Single Photo Saturday #3 - "You have reached a number that has been disconnected or is no longer in service.."

Do you remember the dial phones?

I found this "vintage" - funny how this can now be called vintage! - phone a couple years ago at a local junk store. I just fell in love with the red color. It now resides in my laundry room.

It has that good 'ol ringtone - a real bell - not a digital bell. No push buttons. No touch screen. No caller ID display. No antenna. No internet link. Just a plain old fashioned, take-your-time rotary dial. The dial that makes that scratchy sound as it returns to its stop. It even has a cord. No wireless here.

I remember when we had to rent these from the phone company. No one ever owned a phone! As a young girl, I always wanted a phone of my own. An extension of my very own - in my room - but they just cost too much. Only the adults had an extension in their room.

Back then, there was no call waiting, so phone calls to friends after school had to be limited, just in case someone else was trying to call; and your call was never very private anyway - you were stuck about 3 feet from the kitchen wall!!! Then, they invented longer cords!!! Whoo Hoo!!! Those big 'ol, stretchy, spiral cords. The ones that curled up into twisted knots after many conversations.

I remember one day, back in elementary school, someone enlightened us all on how to "secretly" listen in on an extension conversation...if you un-screwed the bottom of the handset and removed that little magnet/speaker thingy, you could hear what was being said on the other line, but they couldn't hear you!!! Oh simple technology at it's best....NOT that I ever listened....hee hee, but one COULD if they wanted to.....

Then came the push button phones. Those were fun too. I even bought a little paperback book, once, that had charts of songs you could play by pushing the buttons. That was hours of fun. Clearly, I was easily entertained. I'm not sure why I never called anyone in foreign countries though, now that I think of it. Hmmm....

When I turned 12, I finally got an extension phone of my own. In my bedroom in Washington. Not a princess phone. Not the coveted, round, donut phone. Just a regular 'ol rectangle push button phone. BUT, it was my phone. MINE! At least for a couple of months, until we moved back to California. Then I went back to being phone-less!!!

Now almost everybody has a cel phone that does everything except wash dishes and cook laundry. I heard the other day, that I can even program my satellite tv from my phone!!!

I can't even imagine kids these days, playing music notes on their phone by pushing individual buttons. Now, they just download songs - full play lists. We've definitely become a micro-wave, instant gratification society.

Honestly, I like the conveniences of technology, but I do, also, like my red rotary dial phone in the laundry room...it makes me smile and think of simpler times....those were good times too!

**I still need to clean off the paint splatters from the dial (that came with the phone!), but for now, I just think of them as Polka Dots. I like Polka Dots!