The operator was almost like your personal secretary making that call for you!
Pretty much. It almost had to work like that though. Placing a coast to coast call could take up to an hour, depending upon the route taken.
I've gotta wonder though, if there was ever an instance of operators having some fun by taking a call and actually routing it around the country a few times before terminating it at the appropriate party. I've actually seen a call routed all the way around the world by some techs "pranking" someone.