By J. David Thayer
They made dimes, then quarters, then they made nothing at all. Once you could close the accordion door and touch the entire world. Men even became superheroes inside. Now? An obsolete architectural eyesore.
Found one recently: a relic overlooked by the Reaper. Pulled over and tried to explain it to my son. Its shell remained; the hardware long gone.
None of it made any sense to him.
“Why would you need to go inside one of these things just to use your phone?”
I considered starting over, but why bother? One day he’ll drive around his own son. Then he’ll understand.
Made me smile and brought back a memory or two of my own.
Great story David.
Some countries/places have left these as quiet places to use newer devices out in public. The tune in my head is “brother, can you spare me a dime “ (wish we could still use these!)-well chosen words, makes the reader think back, think about today
Loved it! All the things we lived with that are just a mystery to our children. I wonder what their children will be mystified by.
At first, I thought accordion referred to the musical instrument being redundant. But I loved the lamenting of the lost art of the public phone call. I don’t miss the smell of urine though!
I thought it was a really good story, but the first sentence confused me. How could the relics MAKE those coins?
I think ‘made’ is used in the context of ‘earned’? 10c a call first, then 25c, then no calls were made, so no money?
Great writing. I had a lovely time reading it.
You set up this story beautifully. Full of questions as my eyes ran over the words. They made nickels? Accordion? Lovely reveal held for almost the end. Well done!
good story and so true. made me miss phone booths cuz I don’t have a cell phone.
Took me a second reading (we never called them that in the UK and I hadn’t heard the nickname before) but so true.
I really liked that. It touched a nerve long exposed inside me. Thank you for your insight.
Great storytelling. Poignant ending.
Good flow