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Still, it is possible to experience certain flashbacks, for instance, when one is walking near an old phone booth in a dormitory. You can almost feel the metallic touch of the payphone and can visualise the spinning of the dial and the wait for the ringing on the other end. It was slower though, but it was intimate, and those phone booths whether they had a door or not were like a private passage to the outside from the insulated dormitory.
When we turn our eyes to these cute corner spaces, we can’t help but feel some longing. Yes, we have the convenience of today and the means of communication is very fast but there is something appealing with these old phone booths. They were part of a larger change in how we interacted with each other, it was part of a continuing process of evolution in the way that we communicated with one another. However, they are now no longer relevant and do not apply, their existence in our dormitories to this day is a kind of an indication of the fact that the world was once a bit slower and more patient.
The next time you will be walking by one of these small niches, do not just notice it as an outdated structure, but consider it as a relic of the age when making a call was a big event. A time when light from above the booth used to fall on students dialing their way back home, with anticipation to hear a familiar voice at the other end of the line. It is a beautiful piece of history and one that should surely not be forgotten.
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