If you think of your phone company as a fat monopoly that has stood in the way of fast home internet connections for at least a decade, well, you're right. On the other hand, for a good laugh check out yesterday's story in the London Telegraph by Claire Millington, its Italian correspondent. She tells the sad tale of standing in line for two hours, along with sixty other people  ——— just to pay her phone bill. You're not allowed to pay your bill any other way.

But there is a good side.  Two hours of standing in line with sixty Italians does show you a slice of life. After getting there before opening time in the early morning, Ms. Millington was only a dozen places from the front, only to get beaten out by an elderly vecchio mamma:

"An elderly lady then arrived. She glared suspiciously around and asserted that she was in front of me. "Rogues, you're all conning me!" she announced loudly, with the unassailable virtue — in Italy — of being old. The girl in front and I looked at each other and let her go first. It seemed safest."

So next time you get a chance to pay your phone bill on line, say a little prayer for the "Anglosaxon" phone company that is letting you to get away so easily. It could be worse.