Yes, I Created A Man

As my husband is pumping gas, I am sitting in the car one Saturday afternoon. On this most usual and unremarkable outing, I look up from my cell phone to see what I now consider remarkable. A pay phone! My mind is racing…when is the last time I have seen one of these, yes, most remarkable inventions? As my husband continues to fill up, I take myself on an imaginary adventure into the what if.

What if…The owner of the gas station was once homeless and had an idea of how to get off the streets. The system had removed all of the pay phones so he couldn’t call a family member to pick him up. This lead him to walk blocks and blocks, henceforth collapsing in front of a hospital and being admitted. Upon waking, his first words were, “May I use the phone?” To make a long story short, not only did he get a clean bill of health, he designed his idea. Became a multimillionaire and vowed to bring back pay phones one phone at a time.

Then, on another little handy invention that is most likely found attached to my hand, (my cell phone) I search for information on the invention of the public pay phone.

It seems, William Gray invented the first pay phone in 1889 and it was installed in a bank in Hartford, Connecticut. This invention opened the door for anyone who couldn’t afford their own phone to make business or personal calls. In 1995, pay phones supposedly hit their peak at 2.6 million.

As it turns out, the pay phone is few and far between these days. With conflicting stories as to how many pay phones that are now in the United States, I am now feeling that my imaginary tale may not be, too far fetched.

-MaryEvelyn