the rix mix

The older I get, the more annoying nostalgia becomes. People express nostalgia for every freakin' thing that isn't around anymore. Crappy songs. Ugly hairstyles. Uncomfortable clothing.  They're feeling sentiment for an era when they were younger. What's nostalgic about a rotary dial phone? Not for the era, but for the machine itself? Sure, they're cool-looking. It's a classic, functional design.  I thought the introduction of touch tone was great. I remember the hassle of dialing long distance. If you dialed too fast your finger slipped out. If you dialed too aggressively you pulled the phone off the desk & it fell on the floor. The phone company was a monopoly. You rented phones from your division of Bell Telephone  or a small regional company that somehow escaped Ma Bell's  grasping tentacles.  Every extension phone was counted & charged for. I don't miss dial tone phones.

Labels: culture, growing up