Page 54 - Greet HWY 68 Loop Magazine September 2025

RESIDENT MUSINGS
The Science of Everyday
Things: Telephones
BY ANDY POGANY, SAN BENANCIO
I have a terrible innate sense of direction. People
would ask, “How bad could it possibly be?”
“I have to leave the door open in a phone
booth to find my way out” was my standard reply.
These days there are no phone booths,
and young people don’t know what the heck they are (there
is one at Nephenthe in Big Sur if you want to see one). Our
smartphones not only have no booths but also have various
navigation apps to help hapless, hopeless, directionally
challenged travelers like me. Also, much more useful stuff all of
which were sold separately back in the day: camera, calculator,
clock, books, puzzles, games, music, can now be held in the
palm of your hand.
Dating in the 1970s during my teenage years, there was And there was the telephone. And it was wired to a wall.
no texting, no Instagram, no Facebook, or email. There were Private conversations were rare and uncomfortable. Once my
hand-written notes that I would give my sister to give to my parents relented letting me plug in their phone in my bedroom,
girlfriend at school. I had to speak quietly, or my sister might hear and that would
be bad. Nevertheless, I was tethered to a wall.
As teenagers we had phone time limits because of “house
rules” but also because if anyone was on the phone, nobody
else could call us… especially my sister’s boyfriends. I learned
it’s a bad idea to make my sister mad. Anyway, it was called
a ‘busy signal’ and the caller would just have to blindly keep
trying to call back, because there was no call-waiting or
voicemail. And of course, Googling or sending pictures on your
phone weren’t invented yet, let alone being able to do that
WHILE you were talking!
There was also something called ‘long distance’ calling.
This was very expensive and charged by the minute, so the
“parental police” were very vigilant over every single minute
I talked to my girlfriend (later wife) once she moved to a
different state. Calling relatives like my grandfather in Lugano,
Switzerland was out of the question except for a call during
Christmas where us kids lined up to get one minute each with
zero idea what to say. In those days, my mom and aunt would
correspond with their dad via a cassette tape. Mom recorded
one side, my aunt the other side. My grandfather would send
it back a month or so later, one side for each of his daughters.
9600 Blue Larkspur Lane, (Music and recordings are another story for the future.)
Suite 101
I leave you with this parting food for thought. During a
holiday family gathering at my cousin’s house in Canada,
831-649-1506 which was a big deal due to lots of driving for everyone, he saw
five of my 20-something nieces/nephews in a room texting each
other. My cousin lost it: “What is with all these ‘nonversations’?
You’re all in the same room. Have some actual conversations!”
Tax Preparation and Planning | Accounting and Payroll Send us your stories, poems, historic anecdotes of the area, photographs, etc. - this section
Estates and Trusts | Family Offices | Business Valuation celebrates the Loop residents’ creativity and passion. Contact Laurie at laurie.martin@n2co. the luncheon.
com or call 272-4620.
54 September 2025
YOU’RE INVITED!
IMPOWER
Join us for another inspiring luncheon
featuring keynote speaker, Ashley
Chesney, Executive Director and Co-
Founder of Set Free Monterey Bay
Ashley
Chesney
Dina Ruiz
Join the ladies of
IMPOWER for lunch,
inspiration and more!
Thursday, Oct. 2 11:30 - 1:30
The Club at Pasadera
Tickets are $70 and can be purchased at
www.impowerwomen.org
Keynote speaker, Ashley Chesney a leader in the anti-
trafficking movement, author of memoir, From the Ashes,
and Executive Director and Co-Founder of Set Free Monterey
Bay. She is a passionate advocate and expert trainer.
She works closely with first responders and educates
communities on how to identify human trafficking, paving
the way torwar its eradication.
Ashley is a compelling speaker and alumni member of the
SCEC (Commercially Sexuallly Exploited Children) Advisory
Board with the National Center for Youth Law. Ashley brings
her lived experience to the forefront of policy and advocacy
efforts. Through her own journey, she found freedom, and
now dedicates her life to walking alongside survivors as they
reclaim theirs. Ashley earned her BA in Collaborative Health
and Human Services from CSUMB, graduating summa cum
laude with a focus on nonprofit management and social work.
Ashley is a sex trafficking survivor turned thriver.
Local celebrity, Dina Ruiz, will emcee the program.
Seneca Family of Agencies is
the featured nonprofit for
Greet HWY 68 Loop 55