Stored away rotary phone. Photo by Katelyn Avery.

They’re going to do more than forget, they’re never going to learn. I’m talking about the young kids. About 12 and down, who have always lived with cell phones. They might not even remember when homes needed land lines. When it comes to rotary phones you might as well be speaking a different language. Even my generation, the ones born in ’93, were a little past them.

Technology advancement is something most of us don’t want to live without. New luxuries such as cell phones create convenience, but they also cause some of us pain. For the nostalgic folk new technology means the death of past machines. As I open a basement cabinet I can’t help but remember a simpler time. 

                                                   Wall rotary phone. Photo by Katelyn Avery.

My family had two phones when I was growing up. An old wall based rotary phone, and later a portable phone. My Dad had a hard time letting go of the old phone at first. He would usually answer the rotary phone and pull the wire across the room. As a small child I would play limbo to get from the kitchen to the dining. That may sound fun, but it eventually lost its appeal when I became taller than the stretched wire. By third grade I was happy that we finally had a portable phone. I could walk without obstacles. My parents could even carry the phone with them outside or into the basement while laundry was done. I could call friends from my room. My Dad could do business from his desk, instead of the kitchen table. Still, the rotary phone never left its drywall mount.

The knowledge of how these phones work is in the technology graveyard. At least for the youth. Despite being a fan of the rotary phone I never really learned how to use it. My Mom showed me once or twice, but I never got to practice. Kids under 10 didn’t call each other back then.

Cell phones are a necessity in my life, don’t get me wrong. It’s just hard to let go of the past. Even if my simpler times can be called modern by the ones older than me. My early childhood is full of technology we will never use again. Things that could be called lost in history. 95 percent of me wants to say goodbye to the old ways, but I think they will always hold a space in my heart.

-Katelyn Avery

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