One Ringy Dingy

JUST FOR FUN

Let’s talk telephone today.  I’m thinking about the old switchboards, and that reminds me of Lily Tomlin .  She created the much loved telephone operator, Ernestine, for Laugh-In in 1969. Who can forget how she always said  ‘One ring dingy’ while she waited for the connection and “Is this the party to whom I’m speaking?’ when it connected.  (You can join in this nostalgia on YouTube, just look for Lily Tomlin, Ernestine)

IN THE BEGINNING

The telephone was on a desk or table, occasionally permanently fixed to the wall. You could only get away from the family for a bit of privacy, if the cord reached into the pantry or closet.  Phones were big and clunky, they all sounded the same, BURIIINNNGG. You could call and  a nice lady would tell you the time or find a phone number for you.    Phone books were delivered to your door every year and doubled as booster seats for the kids at the table.  Remember the slogan  ‘let your fingers do the walking’ to encourage the public to look up  numbers on their own. Phones were simpler in those days and so was life. 

BACKGROUND

In the days before direct dial,  you’d simply ask the operator to connect you to Maine #-#### or Chapel #-#### or in the case of Lucy Ricardo Murray Hill #-####. The prefix word was intended to make it easier for the public to remember and for switchboard operators to understand.These were the days of telephone exchanges or hubs and the word designated the exchange and subscribers were give a unique five digit number.. There were young women sitting at switchboard consoles plugging in every call. 

PAST TENSE

Our phone in the 50’s was a party line we shared with our next-door neighbor.  If you picked up the phone to make a call and Helen was talking to her husband, Dick,  you became part of the conversation unless you hung up immediately.  Politeness demanded you didn’t pick up the phone again for at least 10 minutes to give them time to finish their call.  I was an obnoxious teen who wanted to be on the phone for hours which was party line rudeness, occasionally Helen would simply pick up the phone and ask for the line.  A ‘private’ line was more expensive and not in our family budget.    

The phone rang at both houses, two quick rings for us and one long ring for the Dick and Helen.  When my boyfriend called at 10:30 p.m., when he got off work, I had to sit by the phone ready to grab it on the first ring or my dad would hear from Helen the next morning.  

It wasn’t until later in the ‘60’s that Ma Bell streamlined and automated the phone system. Telephone operators were now working at the five and dime, and the phone prefix was dropped for the simple seven digits we all know and love.  Then area codes came on the scene and we added another three digits to the front of any number outside of our area. Just dial  1 + the area code and the number. 

AREA CODE CHUCKLE

Toward the end of 2007, the small town of Reeves, Louisiana, finally rid itself of a telephone area code that had been bedeviling its citizens since the 1960s — 666.  Christians in Reeves were unhappy having the “number of the beast” for their prefix since being assigned it. When the phone company finally relented, allowing Reevesians to change over to “749” at no charge, mayor Scott Walker called their decision “divine intervention.” 

GOOD NEWS

The Emergency 911 number has been around for forty years. Calling 911 to report an accident or medical emergency brings the police or ambulance pronto.  Folks in mental health crisis were placed on HOLD while 911 directed their call to  a support group. Not ideal to say the least. Now people in need of immediate mental support can dial the new emergency number 988.

THE PROBLEM

Apparently there are potential problems with numbers beginning with 9 in many area codes across the country. Ok, I can’t quite grasp the problem,  we’ve had the 911 emergency number for forty years but apparently they can’t simply add 988? I guess not.

THE SOLUTION

Thirty-six states are going to have to make local phone call changes.  Here in southern Arizona, EVERYONE in the 520 area code, will now have to dial the complete 520 + the 7 digit number if they want to reach anyone in 520 area code.   Don’t confuse this with the out of area code necessitating the 1 + area code + seven digit number.   Forget the 1 + deal, that’s an out of area thing.   Just add the 520 to all your local numbers. Anytime you want to call the vet, talk to the kids across town or order a pizza you have to first dial 520 then the usual numbers.  Well, nothing cumbersome about this.  

I suggest the next time you are waiting in the doctor’s office, instead of playing Angry Birds or Solitaire on your phone you might as well use the time to check your contact list, adding 520 to your local numbers if they aren’t already there.

LOVE OUR HOME PHONE

On the other hand, at our house we use our landline.  Yes, we have a landline, affectionally referred to as the ‘home phone’ and we’re not even embarrassed about it.  We can both hear better on the ‘home phone’, we can even hear it ring.  The problem is we’ve never created a ‘phone book’ or contact list on the home phone. I’m not sure why, maybe we think the mental  challenge of remembering our friends numbers is good exercise. Now we should consider creating the phone book if for no other reason, than to save our fingers from the extra exercise.   

We call it the home phone, because there is a phone in four different rooms plus the garage.  That means we have a much better chance of actually hearing the phone ring, and getting to it before it stops ringing. The cell phones remain on the chargers in the kitchen next to the car keys so we can grab both on the way out the door.  Oh, you texted me the other day, hmmm have’t driven anywhere so didn’t need the keys or cell.   

LISTEN UP – BACK TO THE POINT

 The latest information on this area code thing states we should start using this process 3+7 numbers on April 24th, like next week!!  The calls will still go through without the area code but the creators of the system figure it will take us at least six months to remember to include the damn area code every time we make a call. They’ve got that right! 

BEWARE OF OCTOBER GOBLINS

October 24, 2021, you MUST dial all 10 digits or you will hear ‘this call cannot be completed as dialed’ and you will have to hang up and start over with the area code. Remember 3 + 7.  

Good Luck!