Unshelved by Bill Barnes and Gene Ambaum
comic strip overdue media

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Oh, good lord

Unconscious Carroll man found after 11-hour search: Sheriff unhappy with Verizon’s ‘line’ on emergency

Police were searching for someone believed to have taken pills and then fled, concerned that they had a medical emergency on their hands. Like good law enforcement, they thought, 'Let's try to track him with his cell phone.' Only trouble? The man owed Verizon $20 and the company refused to turn the phone service on.

'I was more concerned for the person’s life,' [Sheriff Dale] Williams said. 'It would have been nice if Verizon would have turned on his phone for five or 10 minutes, just long enough to try and find the guy. But they would only turn it on if we agreed to pay $20 of the unpaid bill. Ridiculous.'

The department was making arrangements to pay the bill when they found the man--unconscious and unresponsive--after an eleven-hour search. He was later released from the hospital and is presumably okay, but it could have been far worse, and if so, I think Verizon should have been held responsible. He should so be allowed out of his contract and switch carriers. But I seriously wonder how the others would have responded, for that matter.

Does corporate America have any heart whatsoever? Or rather, do its minions?

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