Let's here it for the good old Yellow Pages!
Picture the scene. It's early - very early on a Sunday morning. I have a busy day ahead starting with a long and time pressured drive to the north. But it's okay, I'm awake and moving.
I go downstairs and turn the handle of the living room door. Everything is going to plan. I should point out that I don't usually schedule to this degree but these actions are important. Stay with me.
As I turn the handle there's a little 'ping' noise and the handle suddenly doesn't want to work anymore. It takes a couple of seconds for the importance of this to dawn on me. I'm in my hallway, I have access to the upstairs of the house, but I'm now locked out of the living room, dining room, kitchen and my office. Everything I need to progress my day is behind this door. And, as I may have mentioned, it's an unearthly hour on a Sunday morning.
So, I poke at the lock for a bit. A credit card would be useful - in my wallet ... behind the door. Some really useful things in the tool box - in the laundry room cupboard ... behind the door. I could break the door down - but this doesn't seem like a cost-effective long term solution. I need a locksmith. A plan begins to form. I need to go out.
And for that, I need shoes.
Yep. In the cupboard under the stairs. Behind the door.
But it's okay - because I remember there's a box of shoes sitting at the bottom of my wardrobe. These are shoes that didn't make it into the cupboard under the stairs because I don't wear them anymore. Damn, I'm just so resourceful.
Of course, there's a reason why I don't wear these shoes anymore. I discard the white, snakeskin Cuban heels I used to wear in my days as lead guitarist with Sweet Young Thing and settle for the cowboy boots. It's a good look in the early hours of a Sunday morning in residential Bath. Really.
Suitably shod, I head out and am pleased to find the local news agent open for business. And it is here that I find the solution to my problems - the kind offer of a Yellow Pages and a telephone. Withing a few minutes I have an emergency locksmith on the way (not the first guy I called - yes, I know it's early on the Sunday morning but the price was a bit steep. I need a door opening. I don't want to build an extension) and the day is saved.
I would usually choose a service like this by browsing websites. Yes, I'll take into account price, but I'm more likely to be influenced by the quality of the website. Professional interest. But, in a time of crisis, that big yellow book saved the day.
Next time you're at a presentation on digital marketing and somebody kicks off their talk by theatrically blowing the dust of a telephone directory, please remember my story.
Guys, here's a tip - cowboy boots are really rock 'n' roll ...
Next up, Number 8 Web Management goes all digital again.
More soon.
