QUINN: A celebration of phones

If you’re like me, your life can be divided into two time periods…BCP (Before Cell Phones) and ARD (After Rotary Dials).

Yeah, back in those ancient times a phone was stationary. It sat on a desk or hung on a wall, and you appeared before it when you wished to talk.

During my teen years, I remember a kitchen phone with a 40-foot extension. After dialing, I could walk anywhere its coiled cord would reach.

For semi-private calls, I’d go into the broom closet. But I was easily found, because following a phone cord is simple, like tracking a trail of breadcrumbs.

There was no such thing as a private call, because anybody nearby could hear my side of the conversation. My friends and I worked out a code.

If somebody came near the phone, we’d suddenly say “Can you hear me?” That meant the other person should ask only yes-or-no questions.

I even had one friend who kept a phone in his bathroom. I’d get so embarrassed using it, my face would flush.

Then, the cordless phone changed lives! We could take it a great distance from the base, and continue our conversations while we cooked, ate, or washed the dog.

But today is best of all. Now I can video myself singing a song, text it to my wife in the next room, pick up my guitar, and go sing harmony to the song I just sent. Life is great!

Got a question to ask Rix? E-mail him at [email protected].

Rix Quinn

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Rix Quinn is a former magazine publisher who works as an independent biographer and broadcaster.

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