One of the things I miss most about the ‘good old days’ is the way telephone numbers used to be organised. Here in the Uk they had exciting combinations of letters and numbers – Mayfair 2345 or Strand 4987 – you knew within a mile where the subscriber was listed and the number could easily be remembered. You could offer an engraved business card with a prestigious phone number – many times it would be consistent with your profession, most lawyers had TEMPLE in their phone code as this was around the law courts. Nowadays try remembering an 11 digit mobile number – even your own!! I continually screw up on them but I have no effort in recalling many numbers from my youth. Indeed I use my home number from 50 years ago as a password on some sites. It is lodged forever in my mind.
It seems such a shame that a number that used to conjure up many evocative thoughts is now a boring series of digits. As a small gesture I use an old style bakelite phone on my desk that has a digital mechanism but still bears an original 1950′s number emblazoned on its dial. Ageing certainly gives a perspective on the little things in life.
Baby Boomer Reflection On Our Digital Life
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