Spin That Rotary

The current technology that’s there around you can be a fascinating sight especially if you’re a kid.

When I was a young kid growing up throughout the 90’s to early 2000’s, scrolling through social media and watching YouTube videos on our cell phones wasn’t heard of. There was no such thing. At least as far as the 90’s was concerned.

Growing up, six year old me did not see any of my family members texting, video chatting, or simply talking to someone via cell phone like most kids today have grown up seeing.

I grew up with a different phone.

A phone that generations before a certain time might remember fondly. That if one was presented to them, they’d reach for that dial and operate it without so much as a second thought.

A phone that any generation after might stare at in in perplexing curiosity wondering how you call.

The rotary.

It sat on a desk in the kitchen and at least once a day, most likely more, it sounded off with a loud and distinctive ring that you were sure to hear no matter what part of the house you were in.

I watched in curiosity as family members used it putting a finger in the dial and giving it a spin. Round and round the dial went seven times.

To this day, I still remember my childhood home phone number.

And then I got to use it.

It took some getting used to at first before I mastered it. The first few times, I didn’t spin the dial the whole way properly. Sometimes I missed a number and had to hang up and try again.

Once I got it, there was no stopping me now. Whenever my mom wanted to call other relatives, most of the time she would let me dial the number.

Hit 3, give it a full turn across the dial, let go, and watch it spin. Now the next number and the next. Round and round!

There were times when my parents probably wondered if knowing how to use a rotary phone seemed to do more bad than good. But in a humorous way!

Like the one time I made a late night call around maybe 11 at night to ask one of my relatives if I could come over to play right then and there.

I was going to come over and visit them the very next day anyway (they lived in the same neighborhood) but I guess I couldn’t wait!

I think part of me also wanted to experience the satisfaction of independently turning the dial on the rotary.

The rotary phone has become a technology of days gone by. A phone that gives a generation that grew up with them a wealth of nostalgia and sense of curiosity to the generations that came after.

I can bet you any kid would have fun operating a rotary phone. Even if they didn’t, they would still be curious watching others use it.

While I haven’t used a rotary since my early childhood, I am confident to say that if one appeared in front of me now, I would have no problem using it.

Now, rotary phones have since become a memory of technologies gone by. Like the days gone of records, cassettes, and the VHS.

What was once a functioning piece of modern technology found in many homes has been gradually but surely taken over by not only the cell phone but the progression of the phone in general. We traded spinning the rotary for pressing the dial pad.

A dial pad that's surely not as fun.