Phone A Friend
In a world where technology evolves at breakneck speed, I have a tendency to hold on tightly to familiar tools that once anchored my daily life, offering security and a bit of nostalgia. It sounds silly now, but when the time came, I found it difficult to say goodbye to my trusty Rolodex, so long to a well-worn handheld calculator, and, now, I sit on the brink of disconnecting from my final holdout of a bygone era: my landline telephone.
The reality is that it has been ages since the ringing of the home phone has resulted in a conversation with anyone from whom I wanted to hear. The only people who still use the number appear to be robocallers, scammers and one distant relative who never quite got the memo about cell phones.
I know it is time to disconnect. When we first moved to this address almost 24 years ago, the landline remained a necessity. Spotty at best cell service demanded it. Trying to use a cell phone with any hope of an interruption free conversation meant going out onto the back deck, standing in a specific corner, and once contact was made, freezing in place for the duration of the call. Over time, cell phone towers and technology have improved reception, and calls are now made and received without hesitation.
Our old carrier for both telephone and internet, the telecommunications behemoth, AT&T proved uninterested in providing up to date equipment and services, so as quickly as possible, when a much more reliable cyber alternative became available, we quickly moved to highspeed fiber optics for cable, internet and while a power outage would take out our service, I still opted for a phone line and purchased a generator!
While cell phones are certainly convenient and let’s face it, really a handheld computer with telecommunication capability, it has changed the game of connectivity. The problem is if I ever lose it (and I have), all hope of contacting those I know, and love goes out the window. I still remember my childhood telephone number as well as that of a few of my grammar school friends but ask me the number of more than my closest family members and I am lost.
Remember growing up with a landline? I have fond memories of being tangled up in that glorious, coiled-cord companion as I stretched it to its limit while huddling in a nearby closet or around a corner to talk in semi-private tones from the hallway hoping for a morsel of privacy, only to be yanked back by the physics of the spiral. Landlines taught me patience, endurance, and how to survive tangled wires without a YouTube tutorial.
There was a time when hearing the shrill ring of my home phone was genuinely exciting — my siblings and I would literally run to the phone and fight over who got to answer it. A call meant someone really wanted to talk to you and the mystery of who might be on the other end was part of the thrill. We did not have a caller ID. There was no screening! We answered with hope and sometimes concern. Was it a welcome call, such as a friend or relative? Was it a call you wish you never answered such as from a teacher or a prankster? Was it simply a wrong number?
How many hours did I wile away as a teenager, willing the phone to ring? Waiting to hear from a crush, or to receive an invitation for an adventure with a friend, or a response following a job interview? How many times did I lift the receiver to make certain there was a dial tone –that the phone had not somehow become disconnected?
And don’t get me started on the drama of a busy signal. Remember that? Dialing all those digits – heaven forbid there was a nine or a zero! The land line taught tenacity and dexterity. How quickly could I hit those numbers when calling the local radio station in the hope of winning tickets to an upcoming concert or other enticement!
How could I say goodbye to all of that?
But time marches on, and eventually, the ringing of the land line has become more of a nuisance than a lifeline. Like I said, it has become a tool for scammers and political messengers. I go for months without bothering to listen to the messages.
And so, when my internet provider recently stopped offering television channels as part of their service, it made sense to let go of the telephone as well. What were we paying for? We have great internet for video chats and as I mentioned, our cellular reception is great. The time has come. Weirdly I hesitated and delayed making the call, until now. And so, it is, with a mix of reluctance and reverence, I’ve finally decided to hang up for good.
Goodbye, landline. You served me well, though today you are more security blanket and nostalgia than you are useful, and so I bid you adieu. We’ll always have the memories and the kind of reliability that even today’s smartphones still can’t quite match. But before I disconnect for good, I think I’ll phone that friend whose number has been taking up space in my head since 1971. That would be area code 607….
xo, Hollie
