Scouting, Volume 78, Number 4, September 1990 Page: 40
98, E1-E12, [8] p. : ill. (some col.) ; 28 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Me
„ - And* My
Telephone
BY ROBERT HOOD
Illustration by Sheryl Regester
A ringing telephone always triggers suspense.
Who's calling? Somebody exciting? Someone I like?
A stranger? I'll know in a second.
/LOVE THE TELEPHONE:
to hear it, to dial it, to call
the operator, to make short
calls and long ones, to talk
to strangers and friends—and
to imagine who is calling
when it rings. Sometimes I predict
who is calling before picking up the
receiver.
"That's our daughter, Carol,"
I'll say to my wife.
"How could you know that?"
she'll reply, with a look that suggests
I should be certified and committed.
Often I'm right and the look I bestow is
truly smug.
For me, old Alexander Graham Bell
belongs on the first team of
great inventors. His tele-
phone is the monarch of the
20th Century and his subjects
cover the entire earth. I'm not
employed by Bell, nor do I own
phone stocks. And I feel sorry for those of
you who long to drop your jangling phone
into the ocean. But take heart. You can
cure your phonophobia.
A cousin of mine had a hard time with
the family phone. His three teen-age
daughters—13, 15, and 17, all bright and
popular—liked to chat endlessly on the
phone. When one released the phone an-
other instantly captured it. He had an-
other line installed. The second phone
immediately became just as busy. He
40
rarely had a chance to use either phone,
but got to pay monthly bills that made his
ears ring.
Now that his daughters have grown up,
married, and left the nest, my
cousin, a liberated male, calls
me regularly, talks at length,
and seems to enjoy supporting
the phone company.
When I was editor of Boys' Life, I
had a number of telephone acquaintances,
some of whom I had met only once,
and some I had never seen or shaken
hands with. Some were famous, and
I'll risk the label of name dropper and
mention the photographers Ansel Adams
and Andre Kertesz; biographers Cather-
ine Drinker Bowen and Margaret Coit;
author Alex Haley; journalist Quentin
Reynolds, and that star of the science fic-
tion galaxy, Isaac Asimov.
I mention these relationships because
they were only possible because of the
telephone. It wouldn't have been practical
for them to meet with me on a regular
basis; they were too busy and sometimes
too far away. Telephone talk was another
matter.
During my working days, I always an-
swered my own phone. I liked to do it.
Its ringing triggered suspense.
Who could be calling? Some-
body exciting? Somebody I
liked? A stranger? I would
know in a second. I always an-
September 1990 Scouting
swered with these words, "Boys' Life,
Hood speaking."
This not only identified me to the
caller, it became part of my identity.
When my son was small, he told his
friends that my job was "talking on the
telephone." Of course, they immediately
wanted to know what I talked about. And
he would say: "He talks about how you
make up stories and build model tanks
and stuff." Close enough to my job de-
scription.
Telephoners who don't identify them-
selves can be infuriating.
One such character, who
didn't mention his
name, snarled, "I guess
I didn't make myself clear in
my recent memo," and continued
to chastise me. Of course, this was a mean
ploy of his, but I stumbled on the perfect
retort. Silence. This stunned Mr. Supe-
rior, who snapped, "Are you still there?"
I replied, "May I ask who is calling?"
I got away with this putdown, but I
don't recommend trying it too often.
Courtesy at both ends is the best bet.
I also remember a story about a Scout
executive, call him Mr. X, who was at
his office back in the '30s when the
phone rang. "This is Chief Scout Ex-
ecutive James E. West. How are you
doing?"
Mr. X, thinking someone was putting
him on, said, "I 'm (continued on page 89)
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Boy Scouts of America. Scouting, Volume 78, Number 4, September 1990, periodical, September 1990; Irving, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth353668/m1/40/: accessed May 1, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Boy Scouts of America National Scouting Museum.