I remember one on Uncle Paul's farm in Indiana, I think my Aunt had one at her place in Marion, and there used to be one at John Greenman's store at Burt Lake, in Northern Michigan. I have seen others, I am sure, but those mentioned here I remember quite well.
Why bring it up, well, Dennis, our eldest, was her last weekend and talking about something, he mentioned he was still on a 2-party telephone line. I did not know they had them anymore.
We had one when we first moved out there, a 3-party, as I recall, and we had to get on a waiting list to get a private line, which we ultimately did. I remember, also, knowing and following the "progress" of where they were putting in the "phone lines."
Now, and I think it is rude and pathetic, when some poor guy is on the phone with his wife and she is giving him instructions on where to look for things she wants at Walmart. Last weekend, a woman, with phone to ear, was ordering at the deli meat counter, in between calls on her phone. She did manage to fund a break in her phone call to say "Thanks" to the lady behind the counter who had patiently waited for her to order. Naturally, she was picking up a number of items, four meats and three cheeses and a pound of potato salad, all of which were ordered during a "pause" in her conversation.
I often wonder how some people survived before cell phones, and it is getting worse. To feel "normal" I occasionally take my billfold out, place it to my ear, and loudly, say, "Hello ......." I love the stares.
"Sarah? What? Just soak it. That's right; just soak it a lot in warm water. Listen, Sarah; get me Thelma Lou. I know she's Barney's girl; just get her on the phone. What? 'Cause I don't want to. No, Sarah, I wouldn't rather talk to Juanita at the diner; just get Thelma Lou."
