Village Squire, 1976-02, Page 34The Americans
can have
old Alex Bell and his
ding-dong phone too.
People keep asking me how I like living in
the country. They say it with a kind of chuckle
these days that says eloquently "I told you
so". ,
They ask it and their minds eye wanders to
our long, long lane and the heaps of snow that
keep drifting down monotonously day after
day.
It has, let's face it, been a hell of a winter in
the snowbelt this year. Hardly a day goes by
that isn't storming. It's the kind of winter that
makes greenhorns run back to the city.
I'm a native snowbelter, though, and ,grew
up on a farm with a laqe just about as long
that I walked every day. As' a youngster (oh
the hardship) I walked more than a mile every
morning and night to catch a bus'to school. I
also lived in a city for a while where walking
six or seven blocks was a lot less bother than
trying to catch a bus or streetcar. So my
permantly snowfilled lane, about the length
of a city block isn't that much of a hardship
There's one thing I've come to dislike about
my country home, however, and it doesn't
matter whether its summer or winter, spring
or fall. It's that ding dong telephone.
Party line telephones have been the•brunt
of many a joke over the years: you can never
get the phone when you want to use it; people
are always listening in on conversation, it.
the best grapevine in the country etc. etc et(
Well we have exceptional people on our
party line. Seldom have I wanted to use the
phone that I couldn't get it first try. Seldom
have I called home that I've heard a busy
signal. No, you couldn't find a much better
party line than ours. •
It's just that the darned telephone keeps
ringing all the time. That may not seem like
much, but when you come home from work
tense after a hard day, that simple ringing
can be enoLgh to put you through the roof. At
the office, everytime the telephone rings it
means business, and about the half the time it
means trouble. You almost hate to hear the
phone ring at all. But then you come home to
your peaceful abode, and the phone rings
about every 10 minutes. Kapow.
A while back Canada and the U.S. were
arguing over whether Alexander Graham Bell
was in Canada or the U.S. when he invented
the telephone. Sometimes in my nationalistic
phases, I fight for him to be in Canada.
Sometimes I'd rather he'd been in the
U.S....it would be one more bad thing we
could blame the Americans for
32, VILLAGE SQUIRE/FEBRUARY 1976
I read where in Montreal Bell Canada is
wiring houses with plug -ins that allow you to
plug your telephone in anywhere around the
house. It will allow you to install your own
telephone when you move in and save the
company having to send out an installer. It
will also allow you to unplug your telephone
when you want some privacy.
Sounds great until you really think about it.
I mean besides phoning out, you also keep a
phone around in case someone has to reach
you in case of emergency, like if your uncle
Harold passes suddenly and leaves you
S100,000 in his will, or you win the Irish
Sweepstakes or your wife smashes up the car
and wants to know which wrecker she should •
call. On second thought
Shore
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