the party line

“The Party Line” I spent a lot of time at my grandparents’ house growing up. And as most young children, whenever the phone rang I ran to pick it up. Unfortunately, it wasn’t always a call for my grandparents. Back then they had a party line phone, which meant they shared a telephone line with another phone customer. Depending upon the type of ring, the incoming call was either for you or the other party. And it was common to wait to make a call until the party on the other end completed their call. My parents were part of the modern age and had a single line phone. No waiting for us.
 
Over the years, we have all experienced a lot of technological and social changes, some good and some not so good, depending upon our personal values and lifestyles. When I left home for college, I asked for an electric typewriter. Not that I was able to type, only now I would be able to not type faster. While at college, I charged fifty cents a page to type papers for other students, and $1 per page if I needed to use carbon paper. When erasable bond came out, we all thought it was a miracle. If I made a mistake typing, all I had to do was erase it away. This was followed by liquid paper. I was living in the fast lane now. Then the 1980s came along and I was introduced to the personal computer. Things haven’t been the same since.
 
As we all get a bit older, we sometimes lament the “good old days”. And some of us take an enormous amount of pride if we leave our mobile phones home for a day. Others get hives. Like most technological and social changes, they have their good features and their bad features. It is our choice how we use the technological tools we have today, and how we respond to social changes. It is our choice to look for the silver lining or to accept the dark cloud of gloom.
 
I do not miss the party line phone, but I miss my grandparents. And I know for them the phone itself was a life changing event. It shook up their world and allowed them to converse with relatives across the street or across the Atlantic to Portugal (to their native country).  As we celebrate this season with our family and friends, let’s take a moment to consider how our lives have benefited from these changes, and remember that whether these changes are good or bad is determined by how we respond to them.
 
Together leading our legacy into the future,
 
Mark Piva
1st VDG
[email protected]