UNITED KINGDOM – Millions of O2 phone owners have been forced to hold conversations in person after a mobile phone blackout this week.
Individuals and entire families reported experiencing issues when they found themselves with no other option but to speak with the person in front of them while discussing mildly interesting topics.
O2 is advising customers affected by the outage to mouth words slowly so they come out clear and concise.
Disaster scenario
Giffgaff and Tesco Mobile customers were also affected in a situation that could leave as many as 20 million people around the country with no way to communicate with each other than verbally.
O2 said the widespread problems are not based on geography, but that “all subscribers were finding it difficult to maintain human interaction for more than 60 seconds no matter where they are.”
“Is this 2012? I don’t think so,” suggested one angry O2 customer.
“If I want to communicate with someone next to me I shouldn’t have to turn and speak directly with them – that’s what cavemen did.”
However, others said they were unaffected.
“My service is fine. I haven’t spoken face to face with another human being all day,” reported one message on Twitter.
A statement on the company’s website said: “We apologise to those customers having difficulty maintaining human interactions. Our engineers are dealing with the problem and will have you ignoring the person next to you at dinner while you play Angry Birds.”
Backup plan
An O2 spokesman was on hand to suggest method to cope during the current and future blackout
“Firstly, don’t panic. Preparation is key in situations like this.
“You want to start writing down topics of conversation in advance on x cards so you will have them readily available. Weather is a good one. Sports is another.”
“It is also wise to spend time away from a screen practising looking another human in the eye should you be forced to do it for real one day. Five minutes in front of a mirror could make all the difference when you are faced with speak in real life.”
He also offered word of hope to those affected by reminding distressed users that “at some point we will restore service and you can go back to aimlessly downloading useless free apps on your phone.”
“Just don’t lose hope.”
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