On the Hatred of Phones

There's a "do not call" list that screens out the big offenders, but won't stop little mom'n'pop stores from dialling every number in order to blab about their weekly specials. But the phone company *has* done something about it, at least in the U.S.: Caller ID. This invention means that I can see the number and sometimes the name on the phone account from which somebody's calling me, so if I answer I have by definition authorized the person to call.

The only problem is that some cheap land phones, as still used by some people who can't afford to upgrade and don't want to take "Obamaphones," don't *have* Caller ID. I grumbled about this for four or five years before someone bought me a cell phone and said, "Don't agonize, modernize." Probably five or six thousand other neighbors are still waiting for friends to do this for them.