It occured to me that with the popularity of the cell phone, it's been a long while since any of us has used a phone booth. If you're younger than 30 you may have never used one! Let me explain. The phone booth was a private area where you could carry on a private conversation. You usually closed the door and the overhead light came on. Every phone booth had a seat. You could actually sit and be comfortable as you insert a dime into the top of the phone and dial, yes dial the phone number. You'd then have three minutes to carry on your conversation. Most of us were capable of doing this, but, if we needed more than three minutes, we'd need another dime.
It's sad to see that the phone booth has become extinct. We have advanced to cell phones where complete strangers speak loudly within large groups of people. Conversations usually extend beyond 3 minutes because of competing phone plans, to the point where talk really is cheap. I miss the comfort and discretion of the phone booth. The simple phone booth, like full service gas stations, is just a small part of Americana that has disappeared in favor of a newer, less comfortable, self serve, faster way of life.
