HOOK!
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| Fraternity house view from the "Hook" |
“Hook!”
That was the
yell in our college fraternity house back in the middle sixties. There was one phone, a pay phone, in a booth
in the house. Thirty people in a house
with one phone. If you wanted to call
your girl, or home, you had to make it quick; someone was always waiting for an
incoming call.
If a call
did come in for you, who ever answered gave that simple yell, “Hagy…HOOK!”
It doesn’t seem
like that long ago to me, but what a difference from today. There was no privacy, everyone in the house
knew you had a call, and at least one person knew if it was family or a
girl. If it was a girl everyone needed
to know what it was all about. Hey, it
was an all male school, anything girl, especially before a weekend was a big
deal.
“Who was that?” “What did she want?” “You got a date?” “She breaking up?” “Does she have a friend?”
Even letters
offered no privacy in a house full of not yet adult men. If you got a letter it was stuck in a cubical
of a large mail box, and everyone could see you had mail. It was pretty easy to see from the address
handwriting if it was from a girl.
“Who was that?” “What did she want?” “You got a date?” “She breaking up?” “Does she have a friend?”
Maybe that
is why most of us are still friends.
There were few secrets in a fraternity house. No emails, no text messages, no cell
phones. Your life was an open book. If you had a date, she had to walk the
gauntlet through the house. Sixty eyes
judging her looks, her mannerisms, her attitude, her walk…dumb comments, leering,
whistles and more were not uncommon. It
was a bad idea to bring a date to the house early on a party night.
“Who was that?” “What did she want?” “Is she a date?” “Does she have a friend?”
Alright, I don’t
really know where I’m going with this; just a memory hit me out of the blue. A
memory of getting a phone call that was not a vibration in your pocket, but a
yell from the ground floor of a college frat house to a third floor two bedroom
suite where the rooms were separated by strings of beads.
“Hagy…HOOK!”
brings a new nuance to 'hook up.' :)
ReplyDeleteNo--an OLD one!!
DeleteThose were the days, my friend, we thought they'd never end. Sorry, your post got me singing. Great memories.
ReplyDeleteI think SD still lives in the 60's with his refusal to have a mobile (cell) phone, although he frequently uses mine! He talks fondly of the days where you made an arrangement one year to meet up the next and people just turned up without endless checking and rearranging.
ReplyDeleteAt least it wasn't a party line!
ReplyDelete“Who was that?” “What did she want?” “Is she a date?” “Does she have a friend?” Bwahahahahahahahaha. That would work for the girls too, just change the she to he.
ReplyDeleteHave a fabulous day Joe. ☺
Dang, how barbaric! So who got stuck with the 1-900-TALK-DIRTY-TO-ME bill? Did you split it 60 ways? ;)
ReplyDeleteI think Porn was illegal then...so it was more fun. Anyway, it was a pay phone.
DeleteSo much has changed technology wise over the years; sometimes the changes are good ones; sometimes not. I think in the case of phones, not all of them were good ones indeed.
ReplyDeletebetty
Ah, what fun! With a phone in every pocket, we are less connected.
ReplyDeleteSo... how is that different from living with 60 guys in a military barracks with only one phone... and don't even talk to me about a ship with 300 guys and only one phone.
ReplyDeleteAh, memories.
I remember being on the dorm phone in the hallway and fighting with the future Mrs. Chatterbox. We were on that phone for hours without saying anything. I had to send her money to pay the bill, but I guess it was a sound investment since we're still together.
ReplyDeleteThank goodness you fellows could take time out from cramming yourselves into that phone booth for somebody to take a call! I guess you could still busy yourselves with goldfish-swallowing and flagpole-sitting.
ReplyDeleteHa - the good old days!
ReplyDeleteSometimes those old memories just come flooding upon us.
ReplyDeleteI saw a program on TV where they showed some young kids several of the old land phones. They had no idea what it was and even after they told them it was a phone, they couldn't figure out how it could work. Hahaha
Wow---this brings back memories. I stayed in a college dorm at an all women's school. One phone on each floor. I dated a few of frat boys, and I remember well how awkward it was to go to the frat house to see my boyfriend when all the other guys were sitting around the front parlor.
ReplyDeleteOh Crank, tears welled up and I could barely get to the end of this. Oh yeah, you got a butt for Balla?
ReplyDeleteOk anyone who reads comments, Craig was one of the thirty, Balla was another member, and a butt is a cigarette.
Delete