I hate when people sidetrack threads with unrelated chatter, but this thread reminded me of something that I thought any of you might appreciate:

It is rare around here to encounter a payphone, and if you do, they aren't telco-owned, they are COCOTs (bandit payphones as I refer to them). Most don't work or are a complete ripoff anyway.

Recently, a friend came over who is about 30 years my junior. He hadn't paid his bill for his Sprint cell phone and was subsequently dead in the water. He asked if he could use my land line phone to call them in order to make a payment. I turned my desk phone around on the table toward him. This is where it gets funny.

First, he asked me how to use it. When he lifted the handset, he heard dial tone and didn't have a clue what that 'buzzing' meant (his words). I explained that he just needs to dial the digits as he would do on his iPhone.

He did this and then asked me if there was anything else he should do, as in "where is the send button?". Yes, he really did ask me where the send button was on my SLT. I laughed inside my head on this one because I couldn't blame his ignorance upon my experience. Oh, it's fun getting old.

Ed Vaughn, MBSWWYPBX