From: ctbishop@earthlink.net   
      
   In article ,   
    Moe Trin  wrote:   
      
   > On Tue, 29 Mar 2016, in the Usenet newsgroup alt.folklore.urban, in article   
   > , Thomas Prufer wrote   
      
   [snip-where have all the $Things gone?]   
      
   > >coin phones,   
   >   
   > trying to remember the last time I saw one...   no luck.  But how much   
   > of that is due to increasing costs of a phone call, and the fact that   
   > "EVERYONE" has a portable phone of some kind and that many people empty   
   > the coins out of pockets/purse and don't normally carry any to feed a   
   > phone if one were available?  (Quit smoking about 20 years ago, so the   
   > driver's ash-tray in the car has a couple of $ of coin stashed there, but   
   > that's more for parking meters the city uses as an income source.)   
      
   Oddly enough, in the last few weeks, I've seen banks of coin operated[1]   
   phones, in actual phone booths - the kind you can go into, and sit down   
   and close the door. There was even a shelf I think. I don't know (forgot   
   to check) if there were phone books. The first set was in the downtown   
   courthouse in LA, CA. The second was in the (older) courthouse in Santa   
   Barbara, CA. No surprise they kept them in such old buildings I guess.   
      
      
   [1] Strictly speaking, I don't know if they were coin operated -   
   something else I forgot to check. The could accept only credit cards or   
   some newfangled payment scheme such as bit coins.   
      
   --   
   charles   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)