The Romance of The Phone Box

Last week my Google Pixel 2XL sort of gave up the ghost, basically, it stopped charging. It could have been the connection port or the battery both of which meant I need a phone replacement. I could have gone for a reconditioned Google Pixel 3XL from Music Magpie but Argos could send one in an hour but it would be an Alba 6 which got good reviews on the net.

It came and was adequate, but the killer was banking apps wouldn't work, picture viewer was not that good ( but 13-megapixel camera was OK but you only saw when you published a picture), but the worst was lots of phone call volumes were so quiet you couldn't hear, including the answerphone message.

I bit another bullet and got the reconditioned Google Pixel 3XL on which I am typing this story. The phone is rather good.

With our mobile device, we can communicate with anyone anywhere at will.

Then that got me thinking about how we used to do remote communication when effectively we only had landline communication. Privacy meant you needed a private place, your own flat, but as a teenager that usually meant a ………

…… phone box.

With a supply of coins (no credit cards although the phone card eventually came) you could get some private time with the boy or girl of your dreams, of course, they needed to have some privacy if they were at home, but you could generally get to say what you wanted and long as parents or sneaky siblings weren't listening in online extensions.

As a teenager, the phone box (or phone booth if you are over the Atlantic) was the nearest I could get to guaranteed remote privacy. You could say anything you wanted and the object of your desires could be in no doubt or your desires and intentions, even though they may have to be laconic and guarded in their replies until you could actually meet up for real.

Sometimes if you were really clever you could both be in phone boxes, then that meant total privacy unless your mates were waiting for you, or some person decided they wanted to use the phone box for whatever practical reason they needed. That happened too often for my liking.

Once when working in Newcastle I phoned home for a courtesy call and was shocked by some psychopath banging on the door demanding money. I was actually using a phone card so told him I had none and luckily he believed me.

So although you do get your privacy sometimes it comes with a price in the form of unwanted extras.

When I started writing this I was considering it to be a sort of poem, based on talking to someone you care for but cannot be with for whatever reason. The thing is words over a phone line, or now via whatever method we use can still be an incredibly strong method of communication.

These days we are not tied to a place because our communication devices allow us to be anywhere as long as we have access to a signal.

The song I am going to include is the wonderful “The Girl Of My Dreams” by Bram Tchaikovsky and will sign off with a sort of love poem called “The Phone Box”

☎️📞📱☎️📞📱☎️📞📱☎️📞📱☎️📞📱

Will You Join Me In Our Phone Box

Will We Join Ourselves with our Words

Share Our Souls Through Our Words And Wires

Here We Will Make Our Precious World

☎️📞📱

Here I Will Hold You, In My Arms

Closer Than Ever In Our Dreams

You Are Mine and You Know I’m Yours

In This Phone Box, You Are My Queen

☎️📞📱☎️📞📱☎️📞📱☎️📞📱☎️📞📱