HOLD THE PHONE
The other
day I was half way to the grocery store to pick up three or four items when I
realized I had forgotten my cell phone.
OH THE
HORRORS!
What if I got
lost? What if I ran out of gas? What if
I needed to ask Mrs. C a question? What if…?
I mean the
store was 15 minutes away. I only needed
about 5 minutes to get my items and head home.
I knew my way to the store. I had
a full tank of gas. There was nothing I
needed to ask Mrs. C. Why did I need my
phone?
Still, I came
back to the house and retrieved my phone.
Silly
right.
I thought so
too, and yet I had to have that phone.
Made me
think of the old days and phones.
Our family
phone was upstairs outside Mom and Dad’s bedroom.
Today when your
phone rings, you check to see who it is and if you want to take the call. If you let it go 4 rings the person can leave
a message if they want.
Back in the
day if the phone wrang it was assumed to be important and you always picked it
up…well, someone always eventually picked it up.
Bring
“TELEPHONE!”
Bring
“SOMEONE
GET THAT!”
Bring
“I’M
BUSY!”
Bring
“I’LL GET
IT!”
Bring
“I’M
COMING, I’M COMING!”
If you did
not answer, it would just keep Bringing.
On the other
side would be:
Bring
“Where are
they?”
Bring
“I know they
must be home.”
Bring
“Come on,
come on answer.”
Bring
“I hope
nothing is wrong.”
Bring
“Maybe I
should call the police.”
“HELLO!”
“Where have
you been?”
If you
failed to answer the phone after the customary wait of 25 Brings you’d better be prepared for an excuse
when you next ran into the caller!
If the call
was from long distance, like another town you had to talk fast…time was money.
If the call
was from your Aunt cross the country you had to talk really loud. Well, you didn’t have to, but you just did.
If the call
was from your brother’s girlfriend you knew:
Bri…
“I’LL GET
IT!”
That was the
clue. Somehow you just knew if the call
was from a girl.
Always
followed by Dad:
“DON’T
BE TOO LONG, I’M EXPECTING A CALL.”
Pop was
always expecting a call, but he never answered the phone, that was for the kids.
When cell
phones first came out, this was something I don’t miss hearing when I was on my
daily train commute:
“HEY,
HOW ARE YOU? GUESS WHERE I AM CALLING FROM!”
The ensuing
conversation, also overly loud, was 15 minutes about how cool it was to be
calling from the train.
Anyway,
phones and phone etiquette has surely changed and I can just not go anywhere
without my phone, which is also my camera, and my access to news, and watching
sports, and an encyclopedia, and has proof of my driver’s license, car
registration, vaccine doses, passport, and all the codes I need to get in my
house, open the garage door and access my bank account.
It no longer
goes Bring.
It plays a different song depending on who is calling.
I kind of
miss the old phone, but there is a lot less yelling!
Great post, Joe, and I know just how you felt when you realized halfway to the store that you didn't have your phone. It used to be a convenience. Now it's our Master! 😄
ReplyDeleteI’m the same way. It’s like Murphy Law - phone edition. Anything that can go wrong (by not having my phone) will happen. So I too would have gone home. I had a pink princess phone in my bedroom as a teen - first just an extension but on my 16th birthday I got my own phone/and number. I can barely stand talking on the phone, no doubt burned out from the teen years.
ReplyDeleteI understand! I go back for mine, too. Good thing I had it a few months ago, when I came out of the store to a dead car battery. Good thing Hick had his phone, so he could come rescue me with a battery jumper on wheels.
ReplyDeleteWhat about a party line? Did you ever have nosy neighbors listening in on your calls? And how about dialing? Remembering letters and numbers, like PL6-8942.
Never had a party line, my friend did and we listened in to conversations. The last letter number I remember was MA7-XXXXX for Manhasset. Ocean City NJ (a summer town only almost in the day) had one of the last service where an operator would connect you. You would pick up the phone, the operator answered and you asked for connection to a number. Local numbers were just the 5 digits, or less 00422 you just asked "422 please."
DeleteGetting old, added an extra X, we still had 4 digits at the end not 5.
DeleteI panic too but I like to live on the edge just a bit so I just go to the store naked...phone naked. Cell phones changed my work life when I would be on call for surgery. I could take a walk or go to a store without worrying where I would get a phone if the beeper went off. We still have a land line. Don't ask me why but for some reason my cable is cheaper if I keep it. Yes, I still have cable too. Maybe this is the year to make some changes!
ReplyDeleteCrap! I didn't know having a land line and cable was outdated.
DeleteI haven't assigned different rings to any of my contacts, I just look at the phone to see who is calling, their name is right there on the screen. My phone doesn't rule my days though and I often get to the shops and back while it stays home on the table. The only time I ever turned back when halfway to the shops was when I realised I'd forgotten the money I needed.
ReplyDeleteThis post is so accurate. I go back for mine too. I remember traveling with my parents and when they got flat tires. My dad and mom both knew how to change a flat. I miss the old days.. I wish that some of them could come back. - I'm happy you're blogging again. 😊
ReplyDeleteWe had two "bringgg" phones. One was for Grandpa, the doctor, and was only answered when he was on call. The other was for everyone else, and got answered.
ReplyDeleteIf your license is on your phone, you have to keep it with you. You never know, after all.
I KNOW I left a comment here.
ReplyDeleteSorry, I must have forgotten to approve, I always appreciate your comments.
DeleteOh my god I saw your blog on how to feel young in my English book. I got three questions for homework because of you, this is so sadge 😔😔😔
ReplyDelete??English book? What book?
DeleteFire and ice 2, it’s a school English book, they used one of your blogs for a comprehension
DeleteInteresting...Thanks.
DeleteHad to Google "sadge" still not sure.
DeleteI remember when I first heard about phones without wires my mind wondered so long how will such phone can work.now after internet my knowledge has been quite updated thankfully.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading old ways of phoning