Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Communication

When I was growing up there was only one form of one on one daily communication. The telephone, which was a land line and only one phone per household. The telephone was located in a central part of the house and had to be used at that specific location. We had a telephone table which was a seat with a shelf on the right of the seat to hold the phone. Later, the phone was a wall hanging phone with a long cord that allowed you to move across the kitchen and still talk. What a convenience that was. You could actually do something else while you talked---like wash dishes or stir the pot on the stove. Who could have imagined cordless phones and 6 year olds with cell phones? Many houses, like the one we live in now ( built in the late forties), actually had a little alcove built into the wall in the hall to hold the phone. You not only had to share the phone with everyone who lived in the house with you, but also those on your party line. A party line meant you shared your phone with either two or four other households. Everyone had a different ring like one long ring and one short ring, two long rings, two short rings or one short ring followed by a long ring. If you picked up the phone to use it and somebody else was using it you could actually listen to their conversations. My Uncle Joe was known to eavesdrop. If the person heard the click they would say--I think someone is listening. Uncle Joe would say " Oh it is just poor old Joe, I am just dusting the phone". If it were a true emergency you would politely ask if you could use the phone. The worst part was when you were actually expecting a call and someone on your party line would keep it busy. Oh, life before cell phones.

I can't actually tell you when I got my first cell phone. Jim had a business phone very early on and it came in a bag about the size of a small breadbox. When the kids were relatively young in the early eighties, I was in graduate school during the summer. I was driving back and forth to Bowling Green and had no communication with them during the day. That was the first time in my life that being without a phone seemed to be a problem for me. Until then I just did not feel that being out of communication for a short period of time could be a problem. Until about five years ago, we always had a live answering service. We could always call them to get messages or to leave a message for someone who called. No one freaked out like today, if they can't reach someone immediately by phone. Oh---those were the days and today's children will never know that feeling. The total lack of immediateness of life. Today everyone has their own special ring tone so the caller will know who is on the other end before they pick up the phone. Before they can even look at the caller ID number! The surprise of who is on the other end is gone. Today, most people make a conscious decision of whether or not they want to talk to the caller, before they hear the voice. We were just so glad someone was calling, that they were able to get through to us and everyone was mostly glad to talk. Now days everyone has a zillion phones and call for the most stupid reasons. Young people for the most part can't save a thought and gather them all together to make one call. Every thought must be transmitted by phone or text message or e-mail or Instant Message individually and within nano moments of the thought racing through the head.

We are so inundated with all of the communication that it literally drives us to turn off the phone. Meetings are always punctuated with a cell phone ring--some of the ring tones give me
pause to wonder---"what were they thinking?'. I recently called my daughter by mistake during a school day. Her phone doesn't even work on school property, but it did on that particular day. The day before, she had enforced the no cell phones in class with one of her high school students. So not only did the phone ring, her purse was all the way on the other side of the room and the ring tone was a little embarrassing.

When Brittany went to college I would have never kept up with her any way except on her yellow cell phone. When Josh went to college, I finally learned to type. I couldn't type because I took typing in college and Robin couldn't stand for me to peck at the keys--- so she did my homework!! I always was fortunate to have someone who would do my typing until e-mail came along. Had to learn to do that myself. The best way I could communicate with him was e-mail. My daughter is a talker and my son is a writer.

There is also the instant phone texting which can occupy your thoughts when you are unable or it is inappropriate to talk. You can also read your e-mail via the phone. You can keep up with all of your friends and what they are having for lunch via facebook, via e-mail, via cell phone. What do you have to talk about when you get face to face??? Maybe I am just getting old and cranky, but TMI (too much information) makes me CRAZY.

What I think the most wonderful communication tool that really is a huge help is the FAX machine. The FAX changed business in an orderly and productive way that e-mail will never do. Faxes are usefull, but not all that much fun, especially the one at work that I have never been able to master. They are there for you when you want them but don't intrude when you don't. Bingo---not fun--not abused. Real messages, legal documents, reports, rough drafts, medical reports need to go anywhere---just FAX a copy, instantly. Don't get me wrong, I like e-mail and surfing the net---but for business purposes---FAX and telephones are definitely the most efficient in my opinion.

2 comments:

Mr. Bloggerific Himself said...

I bet a lot of people forget, or never knew, that back in the day the phone was actually property of the phone company. Also, during a certain, too short, period of time you could actually pick up the phone, call your own phone number, and hang up. Your phone would ring! Dad ran out of the bathroom soooo many times to find no one there.

But I have to disagree about faxes. Yes they were a huge help in many instances for businesses but they are abused and not all faxes are sent legally. We're still getting junk faxes at the office and those are against the law. And unless you're printing from your PC to fax...you're wasting at least two pieces of paper for every fax sent. Not efficient.



Mom of Jack said...

Sherry! This is so funny. I feel naked if I leave the house without my cell phone (you know how I worry). I was just having a conversation with some other teachers today about how we have all become so connected because of technology, but also so isolated. It is so strange that you could literally do everything you need to live without ever leaving the house. I don't know, I think I might like to have been around when things were a little simpler.

On a funny note, when Britt and I were in college and I worked at Kinko's, an older man came in asked me if he could fax cash. He thought the cash would magically appear on the other side, like an updated Western Union!



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