A class of primary school kids have a long wait at Zoo station. A group of them discover the public telephone. Press buttons!! A receiver on a cord!! Public phone calls are free now so 7 of them line up and call their parents on this antique communications device. Such excitement!
I feel old.
A few days later
Parmesan cheese attack on my local pay phone. It’s rubbed into everything and pressed into the headset. Tried to scrape it off myself but it needs a technician. The station entrance is now redolent with Parmesan. Hope the birds like it. Odd thing is – it didn’t put off the under 12’s who had a grand time playing with it despite the smell. Come to think of it – strange smells are part of my remembered the public phone experience too.
We never thought about how unhygienic public phones were/are. They should have a warning sign somewhere – use at your own risk.