Hang Up The Phone

Well, we finally did it. After years of thoughtful discernment, we pulled the plug; or in this case, pulled the coiled cord. We disconnected our land line telephone. Truth be told, my husband was ready to let go of the whole house ring a long time ago, but for some reason I had a harder time with placing phones of the old days to rest.

My relationship with the telephone is nothing to casually discard. Much to my grandkids disbelief, I’ve traversed life with the telephone. I remember my mom answering that mustard yellow colored wall phone that had only one ear-jiggling ring. I could always tell if the call was “important,” in which case she pulled the extendable phone cord into the dining room to talk in a hushed way. Or, if her beloved Dad called from New York on a Sunday evening, the joy of “catching up” was quite a bit more voluminous with smiles and laughter.

Surely I’m dating myself, but I think I spent more time laying on my mom’s bed talking on the tethered phone with my high school boyfriend, now husband, than I did studying for my Junior-year American History tests. Anyone else remember the rotary dial keypad?

Fast forward many years, and the whole world of phones has changed. Now, we all have a personal extension of ourselves in the form of a cell phone. I think I’d be hard pressed to find someone that didn’t have their cell phone within arm’s reach at all times. Our adult kids have never had a landline phone, and our grandkids only know the world of trying to guess the passcode to my phone so they can FaceTime their cousins. In talking with my own friends, I realized my husband and I were among the last hold-outs in hanging on to the landline.

So finally, after months of my husband trying to convince me that we no longer needed the old traditional telephone, I decided to let it go. It’s been several weeks since I had it disconnected, and to be honest, I really don’t miss it. I realized for the past few years, we’ve had an answering machine that answered the landline for us. 99% of the time, I didn’t even answer the phone figuring if it was important, the caller would leave a message. Honestly, most of the calls that came through wanted to sell something. There’s that whole world of telemarketers, but that’s a whole other essay. Making irrelevant the same home phone number we’ve had for over 30 years has proven to be not so traumatic.

Once again I’m reminded change is good. Letting go of the old way of doing things has the opportunity to simplify life.  Among the many benefits, I’m finding, is there’s more room on my kitchen counter. Whereas before there was an overstuffed pile of “important” notes tucked behind the phone dock, now I am forced to unclutter the clutter of papers that (I hate to admit) were put in a place I wouldn’t forget, but forgot they were there. There are fewer cords I have to bundle, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention my AT&T bill is significantly less.

So onward my household goes without a tethered phone.  I’m reminded once again, that the only constant is change. I guess the bottom line, however, is to remember the value of a phoning a friend, regardless of whether or not there’s a cord.