Young people have no idea …

Related … waiting for the morning paper to see results from the previous night’s games. And a few times a year, an election.

 

My first credit card that I got in college was an AT&T Universal Mastercard. The "Universal" part meant that it was both a credit card and a calling card.
I still have it, going on 30 years later, and use it as my primary card. I sometimes wonder if the calling card is still an option in any way, shape or form, or if it's been phased out.

 

Hell, I’m just old enough that when I started in newspapers, I was taught the dark arts of the waxer and rule tape for layout.

It’s enough to make me occasionally appreciate my work computer and InDesign.

 

Even before the days of Atex (LINE FULL!!!) told you whether your headline fit, there was no greater joy than counting the spaces in your perfect headline, knowing it was just a little long, and having a compassionate composing room person cut the words apart and squeeze them together close enough to make the headline fit.

 

Memorizing phone numbers. Having to talk to the girl’s mom or dad when you called her because they answered the phone. Having to talk to your buddy’s parent when you call (and you better have your cover stories lined up if you were up to trouble).

 

How many newsroom birthday cakes have been sliced with a pica pole?

Some folks today might guess a proportion wheel is some sort of decoding device.

 

Never too late for that, ya know.

If the same homeowners are there, stop by and tell them your story.

 

Summer of 98, the ex and I had just gotten married and made our first important grown up purchase - a cell phone. We are driving through Indiana on our way to another wedding when - horror of horrors - the phone rings? We stare at each other for a few seconds, knowing that any kind of lengthy conversation would feel like getting an extra water bill to a pair of flat-broke newlyweds. Finally I pick up and it is a wrong number.

It sounds dumb as hell now, but if you were around 25 years ago you know that feeling.

 

WRONG.
Geez. ... Paranoid much, Boris?

 

Getting into a car with a key. And it being a different key from the one that started your car.

I had to think about this one the one day because I needed my wife to get my car towed. She grabbed the spare key. She got in it just fine and I made the comment “oh my FOB battery still works.” Then I remembered my automatic door doesn’t work.

 

Widow of Scotsman Slain After Knocking on Door Settles Lawsuit

Homeowner Shoots Tourist by Mistake In Texas, Police Say (Published 1994)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_Yoshihiro_Hattori