To be fair, I'm in my 40s and I react the same way when I see a payphone in the wild, especially if it's functional. Unfortunately I have not seen one that is actually working, outside of Disney World.

That said, there are websites that help you find a functioning phone.

I mean, I'm over 30 and I never used a payphone in my life

I mean, when was the last time you saw a payphone out in the wild? I can tell you it's been at least a decade for me.

There's a regional chain of gas stations around me that has a payphone and a road map posted on the wall just inside the door of every location, just in case someone is having a really bad day.

There was one that worked up until a few years ago that was in the middle of the Mojave somewhere. Decades ago someone posted the phone number somewhere online, and people started calling it all the time just to see if anyone answered. They finally decommissioned it not too long ago

https://open.spotify.com/episode/5OoK9OTZ35SGJi18RSeR1i

E: this episode is from 10 years ago so I guess its been longer than I thought

I actually saw one a few months ago, it didn't work 😔.

Big sad.

Probably at a speakeasy

I still see them at some airports, and sometimes by bus stations. So several times a year. But besides those places, yeah they’re pretty rare

did they work though? understandably you weren't carrying sanitary wipes every single time. surely you had your paper copies of 2600

I mean I didn’t try them, but I’ve seen modern ones with tap-to-pay. Makes some sense in international airports, a lot of people don’t get a sim or e-sim sorted ahead of time. Might need to call a hotel or taxi service, as I’ve seen those that don’t seem to have a way to contact them besides phone.

Is this the set of The Matrix?

Someone knocked over an old pay phone near me and I’m tempted to steal it

Steal it and then get it working again. Wire it up to Bluetooth so that it rings when your cell phone rings (and of course that includes the dialer so that you can make outbound calls too).

*rescue

Please... Before it's too late...

If you have or can borrow a white pickup truck or van, and wear a hi-vis vest, nobody will ask any questions.

Nobody would probably ask any questions anyway, but it wouldn’t hurt

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