The Absent Uncle: The old ways

Two weeks ago, I wrote a column that reminded me of an old trick our family used in the good old days to communicate, shall we say, “on the cheap”. 

In those days we didn’t have unlimited talk, text, long distance (don’t think that is a relevant term today), or cell phones that could be tracked or anything like is available today. 

“Ma Bell” – or how the telephone system was referred to then – was (in my family) an expense to figure out how to avoid – to use – but not to pay for. 

In those days before the technology in use today we had pay phones, land ines (term equals your home phone number), and real live operators that would assist you with information, placing and connecting calls, and most importantly, letting you know the charges at a pay phone and making the final connection. 

To be clear younger readers – real humans – not an AI or smart phone substitute. 

This is how it worked.  Before leaving on a trip/journey or whatever you called it, the person traveling would establish an itinerary. Expected first stops or other milestones along the way – and most importantly the expected approximate time of arrival. 

When the traveler would arrive at the target site on the itinerary a call would be placed (usually from a pay phone) where you would dial “0” and the number you would be calling. The operator would come online and ask how they could assist you.  

“I want to place a collect call to this number, my name is …”

That would start the process to reverse the charges from the pay phone you were at, and the operator placing the call to the number asking: “I have a collect call from … will you accept the charges?” 

The person that received the call would say “No”, the call would be canceled, no charge to anyone, and actually the dime the caller dropped in the payphone would be returned when the operator disconnected the call. All for free.

The receiver of the call would have been assured of the approximate position of the caller per the itinerary agreed upon and “Ma Bell” would have been denied revenue. From there, the refusing person would let other interested parties know of the successful arrival of the travelers using local (free) call service.   

For sure – no other information could have been passed about circumstances or other encounters, but the traveler was safe, journey proceeding, and details of the journey would be told later. That was what mattered. No texts; no selfies to be sent.

It was a simpler time.