Death of The Payphone

Halfway to the grocery store I realized I'd left my cell phone on the kitchen counter. Panicked, I looked for an easy place to turn around, but nothing was easy. So, I made the bold decision to keep going. Hey, I lived for years without a cell phone. Why do I need one now just to go to the grocery store?

Pushing my cart through the aisles I was twitching. I needed that phone. What if something happens and I need to make a call? I made it safely through the checkout without a heart attack or armed robbery, and headed back to my car... scanning for a payphone... just in case. Nothing.

Driving home, I looked on every corner hoping to see my old friend, the Payphone. I drove for blocks... looking up and down streets, in mini malls, and in gas stations until finally, outside a dilapidated liquor store, there it was. A payphone.

Beaten, broken, and covered in grime, this was once the great equalizer. Everyone, rich and poor, used this shared tool to communicate. To call a loved one, place a stock trade, order more heroin. Surely, this relic would soon be removed, and I worried that maybe we've been too quick to do away with public phones.

I made it home safely, cradled my phone lovingly, looked deep into its camera eye, and swore I would never leave it behind again.

Comments

I was wrong about the paper

About a year ago I gave up newspapers. Too bulky, a waste of paper, and I got all the news I could digest from the internet. I love the way I can skim through articles on my smartphone. .. it's efficient and easy to access. But on a recent getaway to a sunny spot in California, I was reintroduced to The Paper. And it's better. .. lots better. In the wake of dwindling circulation, the LA Times has retooled, with a narrower, easy to handle format, a clean layout, and what's seems to be. .. fewer ads? In other words, it's fantastic. And so I did something i swore I'd never do. I resubscribed. Maybe, just maybe... the tactile experience of the morning paper isn't dead. Plus, now if I ever need to wrap a fish, I've got something to wrap it in.

It's just meat, people

Well, I think I've seen it....the first sign of the apocalypse. The earth is truly spiraling toward the sun. I was in my local grocery store and saw something I could hardly believe. It was a piece of meat, steak I guess, one piece, and the price was $15. I mean, it's just meat, people. They really should put these behind glass just to be safe. They should require you to a consult a credit consultant to be sure you're financially qualified to purchase meat. Buy 4 or more and security will escort you to your car. I've decided. I'm becoming a vegetarian.

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