The other day at work a young teenaged boy came up to me at the mall Customer Service desk, told me his cell phone's battery had died, and asked if he could use our phone. Following policy, I dialed the number he dictated and handed him the receiver. He stood there for a few seconds with a quizzical look on his face, then gave the phone back to me with a funny look on his face, saying there was a strange noise on the line.
I put the phone up to my ear so I could hear it, then had to stifle a laugh. The phone was giving off a busy signal.
I told the boy he had called an "old school" phone, which seemed to make sense to him. After he walked away I started thinking. How many younger people have never heard a busy signal? Nearly every cell phone and most land lines now have voice mail or call waiting. Who was he calling? Maybe it was a grandma or older relative that had no need of newfangled things.
I guess I'll never know...
Must have been a number he didn't call much. OR maybe cell phones interupt with their "caller not available" and we never hear the busy signal anymore.
ReplyDeleteHmmmm... now you've gotten my curiosity going! LOL
Funny. That's along the same lines of when I realized that my girls had no idea how to make popcorn in a pan. We always had microwave popcorn when they were growing up!
ReplyDeleteMy landline phone will give off a busy signal if I am on it when someone calls me. I rather like a busy signal because then you know the person is talking on the phone and is home. You can call back in awhile and get them.
ReplyDeleteKathy there were some errors in the way the quinoa recipe copied the first time, so I've made corrections, you'll have to let me know how it turns out for you.
ReplyDeleteInteresting that the kid's never heard a busy signal. I keep thinking I'm missing out because I don't have an iphone and apps are taking over!
This is funny, I never even thought of this until you mentioned it. It's like a black and white TV, can you just imagine the reaction of today's teens if they seen one? lol
ReplyDeleteOh gosh! That is hilarious in a really old feeling way! LOL Thanks for sharing this!
ReplyDeleteI think he is a smart one... I too will use the 'my battery has died' trick ;0))
ReplyDeletehaha. i never thought of that. when i occasionally get a busy signal, it is an odd feeling since i'm not used to it. i remember back in the day when that just meant i had to call back. when answering machines came out, they were revolutionary, or so we thought:)
ReplyDeletenice to meecha. here from betsy's place.
Haha, remember when we got CallNotes so that you could leave us messages even when we were online? Now that was high tech!
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