Phone books and Pay phones

[oceanus]

I rarely use phone books.  (white or yellow pages)
In our city, issuance of white pages was discontinued (you have to call and request one if you want it).  Yellow pages is still delivered, and it usually goes straight to the recycling bin.

However, I noticed that the print got smaller and smaller as I got older.  Also, I feel bad for elderly or impaired people, or those who don’t have computers or cell/smart phones.  But that’s a small percentage of people.

As far as payphones, I used one last year while sitting in the lobby of a hotel waiting for someone.  I was expecting a really important call and did not want to miss it.  But I see very few payphones anymore.

Do you ever use either?

[Sharnita]

I rarely use phone books.  (white or yellow pages)
In our city, issuance of white pages was discontinued (you have to call and request one if you want it).  Yellow pages is still delivered, and it usually goes straight to the recycling bin.

However, I noticed that the print got smaller and smaller as I got older.  Also, I feel bad for elderly or impaired people, or those who don’t have computers or cell/smart phones.  But that’s a small percentage of people.

Do you ever use either?

As far as payphones, I used one last year while sitting in the lobby of a hotel waiting for someone.  I was expecting a really important call and did not want to miss it.  But I see very few payphones anymore.

I do use phonebooks from time to time.

[Bijou]

I always use the phone book, both white and yellow pages.

You do rarely see pay phones anymore.  I never liked using them because who knows what the heck if lurking in those little holes.  We got a mobile phone so that we could dodge the critters that may be skulking around the ear piece and because if you wanted to use one you couldn't find one.  And if you did, do you have change?

[amandaelizabeth]

Yes I use the yellow pages all the time.  tThey are now printed in a very handy little book which I use:

as a paper weight on my desk.
to prop my back door open so the cat is not shut out.
to put under a small portable fan so is just the right height to keep my external hard disc cool.
and then with last year's edition I found that three torn out pages will be enough paper to light the bar-b-que.

Interestingly enough though, I always ask clients where they heard about us, and a good percentage still say "yellow pages", and they don't mean the online version either.  As they are all new parents, perhaps their eyes are better than my rather elderly ones

[rose red]

I like to keep a phone book around just in case. 

I see some gas stations still have a single pay phone outside their building.  I haven't seen an actual booth in years though.  Here's some stupid questions: do you still get an operator when you dial zero?  Can you still make collect calls?

[oceanus]

I usually put the yellow pages on top of frig, and then the older one goes into the recycle bin (meant to clarify this earlier).  I feel I should have a YP just in case . . . computer crash, or if a visitor wants to look up something.

[jaxsue]

When I bought my house in 2011, I inherited about 10 years' worth of yellow and white pages books. The previous residents had been 2 sisters in their 90s, and they were luddites. I recycled all the phone books.

Now you have to request one if you want it. I think that's a good policy. I use the internet to find that info. Phone booths have gone the way of the dodo bird here. Occasionally you see a pay phone attached to a building. Most of the time they look vandalized.

[Betelnut]

In the last two years, I've used Yellow Pages to look up:

a plumber
a garage door opener repair man
roofer
locksmith
pizza delivery
Verizon tech support

Can you tell I moved into my new house two years ago?

[menley]

In the country I live in, you're more likely to see someone urinating in a pay phone booth (or having... relations...) than using the phone. I wouldn't touch one if my life depended on it.

[Luci45]

You'll see more pay phones in the mountainous western regions of the US where cell service is spotty if not impossible. We saw a line for the phones at Glacier National Park, for example. The people in the lines were using thier cell phones for the phone numbers. Kind of bizarre looking, really.

For phone books, we use the yellow pages several times a year when we want to see all of the options for restaurants, flooring, etc. in one glancel. We used the white pages a lot when we first moved here, but now most of the local numbers are in the phones, but I would really miss the books the couple of times I need them.

[Sharnita]

You'll see more pay phones in the mountainous western regions of the US where cell service is spotty if not impossible. We saw a line for the phones at Glacier National Park, for example. The people in the lines were using thier cell phones for the phone numbers. Kind of bizarre looking, really.

For phone books, we use the yellow pages several times a year when we want to see all of the options for restaurants, flooring, etc. in one glancel. We used the white pages a lot when we first moved here, but now most of the local numbers are in the phones, but I would really miss the books the couple of times I need them.

Good point.  There are areas where cell phones really don't get the kind of reception you might want/need.

[Katana_Geldar]

Used a phone booth once for the first time in years as my phone battery was dead.

[staceym]

I haven't used either in a long time..and noticed that there aren't too many pay phones around.

It did take me by surprised yesterday when I was leaving work and right across a street I saw someone talking on a pay phone; I hadn't see that in a while 

[heartmug]

I went to visit someone in the ICU of a local hospital and notice about 5 - 6 phones (not in booths, in little divided cabinet type things).

I haven't used a phone book in a long time.

[MrTango]

I've been getting a lot of use out of the phone book that was delivered to my apartment.  The paper is very thin and just the right size to use as packing material for moving into my new house.