The Ribrock Plaza Hotel

A new hotel opens in a tiny Tennessee town. What’s not to like?

April 1, 1966, Ribrock, Tennessee, USA

A new hotel is opening in little Ribrock. Local resident, Leola Starling is very pleased. 'It's good for our town,' she tells friends. 'They say it’s very fancy. I’ll bring us jobs and business.'

Then Leola's phone starts ringing.

‘Is that the Ribrock Plaza Hotel?’

‘I’m so sorry,' Leola says politely. 'You have the wrong number.’

She puts the phone down. Immediately it starts ringing again. 'I'd like a double room please.'

This time Leola is a little less polite. 'You’ve got the wrong number there, Buddy.'

'I don’t think so,' says the caller. ‘I need Ribrock 78888321.’

‘This is Ribrock 78888321,’ says Leola. ‘And it ain’t a hotel.’

She repeats this to the next caller. And the one after that.

‘What the heck is going on?” thinks Leola. Then she realises that the telephone number of the new hoteis is almost exactly the same as hers.

The calls keep coming. Many are late at night. The phone never stops ringing.

Leola contacts the hotel. 'Could you please change your number?' she asks. 'I'm getting all your calls.'

But the hotel refuses to cooperate. 'That number is on all our stationery,' they complain. 'It’ll cost too much to replace. Why don't you change your number?'

‘Because I was here first!’ says Leola.

The phone company is not helpful, either. 'A number is a number,' they say. 'It's not our fault if people dial the wrong one.'

Leola is now very angry. She decides to take action. The next call is from Memphis. 'Can I have a room for Tuesday?' the man asks.

'No problem,’ says Leola. ‘How many nights?'

Then a secretary wants a suite with two bedrooms for a week.

'We have the Presidential Suite on the 10th floor,' she says. 'It’s $600 a night. Elvis Presley stayed there last week.'

'Really? That's perfect,' says the secretary.

The next day Leola takes many more bookings.

One lady wants a hall for her daughter's wedding in June. ‘Will the hotel arrange the flowers?’ she asks.

'Of course!' says Leola. ‘Leave it to us.’

Very soon there is total confusion at the Ribrock Plaza Motel. ‘But we phoned you,’ angry clients tell the receptionists. ‘You confirmed our reservation!’

The next morning the Ribrock Hotel changed its telephone number. The phone calls to Leola stopped.

And not long after Leola got went for a job interview at the Ribrock Hotel. The manager looked at her CV. ‘We are looking for a receptionist. Have you worked in a hotel before ’

‘Not exactly,’ said Leola. ‘But I have a lot of experience in booking hotel rooms.’

After the late Art Buchwald’s legendary 1987 spoof. Teachers can find a worksheet here