The Death Of The Crank Call

[Kadie]

The Death Of The Crank Call
In which Caller ID means no longer can you just dial and hang up and swoon. An epitaph

By Mark Morford, SF Gate Columnist
Wednesday, May 19, 2004


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It was just like cocaine -- but without the rehab and the stroke and the painful deviated septum.

It was that mad tingling heart-stopping hormone-soaked high school rush you enjoyed when you finally worked up sufficient nerve to pick up the phone and call that insanely delicious guy/girl you had that mad inexplicable unrelenting crush on because, well, you just had to. Remember?

And then it happened. You heard the click and her voice uttered this mellifluous "Hello?" and time suddenly stopped and your breath caught in your throat and your stomach leaped into your eternity, and you hung up instantly as your heart just about exploded in excitement and love and the sheer unbridled terror that she might figure out it was you.

Back then, there was no Caller ID. There was no *69. There were barely any answering machines, not just yet. She could not possibly know the person calling was that love-struck kid who sat behind to her in Bio and could barely breathe when she spoke up in class and who was in a constant swoon because she smelled like Obsession and cashmere and divinity.


more... http://www.sfgate.com/columnists/morford/


This is cute and a fun read.

[jjmalonejr]

1. I love Morford

Read his archives, if you don't check him out regularly. Great stuff.

[Virginian]

2. Caller-id isn't all it's cracked up to be.

I get calls from "unknown caller" almost as often as from an identified caller.
People who have had their phones for a long time like my In-Laws haven't been entered into the system.
People calling from foreign countries are "unknown caller"s. I found that out before there was a Do Not Call list.
A friend called me on her cell phone. My caller ID said, "OHIO."
I haven't called back the caller named "TEXAS" because I think they want me to take a survey.
I think "GEORGIA" wants me to donate again this year, but I can't figure out who it is to tell them, "No."
Sometimes the name is just " ".

(Ok, I could make this into an Andy Rooney piece, so I'll quit now)

[Skittles]

3. and for heaven's sake

cannot these swooners find a pay phone? :D