Re: I'm now OUT, and frequently looked upon like an alien

true. Isn't it interesting how this one technology has evolved along with our lives having evolved. From the time that I can first remember as a kid all the way up to late teens early twenties, the "phone" was that big relic. Ours was literally built into the wall at the bottom of the stairs, rotary dial, standard AT&T black. Around the time of being a five-year old, give or take several years, the phone was not used all that often, but when it rang, the mere ringing was an alert to everyone in hearing range of the forthcoming big deal - a phone call from somebody else. By the time of getting past ten, older siblings were fleeing the nest. Many here can remember mom N dad's advice and survival kit of life including the instructions on how said teen fledgling could use a specific sequence and code words to signal/call home, at the expense of Ma Bell, collect! Yes, collect! ;) By the time I hit the early twenties, divestiture scheme was ordered by the government and we were all getting familiar with the hows? and whys? of caring for one's own telephone, followed in a few short years by the trend of answering machines, followed by Caller ID, the new-wave of using some funky dial combination 1010 in order to save 10 cents on a phone call because Lord knows it's one of the most pressing issues of the history of modern human existance is how to save 10 cents on a long distance phone call. Then followed 3-way calling, Call-blocking ad infinitem. So quickly we've gone from the big deal of a phone call from that phone built into a wall - who is it?, to high-tech ways of figuring out reasons why not to answer the call by knowing who is calling before the call is answered, filtering out certain people we don't want to talk to with Call Blocking, and essetially "i don't care who it is, I don't wanna talk to them", all in a convenience that's come off the wall and gone into our pockets. Like Steven Wright said "I put an answering machine on my car phone, the greeting says 'hello, sorry, i'm home right now, please leave a message'"

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