‘Tis the season. ‘Tis the season, indeed. Scanning the news headlines today, I concluded ‘Tis also the season for obscure or bizarre news.
Hand soap might be hazardous to your health; a buffalo attacks a lion; Lane Kiffin hired to help the Alabama Crimson Tide. Yes, yes. Bizarre news indeed.
Completing my morning scan of the news, I ran across an article that piqued my curiosity. It was a piece about the impending death of the pay phone. The article detailed statistics that prove the point. The proliferation of affordable cell phone service has dropped the overall number of payphones from two million in Y2K down to less than 250,000 last year.
As we become more and more germophobic as a culture, the elimination of public phones seems to make even more sense.
And the number will continue to fall. The lack of pay phones will undoubtedly hit lower income individuals harder than everyone else because they would be the folks least likely to afford cell phone service.
Still, you can understand why technological advances have rendered the devices obsolete; gone the way of the rotary phone and pager. As cell phones have become more and more sophisticated, the need for these other gadgets becomes smaller and smaller.
Still, I have to say, I’m a bit sad when I consider the passing of this old friend.
When we were in high school, the pay phone in the cafeteria (and the one outside the gymnasium) were our lifelines to the outside world. I remember calling the parents of my potential prom date, for example, to ask their permission for me to take her to the dance.
Those same phones were also the source of a bit of teenage tomfoolery – none by me – in the form of a few prank calls.
And in the era before cell phones, a well-placed public phone could potentially be a lifesaver if you were running late for a date or needed to call home to extend a curfew or report a car problem. Phone booths were helpful in other ways, too. I haven’t heard of any smart phone with an app that allows Clark Kent to transform into Superman.
Phone booths play a prominent role in other pop culture references as well. In the 1980s movie, “Local Hero,” the phone box in the fictitious Scottish town of (insert town name) is the only connection the American negotiator, McIntyre, has with his corporate home back in Houston. In a pivotal episode of the sitcom, “Friends,” we anxiously watch while Ross, marooned in London, waits to talk to his English girlfriend, Emily, who has commuted to New York. And, in the iconic opening credits of the 60s spy spoof show, “Get Smart,” a pay phone is prominently featured.
Don’t get me wrong. I understand the progression of technology and the logical phasing out of pay phones. It all makes sense.
I would be remiss, however, if I didn’t give a proverbial tip of the cap to technology that once served us well.
JG
Originally posted 12/17/2013
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