Dialing around town more complicated for seniors
May 14—It's the end of the telephone dialing world as we know it, faithful readers.
I bet, that just like me, you are busy editing all your phone contacts, thanks to the Federal Communications Commission's new 10-digit dialing requirement.
In other words, all our local calls now need the area code plus the phone number. The changes are for mobile phones and landlines.
Will the government ever learn that you can't teach an old dog new tricks?
I know, I know — we have to remember that it's the government and they are here to help.
Don't they know how this kind of change befuddles baby boomers and the like?
Take for example, my poor mother, who could not figure out why her phone wouldn't work. A recording informed her that her call could not be completed as dialed.
After much frustration, she called the telephone company, which enlightened her on the new dialing system.
She then called me with a certain accusatory tone in her voice.
"Did you know about this?" she asked.
"Yes," I said, defensively.
"You knew about it and didn't tell me?" she said.
Heavens to Murgatroyd!
I realize having to dial three extra numbers is a stress none of us need after a pandemic, but we must remain calm and carry on.
To be honest, I find the new system to be a pain in the backside, too.
I have to go through all the saved local numbers on my phone and change them to begin with 440.
It's time consuming, but what are you going to do?
If you think about it, no one answers their phone any more, anyhow. You might as well text.
Remember when the old dial-phone hanging on the kitchen wall would ring and everyone would scramble to pick it up?
"Hurry! They're going to hang up!" someone would holler.
In the good old days, if someone was home, they would pick up. It was expected, common courtesy.
Not anymore.
Even businesses don't pick up. Most likely, a computer-generated voice picks up and drives you crazy with choices: Press one to speak to customer service, press two ...
It's time we face the facts: Our smart phones aren't telephones, they're computers.
People are out, machines are "in."
Even Delightful Granddaughter doesn't always answer her phone when I call.
Her generation tends to text more than talk. They find texting less obtrusive.
I get frustrated and text her, "Please answer."
The reflex of answering — ingrained so deeply into people who grew up in 20th Century — is gone.
Younger folks text, not talk, and use photos, smiley faces, abbreviations and videos to communicate.
No more talking.
No more, "Hello?"
Now, the phone just dings.
Faithful readers, I ask, 'What's the world coming to?'
Staff writer Shelley Terry believes it would be much easier for seniors to remember where they left their phones if there was a cord coming out of it, like in the good old days.
