Telephone ringtones amaze me today. When the cell phone goes off, for a moment I don’t know whether to dance or answer the phone. It takes me a minute to get oriented.

When I was a kid it was also complicated. In the country three families might share one line. So your ring was one long riiiiiiiiiiing and two short “ring, rings!” The neighbor’s might be two longs and one short.

And for Aunt Nosey it didn’t matter. When the phone rang you might hear a “click” while you were talking to your girlfriend. Aunt Nosey tried to sneak on to see what you were saying. It was more interesting that soap box operas.

I wonder what Aunt Nosey would have said if the phone had erupted in Bruce Springsteen’s “Born In the USA” each time someone called? That’s hard on the heart. Continue reading →