My Aloha Friday #3 = March 13

This is my Aloha Friday Entry.

My question is below.

Thanks for reading.

My Experience with

Norwegian Phone Booths

during 1984-85

Phone booths in Norway


When I was living in Norway during 1984 and 1985, I had certain rules to follow. One rule was to not call home except on specific days, i.e. Christmas, Mother's Day. This was to allow us to save money and at the same time keep our focus specific to our purpose of living in the country in the first place. But I was introduced to a secret about the pay phones of that period.

When we used the pay phones, (maybe it was certain ones, I can't remember,) they would allow us to call our home number in the States and we would have about 5 seconds where our families could speak before the connection was terminated due to lack of coin deposits. They would not be able to hear our voice at all unless money was deposited.

As I think about this now, I realized that I (we) were actually stealing phone service, as I used the system to get to hear my family's voices with the intent of never paying for the connect service. At the time, I thought how cool! Now I realize that as we continue to grow and mature we discover that things are not always how they seem.

I know that this connection, no matter how short, was a service and with it comes some costs. I know that somebody somewhere somehow was loosing revenue on my what I now consider "prank use" calls. I am sorry for my actions. At the time they were awesome, but now I realize that I must ask and be forgiven for my misconduct- a misunderstanding of my youth. (Yes, I was 24 and 25 at that time, but when you are nearly 50, 24 is in your youth! You really find out that you did not know very much at that age. And that you don't know all that much at 49!)

How We Made Our Calls:


I would figure out what time it was at home. We had an 8 hour difference so I would usually start calling after 4 in the afternoon. Then I would dial the number. The phone would ring.

"Hello?" my mom would usually answer, and then there was silence. Then the connection would drop. I would then call again. "I love you, Shari," came from my mom the next time and then the call would drop.

Sometimes I would call several more times. It was so wonderful to hear her voice. However sometimes I would stop there and hold her voice and words in my heart for the rest of the day or week, until I called again.

At first it was hard for her to remember that it might be me calling. It would take 3 or 4 calls until she would say anything. It was a life line for me at the time. I truly hope it was harmless to the phone company. I did not do it all the time, because I was much too busy and I was really rarely near a phone box.

I am glad for the time I lived in Norway, I have some great friends who live there. One of my wonderful Aunts has family in Norway. She is from Norway. I met a lot of her wonderful family and their friends. I love Norway and the beauty of the people and the country. I am grateful for the Internet and our ability to communicate via this technology which for me keeps costs down.

If you have never been to Norway, I hope you get an opportunity to go. It is awesome!!!

I hope this makes sense. I feel like I am totally rambling on, but I was reminded of this experience and wanted to write something about it.

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My question this week is:

What is your favorite form of communication?

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Thanks for posting! Now jump back to Kailani's

for other fun questions.

For more of today's Aloha Friday participant links, visit Kailani at An Island Life

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