Further speculation about how other people live and think…I realize I risk sounding like a fuddy-duddy for saying this, but I miss the days when I knew most of my friends’ phone numbers by heart. I just knew them, you know—in my noggin. Nowadays, since so many people have cell phones (and home phones…or just cell phones…but they might change plans and numbers every couple-few years), I just can’t keep up. I’m neither a numbers person, nor a cell phone person, so this is a problem for me.
I think other people simply store the numbers in their cell phones and dial by name. (Or click…not dial.) My pre-paid cell phone (gifted and replenished by my generous father, used maybe twice a week for a 1 ½-minute convenience call) just doesn’t suit that purpose. I mean, sure, if I actually used the phone to make calls on a daily basis, it might make sense to store numbers in it. But since I’m typically traversing from point A (home) to point B (work) in A-Town, approximately ¾ miles apart, I’m hardly ever in dire need of the portable device. (Truth is, I should make myself more portable and walk to work. But I always seem to be running late.)
Back in the day, I could dial friends’ phone numbers using only the last prefix number and the 4-digit extension. For example—and I run no risk of a privacy problem here because I know this number has since been disconnected—my BFF’s number growing up (dialing the easy-peasy old-fashioned way…easy-peasy, except for the tedium of rotary dials) was 9-5306. That was it. Five numbers. And everyone in town had the same prefix, so it was 9-_ _ _ _ for absolutely all my friends in town.
Now, I have to remember several different prefixes for my friends, and—truth is—I don’t. I don’t remember. So, I have some very dear friends whose phone numbers I routinely look up because my brain simply won’t store numbers like a cell phone would. And because I don’t use my cell phone to store numbers like ’most everyone else I know does. (Sigh) I guess maybe I am a fuddy-duddy.
7 comments:
You could get away with just five-digit dialing? I've never heard of that before outside of institutional settings.
And I know you're not enough older than I am to remember when telephone exchanges were designated with two letters and a number. =)
Before I got to the end of this post, I planned on my comment being simply 9-5306. But you beat me to it, obviously. You're not a fuddy-duddy. You're a small town gal and proud of it. Wear your "I don't need a cell phone surgically implanted in my ear" badge proudly! Much like the cleaning post, some things are just not worth the time.
Powers, I *don't* remember the two letters and a number days! Maybe that trick didn't trickle out to these parts...?
9-5306: I often recall the sage advice of a cherished prof of mine: "Make yourself inaccesible sometimes."
That's what I mean -- I know you're not old enough to remember that, but that's the only thing in my knowledge that's close to what you were talking about.
Ahhh...I misunderstood at first.
Marsha,I have traded in my track phone for an... iPhone. Got it for my birthday. I still leave it at home by mistake.
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