Alone, forlorn, incongruous upon today's landscape, I first spotted it a few weeks ago. Odd, because I drive past this location at the very minimum of weekly.How long has it been there? I'm trying to find out from some friends I have at Frontier Communications, owner, operator, and presumably, maintainer of this phone booth.
Do you realize that there are kids out there who have likely never seen a phone booth, maybe even have no idea what a phone booth is, or what the point of a pay phone was.
In the background, the old Dallas High School sits boarded and awaiting a rescue that may never come.
For those who've never seen, or have forgotten what a pay phone looks like, here's a tighter shot of the once ubiquitous pay phone. Once everywhere, now nowhere. Is this the only pay phone out there?
Would you know how to use one? How much for a call? The coin slot indicates a nickel, dime, and quarter. I'd guess it's a quarter, but if you go over on your call you need to deposit more. How does that work nowadays, is there still an operator somewhere to help you complete a call, to ask you for more money? Can you still make a collect call?
Last question, a three-parter: Who collects the money, when do they collect it, and who comes around and collects when the collector person is on vacation?
The numbers tell a story; payphones in America dropped by more than a million in just a decade, according to the Federal Communications Commission, falling from 2,086,540 in 1997 to just 1,006,802 at the start of 2007.
The American Public Communications Council has bleaker news still, they estimate that the number of pay phones is actually closer to 830,000 to 850,000 today. The shocker, to me anyway, is that there are that many left.
What has to most amazing of all is that this phone works. The dial tone was there the second I picked up that handset.
Know, however, that this is a phone booth not complete in all its parts. It's probably more accurate to say that it's what's left of what was once a phone booth.
Missing are the front door and the glass panel on the right, if you're facing the booth. There's a domelight you can only guess no longer works. If you remember, the light would come on when the folding door was closed.Two things I didn't check for were a phone book and a phone number. Pay phones all had numbers. Next time by there, I'll stop and check.
Oh, and I didn't remember to push the little metal spring-loaded door and wiggle my finger around in the coin return poking for loose change. Hey, I can't think of everything.
