Clear the Wire, Please!

Calling a fellow AA on the telephone--that form of preventive therapy known (pre-inflation) as "nickel" therapy--is not so easy in many parts of the world. Down here in Honduras, one telephone line runs from La Ceiba to Tela and is controlled by the Standard Fruit Company. Another line runs from Tela to Puerto Cortes and is controlled by the United Fruit Company. When a person wishes to talk by phone from Ceiba to Cortes he must get the permission and approval of the general manager of each division, he must state his business and reason for the call and it has to be pretty important to get that permission! Well, there is one AA in Ceiba (Bob) and one in Cortes (me) and the managers of both divisions are familiar with both our cases. So when Bob wanted to call me recently. . .his reason for the call? Just one AA ex-drunk calling another AA ex-drunk. Permission granted! Such is the power of AA even in these remote parts.