phone book fairies leave unwanted presents… July 31, 2007

There’s the tooth fairy-who leaves some cash under our pillow. Santa leaves presents under the tree. The Easter bunny drops off candy-eaten in under 10 minutes flat. Then there are the Verizon phone book fairies–leaving stacks of phone books on our doorsteps. But no one seems to be devouring their gifts. The books are just sitting there like packages that need to be retuned to sender. I’ve seen then line a wall, serve as a massive doorstop, maybe a growth chart, a small ladder, sponges to the recent rains…

My question is, who still uses phone books? Just from looking at the stacks left outside—it doesn’t seem like many. Fine, fine-I hear screaming elderly people in the background who have yet grasped the concept of the internet and google maps-I’m not saying we have a Fahrenheit 451 burning of the books and stop printing-but maybe-just maybe-have a way for those who need the 411 bibles to opt in to get a phonebook. Imagine the amount of paper we’d save…..and the decrease in phone book fairy hernias.

So in the mean time—I decided to think about how we could use the phone books for now. Here are some thoughts:
• Large jenga blocks for huge jenga game
• Step stools
• Cut out fun ads and use them for décor
• Cut out crazy ads and make a collage and laminate it to make our own diner mats

Any more ideas?