NUMBER PLEASE!

  TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 10th, 2020

            NUMBER PLEASE!

     For those of you who don't already

know, this is "Area Code Day!" Your

area code is, of course, the first three 

numerals of your telephone number.

The designate, as the name suggests,

the area from which you;re calling. We

didn't always have area codes! When I

was a kid you picked up the telephone

and waited for an operator to come on the

line and say "Number please." If I was

calling my home I'd say "1515" and the

operator would connect me. Rotary phones

and local exchanges like "Gladstonre" came

next.  While they used names the first letters

of your exchange were, in reality, two numbers

which added to the length of your telephone

number. Push button phones came along next

and just a few years ago we were required to dial

the area code even if we were calling someone

in the same area we were calling from. Cell

phones didn't initially require the use of an area

code but that has changed now too making the

typical dial ten numbers long. You can do so

much more on cell phones than on the old traditional

telephones. You can't even play games on the old

phones, unless you're the one calling to sell car

warranties! Seems whatever the device, the

Con Game is still playable! Hope you're not

in the game and that all your NEWS is good.