Phone woes

Age, I guess, is relative.

To some, I look young. Technology-wise, I'm ancient, darn-near extinct.

You see, as we struggled Tuesday with the telephone and 9-1-1 crisis, I realized I learned my telephone number with letters.

No. I wasn't ancient enough to have to speak to an operator and ask for call to be placed, Andy Griffith style. We did dial the numbers we wanted.

But party lines were common.

And the letters.

Yep, that's right. Letters.

Actually, I don't remember mine. I remember my dad's business number: EL3-2808. It was plastered everywhere. I had stickers on all my toys. Maybe I got the stickers as they were phasing out the letters and going to all numbers.

But that was the number all right. It's imprinted on my brain.

Of course, you can't call it anymore.

You see, they've changed the area code.

Oh, yeah. That was another hassle.

I mean, what's with that? I had to relearn my mom's phone number. I grew up with that number. Just dialed it automatically. And all of a sudden someone decided that Columbus was more important than the little people in southern Ohio.

Columbus always seems to get the priority, whether it's southern or northern Ohio. We folks on the fringes just don't get any respect.

Even when it comes to a phone number.

I had to laugh when I got a new cell phone a few years back. The company advertised they covered 95 percent of the nation. Guess where they didn't cover? You got it ... those little fringes of northern and southern Ohio.

At least we haven't gone back to the days of collect calls.

What?

Please tell me you remember those.

Even at the ripe old age of 4, my brothers and sisters in college taught me to accept a collect call. We'd chat for a few minutes before I'd hand the phone off to my parents who didn't realize they were actually paying for the call.

Until they got the bill.

Actually, I think my siblings probably coached me to always answer the phone. But I'm not sure, just an idea.

Their calls to me aren't collect anymore. I'm still getting their messages, though.

Just couldn't get back to one of them Tuesday night.

Should have tried EL3-2808 ...

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Teresa M. Melcher is editor of The Bryan Times. She can be reached at tmelcher@bryantimes.com or 419-636-1111.