Phone book turns
a confusing new leaf

The new Oahu phone book has several confusing elements.

One is the title, "Super Pages," which could be anything from a program at the Super Bowl to a bunch of efficient guys who deliver messages on Capitol Hill. Then comes its slogan: "Better Pages for Better Decisions." What?

Most confusing are the listings themselves. Not everybody has his or her family name placed next to a given name and phone number. Instead, people with the same last name share an overall entry unless they have a business or multiple numbers.

Why? Verizon customer services referred me to the directory department, but the number they gave me was "no longer in service at this time." When I finally did reach someone in the department, she explained they were trying to "save space," to keep each listing to one line on a Super Page.

If you pay for phone service, you ought to have your full name in the phone book. And no one with the same last name as mine would have used up more than one line.

--Cynthia Oi

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