expense. So I don’t have a cell phone and I don’t really want one either.

So today I was asked a couple of times about my phone numbers. I had to fill out forms for different things and I would get asked, “Is this your only number?” Yes, it is. I only have one number. No, I don’t have a cell phone.

I don’t have anything against cell phones. I know that they are convenient and there have been times when I wished I’d had one. But I could always find a payphone nearby so it was never a problem.

I went to use a payphone today. I put in my quarter and dialed the number. The computerized phone operator said, “Credit 25 cents. Insert 25 cents.”

I thought, “What?” I put in 25 cents. So I hung up and tried it again. The message was the same. I then looked closely at the phone. It was a Bell Canada phone and written there on the plate was that a local call had been raised to 50 cents.

50 cents!

I couldn’t believe it. How can the price of a call double? It has been 25 cents for my whole life. During my grandparents time it was only 10 cents. If they were going to raise the price I could understand raising it by a dime to 35 cents. That would make sense.

Who is going to use pay phones now? This is ridiculous!

I carry one of those prepaid long distance cards from Presidents Choice. They have a toll free number to call and then you dial in your user number and you can call anywhere in Canada for 4 cents a minute.

So in protest to this huge raise in the price of a call. I will make sure to keep my balance topped up on my card and I will not be putting anymore money into payphones.