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Linux-Is-Best t1_j3myxdm wrote

I am old enough to remember not needing to use an area code and not needing to dial +1 either. I am only 41, so perhaps the phone company filled in the blanks for us.

But I am also old enough to recall calling 411 and hearing a LIVE person answer. The same was true if you dialed 0 (zero) for the operator.

I also am old enough to remember using a rotary phone (before push-button). And I remember when the phone company mailed out notices informing people that they would no longer be officially supporting them (yet they continued to work).-- Now I am curious if one would work. hmmm.

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other_half_of_elvis t1_j3ovlog wrote

once in a while in college we'd call 411 for cooking advice. Not like we could look it up on the web. "How long do I cook corn on the cob?" The people were always happy to help.

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ZaphodG t1_j3nfi85 wrote

Dial pulse / rotary dial is supported by the equipment but it’s usually configured to be disabled. There used to be a lot of false 911 calls with people dialing ‘9’ with the touchpad and then bouncing the hook switch twice to rotary dial ‘1’ ‘1’.

I grew up with 4-digit dialing. Anywhere else in 617, it was a toll call and you had to dial 1+ 7 digits.

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idk_katie_ t1_j3p73ct wrote

Glad I didn't imagine the 4 digit dialing 😅

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aKaake t1_j3nedfn wrote

I'm 37 and remember all of this too! I also remember the cordless phone I used to talk to my friends, and who the last person I ever called without having to dial the area code (my 7th grade boyfriend) and the first person I called using it (my BFF) LOL

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sightlab t1_j3ns81i wrote

My mom proudly kept her wired rotary phones well into the 2000s, until she realized pulse dialing service cost MORE once digital, touch-tone became standard. I also remember that we had a big regional AT&T building in town, you could peer in the windows of the back room where the mechanical switchers were and watch the rods of the switchers moving up and down because someone somewhere was dialing.

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phonesmahones t1_j3nzf63 wrote

As a fellow old of the same age, I remember all of this as well.

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warlocc_ t1_j3obaat wrote

Same age, can confirm that your memory is spot on.

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idk_katie_ t1_j3p6v6u wrote

We had a rotary phone in the kitchen for ages in my parents house. My mother only finally got rid of it because dialing 911 took too long on it when my dad passed (2008).

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Linux-Is-Best t1_j3palub wrote

> We had a rotary phone in the kitchen for ages in my parents house. My mother only finally got rid of it because dialing 911 took too long on it when my dad passed (2008).

I am really sorry for your loss.

911 can sometimes be awful to use. You end up explaining yourself 2-3x, then wait for what seems like forever for anyone to come help, and in that whole time, you could imagine ordering and receiving a pizza sooner.

I recall once, dialing 911, and they ask you what your emergency is. You take all the time answering their questions and explaining the issue, only for them to transfer you to another 911 despatch because odds are you were talking with the state despatch. Then you end up re-explaining everything all over again.

And of course, once you have explained everything, there is the waiting. I swear, you will see 4 cops show up for a routine traffic stop, but call for help, and you're wondering where they are (likely at someone's routine traffic stop). The same thing for the fire department. I once called for a neighbor (thankfully no one was home), and metaphorically speaking, we could have hosted a full neighborhood cookout using the flames, well before the fire department finally showed up.

But I digress. You have my sympathy. I do believe the system in place needs reform. Not just local reform or state-wide reform, but on a national level.

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idk_katie_ t1_j3pc4ip wrote

Thank you. It was a very long response time unfortunately too bc the crew covering was on the other side of town and it was 4 am, and the 2nd emt was brand new. Poor guy. They came to the funeral and I gave them both huge hugs (dad worked for the town so the paramedic knew him). It can be very frustrating and I have our hometown non emergency line programmed in because of the routing just in case, but we needed police this fall and they responded really quickly which I felt was a good sign. The town also built a huge new fire/medic facility a couple years after my dad passed and the team is much bigger now, which I'm grateful for for other families. <3

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Maronita2020 t1_j3ppei3 wrote

Do remember when you didn't have a stamp so taped the money for the stamp to the envelope and dropped it in the mail?

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Mr-Chewy-Biteums t1_j3rxtdd wrote

>I am old enough to remember not needing to use an area code

That's still true in the 413 if you use a land line. I just tested it out. I successfully called a Hadley number from Holyoke without dialing the area code.

&#x200B;

Thank you

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