The Associated Press reports a break in the undersea fiber optic cable connecting the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands to the world grid. Apparently some on Guam were also affected.
In the mid-1980s when the DrsC lived there, Guam was only connected via satellite and calls off-island weren't common or inexpensive. In fact Guam's phone system was a standing joke among expats; like the local people, the phones sometimes worked, but often did not or screwed up.
A common occurrence then was to dial a local number and get a busy signal after the first or second digit dialed. A widely shared, and possibly apocryphal, story concerned a recent arrival on-island who became so frustrated with the phone he threw it at the wall.
I remember learning the hard way there was no utility in calling a business to ask if they had a particular item available. The person answering always replied "yes," regardless of its actual existence in stock.
Upon questioning this practice, I learned saying "no" was considered rude so it didn't happen, even if the result was me making a trip to the store in vain. By contrast, we'd consider giving the wrong answer rude.
The flag over Guam may be the Stars and Stripes but the culture is basically Asian with some Hispanic highlights. Corruption is therefore bred-in-the-bone.
The idea that you would not favor a relative or friend over a stranger, someone with whom you're not connected, is considered immoral. We joked the FBI would send to Guam agents who had lost their self-confidence so they could get some easy convictions; the laws are American while the culture is not.
