Rotary Phones

Heavy, clunky, colorful, nostalgic rotary phones.

This particular phone hung on a kitchen wall in my childhood home.
When it rang, you knew it.
It had a loud, bell like, jingling ring that could be heard throughout the whole house and out into the yard.

When you wanted to call and catch up with a friend, you were committed to making that phone call. There was an amount of concentration as your fingers quickly poked each number, pulled the dial to where it stopped and waited patiently as it made its way, slowly back to its original place. You may have found yourself singing the numbers with the rhythm of the rotary dial, as to not lose track of the phone number. If you messed up, there was no redial, you would have to start fresh from the beginning.

Conversations on a phone like this were what they should be, uninterrupted, actual conversations with the person on the other end of the line. There were none of the features that are available today, no call waiting to interrupt, no caller id to screen calls, no hold buttons, no mute buttons and no 3 way calling. I don't want to get into the slew of "techy", "gadgety", things that my husband has on his phone, so I will keep this part of the post streamlined.

There was no multitasking on a phone that kept you within a 3 foot radius of itself.

You were given permission to sit down, relax and enjoy a conversation.

Its weird how having so much and being so accessible to everything makes you wish for the simple things of your childhood.
Things, that just by being, forced you to slow down and catch your breath.....
I just wish my husband would agree.