Actually, I did that once when I had to make a call overseas to confirm a reservation and my local telephone company was having switch problems that prevented me from dialing direct.
Did you know that my two minute operator-assisted call cost something like $20?

After tht, I became a big fan of those pre-paid calling cards... A lot of them will work internationally, you just burn through your minutes faster. I bought a $10 card, made all my calls to Europe (and back to the states for the week I was there), and I still have $6+ left!