I had a gentleman wander into my office today and ask if I had a phone book. I was so excited to be asked for such a thing that I rushed to provide it. He told me that he was looking for a certain attorney’s office, but couldn’t find the address.
I pulled my brand new phone book out of my desk drawer and turned to the attorney section of the yellow pages. I handed him the book and told him that I’d look the address up online while he thumbed through the pages.
We were doing fine until my boss walked into my office. He asked the man what he needed and then had the results on his phone before I even had the first attorney’s name typed in to my computer. He gave the man the information and then turned to me and said, “Now, can we please throw those antiquated bundles of paper away?”
I resist going paperless. I don’t know why the thought of doing away with phone books hurts my soul so much, but it does. There’s just something special about holding a book and browsing through the pages. I use technology. I ordered my lunch online today so it would be ready when I arrived at the restaurant, but I’m not prepared to give up on paper.
I’ve let my fingers do the walking since I was old enough to read. I’ve found everything from mechanics to book stores in a phone book. I found my first apartment listed in the phone book. I sat on two phone books stacked together when I was little in order to reach the kitchen table. They also made great door and window stops. I wouldn’t dream of sitting on my computer or using it to keep a door or window open.
I know technology is taking over. I have a smart phone, table, Kindle, and laptop. I have Alexa on my tablet and Cortana on my laptop. My mind is still in the process of wrapping about those things. While I struggle to keep up with the new normal, my instincts rebel at the very thought of not having a current phone book at my disposal.
Perhaps I am the relic my boss accuses me of being. The thing is that I remember a simpler time when all of the knowledge I could possibly need was found in books such as encyclopedias, a dictionary, a Bible, and a phone book.
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