Flashback Friday, April 13th

My Sousin (Sister-Cousin, for those that don't know) and I were talking a couple of weeks ago about things that our kids will never experience.  One of the things that came up was a rotary dial phone.  I did see a YouTube video of a teenager trying to figure out how to use a rotary dial phone which was pretty funny.  These seem to have gone by the wayside now.  The funniest part of the YouTube Video to me is that this poor child had no clue.  I don't really remember being taught to use a rotary dial phone, but I am sure I must have been at some point.  The blue phone below is what I remember my Memaw, my dad's mom having, but I didn't spend so many hours on.  My Nanny, my mom's mom, had a black rotary dial phone.  I spent hours sitting in her hallway after church on the phone talking to friends and making plans.  It was always so often just in that hallway because you couldn't go any further than the cord would allow.  

This tan phone (technically, one like it) was where I spent the majority of my time on the phone with friends.  I remember Mom would keep replacement cords in the cabinet because I would stretch them as far as I could and then the cords would wind up with a short in them.  I honestly don't know if any of my kids would be quick to use a rotary dial phone.  They are really more of an obsolete technology these days since most everyone has a cell phone.  I mentioned to my Sousin that I have pondered getting a house phone again and putting my cell up when I walk in the house.  Things I didn't necessarily think were so great at the time...the fear of missing a call.  All those hours of waiting and hoping that the boy I liked would call...and that I wouldn't miss his call.  Things were different back then.  We went to hang out with friends and if we wanted to talk to them, we picked up the phone.  There wasn't the ability to text someone.  Electronic mail definitely changed things, but the down side is that it takes away that personal element.  You can't hear their tone of voice in an email or in a text.  This can cause misunderstandings.  You never truly know how someone will take things.  Even the things that you didn't think might cause a problem...sometimes are the very thing that starts a tiff between you and someone else.  Is it good or bad?  I can't speak for everyone.  I will say that having lived through the rotary dial phones, push button phones and now cell phones, I can see the changes in the way things are handled.  We are less likely to pick up the phone and straighten things out.  What phone do you remember spending your "life" on?