Here is an anachronism on the premises. Every time I walk past it, I glance to see if it will be Clark Kent of Dr. Who who emerges therefrom. Given the Eighties American style, my guess is the former, if either.How long has it been since you've seen a phone booth? I can remember when a call could be initiated for five cents, American. But of course, things escalated from there.
While standing in front of WalMart waiting for BBBH to complete her business within, I saw a man using a pay phone. It is almost imperative that one feel sorry for a poor, impoverished, and desperate person who has to resort to a public facility to make a call, while hordes of people are walking past him with cell phones plastered to their heads.
Well, we have cell phones; and we actually use them on occasion. A few months ago, the bill for that month reflected an actual cost of $38.02 per minute for usage. And we can remember when we were outraged at the unconscionable charge of sixty-five cents to call a friend in the adjoining county. Three minute limit, too, to avoid overages. Oh, Progress. You are a wicked lady.
9 comments:
My husband and I were just discussing this- our children won't ever know what it's like to use a pay telephone, to slip a cassette into a recorder, to flip a record on a turntable...
I was talking just yesterday with a colleague about our childhoods, a time when as we exited the house, Mom always asked us if we had a quarter (or a dime, in my colleague's case -- she is older) for the pay phone "in case something happens."
She is also a high maintenance woman. Don't look for Dr. Who to come out of that booth. He traveled the universe and a British police call box.
To point out the obvious, those phones never run out of juice.
Mom alway made sure I had a dime in case the young man taking me out did not turn out to be as nice as she hoped. I could call - Dad would come.
Shelly, so many things have changed just in the cours of our lifetimes, not all for the better, but not all bad, either!
Jim, a time in your life where that quarter (or dime) was very important, probably more to your Mom than to you. ;-)
Chuck, right. I don't think Superman will appear, either.
Vee, can't imagine a date with an unsuitable boy, for I am sure anyone hoping to "take you out" would have been thoroughly vetted by Dad.
Pay phones are really going out of the culture. Now that there are programs for poor people to get basic cell phones, it won't be long until they are gone. I won't miss them much... they seem to be placed on noisy corners on purpose.
Shark, it is a bit of Americana that won't be much missed.
Indeed, Dad did vet the guys I dated. That caused the field to be somewhat limited!
Vee, and good for him, too, because it worked out really well for you, and for the whole family didn't it?
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