Thursday, July 19, 2012

Number, please

On Monday my parents made settlement on their adorable new home in East Marlborough, so we've all been over there regularly helping them to move in. On this evening's trip we pointed out to the Young Relative the old-fashioned rotary phone that the previous owner had left behind. He knew what it was, like my generation would be able to identify, say, a Victrola, but we had to show him how to operate it.
I had not seen a rotary phone in action for years, and we all stood watching mesmerized as the dial spun back into place with each number. I'd forgotten how annoying it was when your finger slipped out of the hole JUST as you were dialing the last digit of the seven-digit number -- and you had to hang up immediately and start over.
I asked him if he wanted a vintage phone like that instead of a smart phone.
"No!" he exclaimed emphatically. "It's too hard! It's too slow!"

No comments:

Post a Comment