What I want to know is, are there really that many people making collect calls?

I was thinking about this, while I was supposed to be sleeping. That's a story for another day however. What I would like to know is, how can this collect call thing be profitable? There's a flurry of 1-800 blah, blah, blah ads on the TV. You can't watch a channel with commercials and not see Carrot Top, Alyssa Milano, or whatever down on his luck former sports figure, is hawking 1-800-CALL-ATT, 10-10-220, 10-10-987 or the newest variant on the same theme. Are there that many people making collect calls? I've made a few in my day, but that was back when I was a kid, and didn't have any money or facilities. I would never make a collect call now.

These are American commercials. I've been to the states a few times in the past couple years and the one thing I've noticed is, it is unlikely anyone in that country would make a collect call. They all have cell phones! I'm at the Four Corners Monument, and there's teenage girls (young ones, not 18/19 years olds) and they're making cell phone calls. (Or trying to make calls. Mysteriously the cell phone coverage is abysmal at that particular point. I'm surprised no enterprising entrepeneur hasn't slapped up a cell tower at that spot, and charged back to the major players (Verizon, AT&T) a nice roam fee. The Indians charge you three bucks to get on the site of the monument, why not build themselves a cell tower too and make a few more bucks?) So why all the ads for collect calls?

Maybe there's a segment of the population still using this quaint phone technology, but I'm not seeing it. If anyone has some further insight into this question, I'd be glad to hear it. Maybe I'd sleep better.

Toodles!