Phones Then & Now

Maybe some of you are under the impression that remembering the ole rotary phone; ya party line --somehow indicates you are OLD. Well, forget it, many folks remember those days and they are not old. Funny how we determine what makes someone old but usually this means retirement age at the very least, which is 55 or older!

Anyway, the old rotary phone was one ugly thing and had a relatively short cord, which kind of restricted how far you could move while on the phone. In some cases, a longer cord was purchased but it still did not make you mobile – you were "attached" to the phone. The rotary dial was how you dialed a number and it usually was referred by a prefix; i.e. EV4—then the number. And best of all you shared the line with 3 or 4 other people, hence the term “party line.”

So if you wanted to use the phone, you picked up the receiver and listened, if no one was on the line, you could dial the number and then talk to your party. If someone was on the line, you had to wait. Now it wasn’t uncommon to “listen” to other people’s conversations – hell, that was standard fare, whether admitted or not!

Party line users had this understanding or agreement that if someone really need to use the phone, they could declare an emergency or say they need to make an important call, could you please get off the line. And most folks did without much hesitation. That didn’t mean they didn’t listen to see what your emergency or important call entailed and lordy, if you considered it important to call someone to get a recipe or learn what happen on the weekly soap opera they were pissed and very unforgiving and if you tried this again and that infamous cry wolf number was implemented immediately!

In many ways party lines were fun, and in some cases, damn educational and informative. Sadly not all information was valid but gossip was always interesting and regardless of age, sex or financial status…gossip was gossip! Teenagers discussed boys/girls, kissing, clothes, hair dos and dances, while adults usually talk about some girl being a tramp, pregnant, unwed, whore or some husband was a drunken brute. Or some wife who was frigid or some mother who never took care of her kids. And then you’d listen to the holier-than-thou folks who preached the gospel and quoted the Bible to defend their position.[ These ladies were really sick puppies who had no life other than making yours miserable....I suspect they are burning in hell for all their bad deeds!]

Eventually technology advanced and folks had their own line and party lines were gone – I don’t think any of us minded – in fact, we most likely felt free at last and not subject to having the entire town know our business. Privacy was dear then too but party lines made that awkward. And the phone itself got nicer, we had wall phones now and you could have more than one, which was nice. And eventually cordless phones became the status symbol and you could walk outside and chat. As a mobile society this was fantastic.

Today we are inundated with cell phones – all kinds of cell phones, from the high tech to the simple, easy to use. Hell, you can even set ring tones to identify your callers! How would you like to know that Amazing Grace was your call song? Perhaps the coolest thing about cell phones was the ability to send text messages and this evolved into a whole new way of writing - U R great, OMG, LOL, etc. However, kids abused this feature and soon many schools prohibited cell phones as kids were texting test questions to their friends...and/or send some ugly messages about other students. Peer pressure is bad enough but test messages are mean and dangerous!


And to make things worse, folks are walking around with a cell phone hanging from their ear, held up to their ear and chatting away as they grocery shop, use the bathroom, stand in some check out line or while they eat. It’s like a bloody lifeline and they can’t function without chatting with other people -- hello, this is not necessary!

Now I find all this usage annoying and stupid – sorry, anybody who has to "reach out and talk to someone 24/7 has much bigger problems and needs some serious help! I'm not a fan of cell phone driving either -- you wanna chat, pull over and that includes the so called hands free calling as well. Sorry, you need to pay attention to the road, not chatting with friends, mates or some sales person.

I personally think the only way we can stop this is to up the fine. Make it really hit the wallet if caught and this will cease damn fast. Now later this month I shall attend the New York State Fair -- this is always a fun outing. But I will have to endure the constant cell phones around me, yakking during concerts and this need to stay connected like without this you cannot breathe!

Even hikers tend to use cell phones and get upset when they can’t get a signal to let someone know they are having a grand time in the great outdoors and enjoying the sounds of nature. What sounds? Blabbing on a phone is not a nature sound!

Enjoy your phones, they do have purpose and a definite use but also realize that sometimes it is okay to turn them off and enjoy the silence. Silence is golden after all!

Sit down and give your mind a rest!