Do You Still Know Phone Numbers by Heart?

about 3 years ago (Edited)

I remember growing up we had to memorize our family’s telephone numbers. I knew by heart the numbers of my grandparents, aunts and uncles, trusted neighbors, church members and school friends. It was important for us to learn them in case of an emergency.

I don’t know about you but as a child I didn’t walk around with a mini phonebook or pocketbook full of important numbers. If we needed to use a pay phone it was apparent we knew the number of the person we were trying to reach.

_{It was also helpful to have a quarter in our pockets at all times unless we were dialing collect 😂!}

I didn’t realize this then but having to remember so many phone numbers was such a good brain exercise. I can recall knowing at least 30 phone numbers right off the top of my head and could dial them within a second.

Now, with the emergence and advancement of technology we have Siri on our side to do the work for us. On top of that we no longer need to keep up with physical phone books with the ability to add contacts and their addresses right into our phone’s memory. It’s been made pretty simple and easy for us today.

Did your household have important phone numbers magnetized to the refrigerator or some type of bulletin board?

I remember my mother had her cursive handwriting on all kinds of little pieces of paper and notecards stuck to our refrigerator. They were numbers for us to remember and also numbers she needed to remember. Trust me, if she put those numbers in her purse they would end up lost and sucked into the black hole that seemed to be at the bottom 🤣.

Another way I kept phone numbers stored was through keeping letters from my friends inside a shoebox. A lot of times we put our phone numbers in our letters to make sure we wouldn’t forget them. I literally kept my box of middle school and high school letters up until I was in my mid 20’s.

_{Yea I know, talk about hard of letting go 😛}

I don’t know too many people other than my parents that still have landlines in their home.

Do you know any? Or do you still have one?

It seems the Gen Xers and any generation before them would appreciate and possibly still use house phones. It took a long while for us to convince my parents they needed a cell phone. I still remember the sleepless nights of teaching and helping them surf through and understand their new handheld technology 😅.

I’m not even sure how much landlines cost today. You’d think they would be dirt cheap since they are somewhat extinct now. Then again, when looking up the price of rotary and old school telephones they cost a pretty penny since they are now vintage and considered collectibles.

Quick confession of a HIVE ~~addict~~ lover: I purchased this retro push button phone just for this post. Don’t worry, it only cost me 7 bucks on Amazon lol. Yes, expect me to use it again to get my money’s worth 😁.

I have decided to start exercising my now 40 year old brain and start memorizing phone numbers like I used to.

I’ve become so dependent on technology that without Google maps and our car navigation I wouldn’t be able to find my own home. Literally, when I’m visiting a new location it’s like my brain has stopped working and I can’t remember how to read the Highway signs to find my way back. I am really uncomfortable with this dependency I have now.

I have to admit that lately I’ve been more forgetful than usual. I tend to forget the littlest things like

Why the heck did I just walk into this room? What was I’m coming to do? 🤦🏽‍♀️

Sadly as of today I only know about 7-10 numbers by heart.

My 11 year old daughter has a cell phone she only uses when she is away from us so we can reach her and in case of emergencies.

Do you think I know my own daughter’s phone number?

Sure I do, when I look it up through contacts. I do not know her number by heart. The other day I needed to reach her but it took a minute for me to pull up her number instead of just dialing it on my own. That’s ridunculous!

Since I already know most of my immediate family’s phone numbers my goal is to memorize the numbers of my in-laws and some of my newest friend’s.

I think it’s helpful to keep our memories strong by working and challenging them. I want to have a sharp mind for the rest of my life and not allow myself to become lazy and complacent by fully depending on SMART technology.

Who’s With Me? 🖐🏽

Are you up for the challenge to intentionally memorize at least 10 phone numbers of your family or close acquaintances?

Let’s Give Our Brains This Needed Workout!

All photos were taken by me with our Cannon EOS Rebel T6, copyright @crosheille

This post also serves as a Stock Images contribution for those needing or looking for retro telephone images.

Terms of use for these images:

• Please credit and mention me, @crosheille as creator of the original image.
• If your HP is over 500 HP, a hivetip or a post beneficiary of 5% would be appreciated; Hivers under 500 HP, please enjoy the free gift.
• You may NOT use these images for purposes outside of the Hive Chain.
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Here are a few more phone images available for use…