My Yellow Pages came today… a conversation with myself

My Take

“What the? Who threw a bag of trash onto the end of the driveway?,” I wondered. “The nerve!”

Upon closer inspection – it’s the new Yellow Pages. "Wonderful."

“Now what do I do with this klunky thing? Hmm, let’s see. Where did I put the old Yellow Pages? There they are! Right where I left them - the day of their unceremonious arrival.”

“‘Could it be I never even cracked the old volume? ‘Yep, sure enough. It’s never been opened.”

Guiltily I lug the 2006 tome to the garage and hoist it into the trash. Thud!

Replacing the lid, I think of the wasted advertising dollars spent by local small business owners. I picture the thousands of sales calls by smiling, suited Yellow Page sales reps and the reluctant checks handed over by struggling merchants.

Shouldn’t I have at least looked up a Chinese restaurant before discarding this? Would that have helped?

I console myself with the thought that I have patronized the trustworthy, local establishments. But now I use my cell phone speed dial to order pizza or call the dentist. Now I use Google to look up a number for placing my order of heating oil, doing product research or finding an infrequently used number. Usually I find new vendors through word-of-mouth referrals.

The Yellow Pages? They’re heading for the scrap heap of history – which is fitting since they have filled more than a few landfills themselves.

Tags: yellowpages, localsearch

Saturday October 6, 2007 - 07:23pm (EDT)