I work in the magical sphere of technical support. Meaning I spend a LOT of time on the phone. And there is one thing that has been driving me nuts for years…

Let me explain Québec’s area code system… The Province is divided into 4 regions which have a three digits area code.

418 – 450 – 514 – 819

Since Montréal is in the 514 region, a new code (438) has been created because of the too many phone numbers required. Same goes for the 418 region, because of Québec City (second code being 581)

If you make a call within one of those areas, you just have to dial the area code and the phone number. If you call outside your own area, you must add a 1 or 0 first. (1 for regular call, 0 to have a reversed call, making the receiver pay the bill)

EXCEPT… (this is where the fun really begins) the 514 and 450 are kind of bipolar. Sometimes a call between the two is local (no 1 or 0 needed) and sometimes it’s long distance (need the 1 or 0)… How do you know? The same way you know if a word is neuter or common gender in Danish: you just know, or you guess!

Here, the people that know me a little got the point. And this is where the cursing starts. I have the worst luck when heads or tails are involved.

I am in the 514 area (Montréal) and every call to the 450 area is a nightmare. I just get the impression the phone is laughing at me, staring me in the eyes, watching my pain as I try to guess if I should dial the dang 1 or not…

EVERY dang time I am wrong! And if I decide, and change my mind at the last second, you’ll ask? Doesn’t work, it just means that I managed to make the wrong decision at the very last second. If I ever get caught in an event involving defusing a bomb, be sure I won’t give my opinion in the “do we cut the red wire or the blue one?” matter! No way!

So… every day, I hear the dang annoying recorded message (well one of the 2) countless times;

• Faites le 1 ou le 0… (DANG I knew I should have put 1!)
• Ne faites pas le 1 ou le 0… (DANG again! I knew I shouldn’t have put that dang 1!)

My colleagues know it just happened when I start mumbling about ones and zeros… And it is often followed by some giggling… (theirs, certainly not mine!)

I don’t know who decided 514 and 450 would be cousin area codes like that… He better be dead, or hiding away from me! Really…

Sorry, therapy you know, free one on top of that… Just letting the steam out!