Postcards from the Funny Farm

When I was an exchange student in Mexico I really learned how disorganized payphones can be in other countries. If you don’t have a phone card in Mexico (well, back in 1996 anyway) your call can be as much as $5 local and that’s just for 5 minutes. The entire payphone market has been supplanted by the phone card market there. You’re just stupid if you try to make a call with coins there. These cards are sold in every shop on every street and it is considered the best way to use a phone on the street. Now, since then I am sure cell phones have taken some precedence, especially prepaid “pay as you go” plans. Maybe someone who knows Mexico nowadays bring me up to speed.

Regardless, I learned how cool and convenient a phone card can be. When you have a cool phone card in your wallet you can just pull up to any storefront and make your call without racking up minutes on your cell or having to pay a ton of change. There was a 1-2 year stretch as I recall where I have a very cheap pager service and a set of phone cards to communicate with my girlfriend and/or friends/employers. It worked great. Now I have no need to use that system because I have a cell, but every once in a while my cell is dead or more likely than that: I left it at home. In these situations a phone card comes in mighty handy. I like having one in my wallet that has minutes on it because it acts like an insurance system against a cell phone problem. Plus, it saves the minutes on my plan. Another way I use them is for long distance calls, they are much cheaper than my carrier’s plan here in the States.

Because I like using phone cards for everything from state-to-state long distance to payphones, I have hit the jackpot with this url I ran across: therichcom.com. They have a search mechanism that finds you the cheapest cards available. If you like cards like I do, and want a few in your wallet for moments like the ones I’ve described, try therichcom.com. Their website’s ease of use is incredible. Let me know what you think of them.

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