To the editor:

When I received my telephone bill this money, there was a $135 charge for long-distance calls. I was billed for 49 calls made to 15 states over a period of 24 days -- calls I did not make. I was billed by a billing service I had never heard of before which told me to call a long-distance company I had never heard of before. The long-distance company informed me it had never heard of me before, but it would try to figure out who made these calls. Then it asked me to call the telephone company and seek mercy in not paying for the charges until the research was completed. It appears making long-distance calls has become too convenient for slick operators instead of telephone operators.

Whatever happened to the good old days when you were lucky enough to get on your phone before the other party began using it? You remember, don't you, when everyone had a black phone with a wheel of fortune on the face of it, and you let your fingers do the twist? Sometimes you twisted your fingers until you couldn't get them out.

Those were the days when you talked to a real person and not a computer voice, and the real person would go to the ends of the Earth to reach the party you wished to speak to. Then she listened in on what you were going to say after you made your call. That was when long-distance calling was something you rarely thought of, but when you did it was a big event.

I remember my father making such a long-distance call once. Almost. He needed to speak to someone who lived out of state about an urgent matter and did not know the person's phone number. So with his four children at his feet and his wife by his side, he dialed the operator. I almost forgot. There was also our dog, Lady, watching with wonder. He told us to be very quiet, as this was really important, and sometimes it was difficult to hear the operator. My father had never before attempted this feat before, and when the operator cam on and asked what he needed, I could sense he was a bit more than nervous.

He informed the operator he needed the person's number, and she informed him to stay on the phone while she searched for it. We played quietly on the floor, as did Lady, for what seemed to be forever. Finally I hear my father say, "Yes, Operator, I am still here," as he asked my mom to get him a piece of paper and a pen. It was also at that moment someone began knocking at our door, and Lady, being the watchdog of our house, began barking loudly letting us know someone was there.

My father, still nervous and wanting to hear the operator, turned to our dog and said, "Lady, shut your mouth!" When the operator heard my father shout this into the phone's receiver, she replied, "Very well, you can get the phone number yourself!"

RON FARROW

Cape Girardeau