Random, I see that you haven't worked many different kinds of jobs in the real world. Most jobs that I've had would not enable me to even have access to a phone for such matters. The ones I've had that have allowed me too, there was no way that I could count on a specific time to be available to me. One example is when I was teaching school. No, I couldn't even do that if I used my own cell phone.
If you want to nitpick on the popular thing, you're missing the point. Make it any show. Either you are totally clueless about some shows being in high demand or you are arguing just for the sake of being oppositional, which sounds like the case here.
As far as asking others, sometimes I just don't want to impose. Other people have jobs and responsibilities too that would make such a request an uncomfortable imposition. Also, I don't want to give out my credit card number to anyone and I'm not aking them to use theirs. If you are being fair minded, you should understand that.
