Remember when

What's that make you? Almost 80?

 

I did

 

I remember when phones were attached to walls and came in off-white, avocado, and "gold" (which was more of a crappy brownish yellow). To dial the phone you actually spun the dial. As I recall, by the time I was in junior high school we, my family, was so "high class" that Mom & Dad had an extension phone put in their bedroom.

For you young 'uns out there, that meant we only had 1 phone line, but they could be in their room and quietly pick up that phone and listen to my sister or me talking to friends. You may have seen some of these phones on That 70's Show, or old black and white movies and TV shows. People actually could leave the house and NOT be in constant contact.

Back then, there were no "emotional support animals" and the most common people to take their dogs with them were farmers and ranchers. Dog parks were where you parked your truck so the dog could go do his/her "business". The dog(s) stayed in the truck, typically unlocked and with keys in in the ignition, while said farmer or rancher when into the store to shop. These men would often times spend and hour or more in the pre-sunrise hours drinking coffee and talking to one another in some coffee shop while the dog snoozed in the truck.

I just noticed... I am freaking old. Maybe I should get the dog in the truck and go have coffee at 5 am someplace.

 

We had the avacado version phone. We were so poor though that we called it green.
When I was a kid there was a guy that drove around town and his dog rode on top of the truck. He would slide from side to side, but I never saw him fall off.

 

I remember those phones! And the second one to use in another room. They had to run a cable along the baseboards and door trim to get it to their room. l miss those dial phones fir some reason. Probably because the phone would still work if there was a blackout. If you needed to get ahold of someone. You left a written message for them, usually with their parents to call you back. Hopefully you were still home or you played "phone tag" all day.
I remember meeting up with my budues at a coffee shop or a restaurant We'd shoot the shit for hours, before heading back home.
l remember my Aunt and Uncle having a party line on their road.
Uhhh the good old days. Simpler and less stressful, and like you said. You could leave the house without being connected to the whole world.

 

I quit counting.

 

I also remember dialing the operator for information or the correct time not 411 or the 555-1212 you use now

 

One of the local ranchers when I was in college drove a truck with a flat work bed on it typically with a few hay bails on it. His dog fell off the truck several times I am aware of. He would just pull over and wait for the dog to catch up and jump back up on the bed and off they went.

I swear that dog was a stuntman in a former life. I never saw him seem to be hurt, just rolled back onto his feet and ran after the truck barking till the truck stopped and he would leap back up on the bed.

 

I still have those phones. And a truck and a dog and I drink coffee. I also remember it. Glad if I’m old now I at least remember what a phone is.

 

I recall the rotary dial (all were black) and party lines in rural Kansas. And I remember the dogs and pick-ups at the dinner, good times. Locked nothing. One time some wild no good kept stealing gasoline from a farmers tank. He decided to find the culprit. When the tank got low, he put several gallons of kerosene in the tank. The next day the whole town knew who was grabbing the gas.

 

I remember working on the few remaining party lines when i started.
Phone co. couldn't force the subscriber to a private line, and by that time,(mid-80's) there were virtually no multi party lines left. so the grandfathered party line subscriber kept his line at a slightly cheaper rate than a private line..
When E-911 came out, that was the end of party lines.

 

"Um, yes, operator? Could you please tell me the time?"

 

320

 

POP-CORN

 

Like this?

 

No, POP-CORN as in 767-2676 for the time lady.