It certainly was nice of AT&T to send us this check.  But we suspect that in their haste to seize our long distance trunks, they didn't bother to check whether or not we owned the line in the first place.

As it happens, we don't.  516-751-9970 is a NYNEX test number.  It's always busy.  It's a busy signal test.  And we doubt they're busy using any long distance company.

We have no idea why AT&T has the notion that we own this number.  We do know that every time a check like this is cashed, NYNEX winds up charging themselves $5 to switch long distance carriers on a line they never use.  It's the corporate way.

(Our legal counsel says we can't tell you whether or not we cashed the check.  Sorry.)