LIFE IN THE PERSHING EXCHANGE
I remember talking to my paternal grandmother when she lived
on such a tight budget that she counted the nickel phone call a luxury. She
made a list of things she wanted to talk to us about. The children would line
up to have their turn to talk to her. She was very business like in her phone
conversations.
Having experienced this approach to phone conversation it is
strange to see people go down the grocery store aisles chatting with a cell
phone to their ears. I know someone is probably reading them the grocery list
that they left at home. At some point we will surely be all talked out, as we
continuously extend our conversations all hours of the day and night.
My brother developed a different approach to Sunday conversations. He
calls us all when he has to return a call because he has to pay a certain rate
for the first phone call and every additional one after that is free. We get to
catch up with him on holidays and odd intervals as he uses his phone plan to
his best advantage.
The old days of the Pershing exchange our phone number
started with PE and then the rest of the phone number. We have become a nation of
so many phone conversationalists that
our numbers are now ten digits long. We have so much more to say than we used
to. I think we provide better support to each other than we did back then. Then
if you had trouble you just had to deal with it, now you can call upon a bigger
support system to help you. I think we live in a better world today. Those were
not the good old days. As my grandmother would say, “time’s up.”
love it!
ReplyDeleteI tend to agree. Families are closer and better prepared to deal with life's issues because of that one simple little device, the cell phone. Love it or hate it, it's here to stay...and probably become even more important in our life.
ReplyDeleteI love my cell phone. I love that I can call my mother and let my daughter talk as long as she wants. I love even more that we can call her Grammy, who is 86 (tomorrow) and talk all we want. It's the freedom to stay in touch and also the freedom to turn the phone off for some "me" time. Couldn't really do that with the old standards.
ReplyDeleteI remember those days as well. Ahh, to be able to have that memory is so sweet. The world has so changed. My children and grandchildren do have it good. They can call anytime. GRANDMA HAS TROUBLE SENDING TEXTS. Call.
ReplyDelete