I
remember so well -- about 80 years ago, sitting in a room in a
house in Darlington, Indiana visiting with my grandmother, Nellie
Weliever. She was "Central" -- the telephone operator. The little switchboard was in someone’s house.
There was a bathroom and bed there so the operator could rest at night – she was
often on call all night – but things closed down after 10 or so unless there
was an emergency. My Grandmother could
talk to me, sitting beside her, with interrupted sentences as she answered the incoming calls and pulled cords and plugged them into holes and routed them -- usually by name instead of number. It went something like this
-- “Tomorrow is Sunday and -- “Yes Mary.
Here’s the drugstore,” and we are
having fried chicken” – “ Charley, that line is busy. Try again later. – How does that sound to you?” She could talk
to two people at once and never miss a beat with either of us.
Those old
crank phones were the first general popular use of the new telephone. Then, in larger towns, we had the operator system with a girl – no
guys back then – sitting with a row of other girls in a big room. They were much less personal as they
efficiently routed calls around towns all over the country. One would lift the receiver and wait for the
word “operator”. You gave the number and
your call was quickly sent to the proper place. This gave rise to the “party line”, with W’s
and J’s to delineate the difference. The
limited number of private lines were
reserved for special folks – like policemen and firemen and politicians.
Next were
the “dial” phones, which was a miraculous achievement. Now one could do one’s own connecting to
whomever they choose to call. No
operator needed. That is, all except
long distance. That required an
operator. And that required an extra charge – sometimes a fairly large amount. The charge was usually per minute after the
first three minutes.
I
distinctly recall the first “direct dial” call I made in the early 60's. I could not believe I could pick up my phone
in south Texas and call folks in Indiana by just dialing an “area code.” No
operator. Automatic charge. What progress! It still works, today!
Yes, I have seen the survival of the fittest in the evolution from those crank
phones all the way to the cell phones of today. So
what? So, what has it come to today?
Robo Calls – that’s what. It’s Those
pesky calls we all get several times every day – at all hours and from who
knows from where. And the number duly recorded on our phone screen is from
where? Maybe next door? -- certainly in our local area – right? Wrong. It is called "spoofing". I have had a call from my own phone number. Now how does that work? Sometimes I call back the number to see where
it came from. It is either a non working
number or someone who did not call me and thinks I am stupid for asking if they
did. And sometimes I miss or hang up on
a legitimate or important call, thinking it is a robo call. That is not good.
In the
unlikely event that I do press 1 as directed to get a zero rate on my credit
card – or a swinging deal on health insurance – I get “This is John Smith”,
which comes out like “Yon Smeet” in an East Indian or Hispanic dialect.
And if I question his motives or ask silly questions, sometimes I get a “F*** you”, over and over until he
gets it out of his system and hangs up on me. In the past, I loved to play with
these folks, but I am tired of playing with them and I no longer play
their game. It is no longer fun and is getting
serious now.
So why am
I concerned about these calls? First of
all, they are a scam. They are from a foreign country. And, they take up my time and use up my phone
minutes and usually come at a bad time and try to sell me something I do not
want or need. But more important, they
seem to have the computer program to grab anyone’s phone number at random with no
consequences. If they can do that, maybe they get to our private information or bank accounts? The “do not call” list is useless and does no
good at all. They sometimes admonish us
to press 2 and they will not call again – That is BS! They are making us all
grouchy when the phone rings. I find
myself barking at everyone who calls – even friends or the drug store or the
Doctor’s office and having to apologize.
I have become unfriendly on the phone. It
really has gotten to a ridiculous level and needs to be addressed.
The
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is in charge of phone companies and
radio/TV station licenses. In the
years I was a broadcaster, the FCC was GOD!
They would ride herd on us like an old mother hen. We all had to study, take a test and get an
FCC license. We must never fail to read
our transmitters every half hour, or give our station call letters and location
on the hour. Our broadcast logs were
kept in perfect order. Why? Because the FCC folks might come to town and
rent a motel and listen to the radio station for a day or two, then come to the station unannounced and look over your shoulder and check on all these entries – and they better be up-to-date and your logs match up with what
they heard or there was hell to pay and one might lose one’s job pretty
quickly. A serious infraction could lose the station's license.
So that
begs the question – why does this fussy, demanding FCC not crack down on these robo calls that
use telephones illegally? I actually
wrote to the FCC and asked that question.
I have received no response. I
cannot believe that there is no way to stop these calls. I have heard they are "working on it". As we are wont to say “If we can fly to the
moon, why can’t we stop robo calls?
From the
heart of Olaf Hart
