Where have all the phone booths gone?
Once upon a time, they were on every corner. Now they have all but vanished.
When I went off to college, my father gave me a dime and told me to keep it in my wallet.
“Promise me you will never drink and get behind the wheel of a car,’’ he said. “And promise me you will never ride with someone who is drinking and driving. Take this dime and call me. I will come get you.’’
Of course, it wasn’t long before the cost of a pay phone call went up to a quarter. But that was not the point. It was a symbolic gesture and an act of love between a father and son.
While the advice is time-honored, the method of communication is woefully outdated.
After all, when was the last time you saw a pay phone? Almost 95 percent of the country is walking around with cell phones in their pockets.
This generation has no idea what it’s like to slip a silver coin with George Washington’s head on it through a tiny slot. Or call someone from a corner gas station or dimly lit parking lot on the edge of town.
I bring all this up because on this day in history, Alexander Graham Bell made the first phone call from a laboratory in downtown Boston on March 10, 1876.
And today also happens to be “International Find a Pay Phone Booth Day.’’ Yes, they are on the endangered species list. And while you’re at it, don’t bother looking for a phone book, either.