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.
6 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.
What is a fuddy-duddy--am I too old to interpret a new definition?
RA4-6455, or earlier, 2-1468
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