I can’t help but marvel at technology. When I was a kid, I remember looking at our 19-inch television set and thinking, well, there’s no improving on that. We had moving pictures and color and, thanks to a wired remote, we could change channels from the comfort of the couch.
When Dad brought home our first toploading VCR we were in heaven. I could not believe a person could watch a movie anytime she wanted. To show our appreciation, we were always kind enough to rewind before returning the cassette to the video store. I am really going to be dating myself here, but after my siblings and I completed all our Saturday chores, we were rewarded with a dollar so we could go to Murphy’s Modern Music and buy the latest Top Ten release in the form of a 45 rpm record.
We had joy, we had fun, we had seasons in the sun.
The thing that impresses me the most are the advancements made with telephones.
Back in the day there was simply a party line. Or so I’ve been told. You knew by the number of rings if the call was for your residence, and sometimes you would listen in even if it wasn’t. How else could one keep up on the latest news, happenings and gossip?
It’s not like they had email.
The operators became personal friends, receptionists and darn near members of the family.
Then private lines came along, and what a technological marvel that was! Suddenly one could talk, at length, without interruption. My own dear mother had a phone cord that was no less than 20 feet long. She would visit while she mopped, chat it up in the laundry room and catch up on family news while doing the dishes.
I’ll never forget watching “Risky Business” on the big screen and seeing Tom Cruise on his portable phone. I couldn’t believe such a device existed, and wondered how much it would take to lay my hands on one.
Just think how far we have come. One day we’re ringing an operator with pertinent information, and the next we’re calling from the front lawn to say hello.
Suddenly we had bag phones, followed by cell phones, and before we knew it, we were linked to the world of availability 24/7. That has its advantages as well as disadvantages.
“Where have you been,” my son asked one day.
“I was doing laundry,” I replied
“Without your cell phone,” he asked in disbelief.
“It’s not a crime in most states.”
“What if I desperately needed to reach you?”
“Ever hear of a land line?”
“What if I’m laying in a ditch somewhere and only had enough strength for one phone call?”
Leave it to Vernon.
Yet, I don’t mind my cell phone in my hip pocket. I love voice messaging, caller ID and my own personal contact list.
I don’t miss my long-distance bill, wrong phone numbers and collect calls from my dear brother on Christmas Day.
Call waiting is a dream when it is used correctly. Although I am loathe to put someone on hold while I take a second call, it certainly comes in handy at times.
Unless, of course, the someone you put on hold for another call happens to be your mother. It’s really bad when the second call takes longer than one would like, and, thanks to a failing memory, one forgets she had left a loved one waiting in the balance.
“Well,” Mother said when I finally terminated the second call, “Isn’t this a fine how-do-you-do?”
Before I could apologize, she told me she had waited for so long that the phone had grown attached to her ear, that her neck had permanent damage and that she had lost 20 minutes of her life that she would never get back.
Not only that, but while I had her on hold, she missed several calls and was quite certain one of them could have been from Publisher’s Clearing House telling her she had finally won her millions.
Perhaps not all technological advancements are improvements. After all, she might not have been as upset if she could have chatted it up with the other folks on the party line.