When was the last time you used a pay phone? / LJWorld.com

Asked at Community Merc, 901 Iowa on May 3, 2010

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“I used a pay phone probably about 11 months ago when I was studying abroad in Europe.”

— Elise Langtry, psychology major, Overland Park

“It’s been at least 10 years, fourth grade.”

— Paul Thorne, strategic marketing and Arabic major, Lenexa

“Fifth grade. I probably called my parents.”

— Molly Boehner, community health major, Lenexa

“At least three or four years. It was probably after a gig in Topeka to call my wife.”

— Brad Hoopes, piano teacher, Lawrence

The end of the pay phone: Onetime public mainstay easing into obscurity

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ivalueamerica 3 years ago

It has been longer since I used the word "reckon" than it has been since I used a pay phone.

RETICENT_IRREVERENT 3 years ago

The last time my beeper went off.

gccs14r 3 years ago

Last time I was overseas and AT&T didn't activate international roaming like I told them to.

headdoctor 3 years ago

I don't know what this has to do with pay phones but in any event I am glad you were able to enjoy a family reunion while mushroom hunting.

nnelson 3 years ago

Hi The_Original_Bob. We're always open for suggestions. Just send them on over to editor@ljworld.com and we'll take a look.

Nick Nelson LJWorld.com Web Producer

Pywacket 3 years ago

Excellent rejoinder! Can't wait to read T_O_B's question. Will he be credited if one of his questions is used? Is a Klondike bar reward involved?

whats_going_on 3 years ago

The people that go to the Merc probably got cell phones at age 4? When was the last time you actually saw the people who go there...

snap_pop_no_crackle 3 years ago

I called my cuzin to let him know the Kaiser had died.

JJE007 3 years ago

We pay for all phones! We pay them to keep track of our lives! We pay big bro to keep us down!~)

RETICENT_IRREVERENT 3 years ago

space, Here ya go: http://www.novophone.com/

whats_going_on 3 years ago

somebody has quite an ego today/chip on his shoulder.

Did you also walk uphill to your one-room schoolhouse, barefoot, in the snow, carrying your chalkboard?

You can tell that guy in NYC didn't read any of those how-to-build-a-bomb books. He's definitely from the 'burbs. Using M-80's and a bunch of wires in a gun box of non-explosive fertilizer. I bet he watched Star-Trek and had a tricorder.

Most anyone I know who grew up in small town Kansas and worked on a farm could have constructed something more sophisticated.

fleeba 3 years ago

I'm not over 40 and most of that applies to me.. (does 37 count? lol) I try to tell my kids how good they have it, but there is no way to convince them.. It reminds me of the "walking 20 miles in the snow to school" stories that my grandparents told me. Sad to see the payphones go. It was always a nice thing to carry around a dime in the shoe for "emergencies"...

CWGOKU 3 years ago

Rough weekend Spacehog?

Romans832 3 years ago

I called my sister from the Oklahoma City Greyhound bus station twice, March 2009. She picked me up there after the Thursday and Friday games of the Big 12 women's basketball tournament.

mom_of_three 3 years ago

Its been several years now.
A better question would be - when is the last time you saw a pay phone on campus?

grammaddy 3 years ago

Tried to use the one outside the train station when my train arrived back in Lawrence, it wasn't working.

labmonkey 3 years ago

TOB....yea, our school got Apple IIe's when I was in third grade. I remember learning cursive and being graded on it.....seems such a waste considering I can write faster and neater by printing.

Although Spacehog's rant was probably written while he was profusely sweating and having chills at the same time, I do pine for when not everyone had a cell phone, we went to the pool every day in the summer as kids, and there was no such thing as a "heat day" at school (and we didn't even have air conditioning). We liked it when the parents would come in with a big thing of ice water for us to drink in class.

Denny2009 3 years ago

Last time I tried to use a payphone the digits and actual phone were covered with a sticky substance. Absolutely filthy.

Ron Holzwarth 3 years ago

The last time I used a pay phone was over ten years ago, to help out a woman who didn't know what to do! She was all alone in the rain and locked out of her car. So I called 911, and made it sound like a serious emergency.

The locksmith showed up in very short order!

Ron Holzwarth 3 years ago

'Oregon Trail' is a computer game, I've played it. It's a LOT more complex than Pong, you stock up on supplies by either buying them or picking them as you "travel west" on the Oregon Trail. It's based upon historical records, and is pretty interesting, actually.

You stop by variious forts and emcampments, and sometimes encounter hostile Indians. You get diseases, and can die of them.

I never did manage to make it all the way, you can starve to death or die of disease, then a big R.I.P. tombstone comes up, and you lost.

But what I don't understand, is where your reference to 'Oregon Trail' came from! But I'm pretty sure that's the computer game you're referring to.