The Good Ole Days!

In the old days, whenever you wanted to talk to someone, you went to the wall, picked up the phone and dialed a phone number. You didn't have to search the house for the phone...it was always in the same place, attached to the wall, with a long cord! The person you were calling was either home or not, it either rang and rang or someone eventually answered. There were no voicemails or answering machines….just a family member with (hopefully) a pen and pencil to jot your number down so you would get a phone call back.

In the old days, there was no Caller ID. You could call a phone number completely anonymously and hear your favorite person’s voice on the other end (this was mostly done by us young girls, wanting to hear our “crush’s” voice on the other end) and then hang up! It was great fun. Don’t pretend you haven’t ever done that!!

In the old days, letters were handwritten and sent through the post office,with a stamp… it required time, effort, good penmanship and a few cents for the stamp.

Back then, you only had to check the mail once a day. Usually around the same time everyday, the mailman would deliver your mail and you could run out and get it. Instantly you would know if you had a letter or not, and then you could either read it or get on with your day and hope for a letter tomorrow.

This morning I found myself frustrated at modern technology. Cell phones that don’t work, or aren’t “in range” make it hard to communicate with those I love. Text messages, that have become another normal way of communication for me these days, have gone unseen due to phone malfunctions on the receiver end. Phone calls to my parents, out of town for a while, are hard, there is no reliable cell phone tower where they are… if it is windy – forget it – I can’t get through.

Many times this weekend I longed to talk to someone… but knowing it was a holiday and people have plans and a life, I did not pick up the phone and call any one. Oh how it would have done my spirit good to be able to dial a number and just hear a voice and hang up – just like long ago… completely anonymously!

And just a moment ago I found myself emailing back and forth with a friend, only to have it stop. Why? Did they get a phone call, leave the house, go take a shower, start reading a novel? Where did they go? I found myself checking and rechecking my email at least four or five times just to see if I had a reply in the “in box!” You see if this was in the olden days… I would only have to wonder once, just walk to the mailbox, open it and see. No letter, no worries…. I could just get on with the activities of the day and not worry… until tomorrow. Instead I am standing here in my kitchen, constantly looking at the home page to see if there is a little flag on the mailbox…. “You’ve Got Mail!” What it is even worse is the self-esteem tied into all of this…if I don’t get a reply – does that mean this person hates me, hates communicating with me, has someone more fun to email jokes back and forth with, and am I a loser in the world of email??

Just having a morning rant and wishing once again I lived back in the olden days!!! Do you ever feel that way?