"Operator, Can You Help 
   Me Place This Call?"

  If you remember life before cell phones, the sight of a payphone will likely evoke a response and you may even hear the plaintive voice of Jim Croce croon the opening line of "Operator" which was selected as the title for this week's blog.  This relic from the past was encountered while entering a diner this past weekend.  The sight of it aroused my consciousness in the same way as if a glass of ice water was thrown into my face. 

It stirred forgotten memories and emotions surrounding events long forgotten during my high school and college days.  A flood of similar memories flashed back to those who were dining with me that morning.  As we shared our favorite payphone memories, my high school and college aged granddaughters listened with a mix of astonishment and amusement.  They were not phased by this relic and our lively  breakfast conversation reinforced their viewpoint that their parents and grandparents are as ancient as they thought.

I took the photo with my cell phone and converted it to black and white as the wall colors were garish.  For me, memories seem to be best presented in black and white although their substance is really rather gray and faded courtesy of the passing years. The stark contrast of the blacks and whites seemed to capture the shock that this ghost from the past stirred within me when it appeared so unexpectedly.  The window light and shadows organically created an asymmetrical vignette which seemed to add to the distorted feeling of seeing the past and the present collide within this small diner entry.  

The primary function of a payphone is to communicate with someone. Payphones and cameras share that common purpose.  Both primarily initiate one way communication but hold limited value for receiving incoming messages.  (unless you were a bookie)  Upon leaving the diner, I thought about removing the receiver and letting it just dangle before taking a second photo.  I didn't do that because the change would have failed to describe my feelings upon seeing this old payphone and also altered my message to the viewer. To paraphrase the closing line from Croce's 1970s hit single, " but it just wasn't real, and that's not the way it feels."