Jun24

on the hook.

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how exciting to find a real working payphone

caused me to do a double take

the umbilical cord connecting to many a ride home

 the joy of finding a quarter in the coin return.

 

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“the telephone gives us the happiness of being together yet safely apart.”

*mason cooley

 

 

 

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 *mason cooley, 1927-2002,  was an american aphorist known for his witty aphorisms. One of the aphorisms Cooley developed was “The time I kill is killing me.”He was professor emeritus of French, speech and world literature at the college of staten island and an assistant professor of english at columbia university.

 

 

 

 

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73 responses »

  5. I sat trying to remember the last time I used a payphone, and it came to me eventually. In West London, 1999. By then, they no longer took coins. You had to buy a pre-paid card, (BT Phonecard) and it counted down how much credit you had remaining on a screen.
    Best wishes, Pete.

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  19. So many, many memories jump into my mind….. secretly sneaking to the train station, phoning from a booth at the bus ….
    Haven’t seen a working booth in many years. In England, many had a red cabin in their garden! Was always slightly jealous 😅

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    • it was such a joy! it is in good working order and sits out front of a local library near my school. I assume it’s for kids who don’t have cell phones (yay!) and need a ride home, or any other person with change on them.

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  27. I remember standing in line to use the phone.
    So far I’ve survived without a cell phone or whatever they are called.

    Thanks for introducing me to mason cooley. Very cool! I like this one: “Reading gives us someplace to go when we have to stay where we are.”

    Exchange computer for reading. ;)

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    • it is in front of a library and works, so imagine it to be used by kids who don’t have cells, to call home for a pickup, so this is the rare phone that kids might actually use

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