Phone Won't Stop Ringing?
                        Here's What You Do

    Leola Starling of Ribrock, Tenn., had a serious telephone problem.
But unlike most people she did something about it.

    The brand-new $10 million Ribrock Plaza Motel opened nearby and had
acquired almost the same telephone number as Leola.

    From the moment the motel opened, Leola was besieged by calls not
for her.  Since she had the same phone number for years, she felt that
she had a case to persuade the motel management to change its number.

    Naturally, the management refused claiming that it could not change
its stationery.

    The phone company was not helpful, either.  A number was a number,
and just because a customer was getting someone else's calls 24 hours a
day didn't make it responsible.  After her pleas fell on deaf ears,
Leola decided to take matters into her own hands.

    At 9 o'clock the phone rang.  Someone from Memphis was calling the
motel and asked for a room for the following Tuesday. Leoloa said, "No
problem.  How many nights?"

    A few hours later Dallas checked in.  A secretary wanted a suite
with two bedrooms for a week.  Emboldened, Leola said the Presidential
Suite on the 10th floor was available for $600 a night.  The secretary
said that she would take it and asked if the hotel wanted a deposit.
"No, that won't be  necessary," Leola said.  "We trust you."

    The next day was a busy one for Leola.  In the morning, she booked
an electric appliance manufacturers' convention for Memorial Day
weekend, a college prom and a reunion of the 82nd Airborne veterans
from World War II.

    She turned on her answering machine during lunchtime so that she
could watch the O.J. Simpson trial, but her biggest challenge came in
the afternoon when a mother called to book the ballroom for her
daughter's wedding in June.

    Leola assured the woman that it would be no problem and asked if
she would be providing the flowers or did she want the hotel to take
care of it.  The mother said that she would prefer the hotel to handle
the floral arrangements.  Then the question of valet parking came up.
Once again Leola was helpful. "There's no charge for valet parking, but
we always recommend that the client tips the drivers."

    Within a few months, the Ribrock Plaza Motel was a disaster area.

    People kept showing up for weddings, bar mitzvahs, and Sweet
Sixteen parties and were all told there were no such events.

    Leola had her final revenge when she read in the local paper that
the motel might go bankrupt.  Her phone rang, and an executive from
Marriott said, "We're prepared to offer you $200,000 for the motel."

    Leola replied. "We'll take it, but only if you change the telephone
number."