As a kid I knew the red phone was what sat in the president's office. It's was a direct line in times of danger. No dialing necessary.
I snapped this because I liked the red phones in the middle. I had just watched "The Men Who Stare at Goats" and thought it was a pretty good movie. Something about these phones caught my eye. I had to stop, take a picture, give them the sparkly eyes for a second, and move on.
These particular phones seem to always be sitting unused for the mostpart. They feel to be a dying breed here on Oahu, payphones. But the red phones.. why are they red? I should have walked over to see how they are different, but it hadn't occurred to me at the time. Maybe they're not different. Just red.
It's so rare that I use a payphone these days. As a teenager, I remember using them all the time. But nowadays, many of the payphones are fewer and far between, with loads of dirty on top. I used one when I'd forgotten my cell, and my inclination was to hold it away from my face so there was no skin-to-public phone-contact. There was a smell, and a greasiness that made me feel that happy teenagers weren't calling their friends to talk story on this phone. I imagined if you analyzed the reasons behind the greasiness all over the buttons and receiver, you'd find an answer that would make you wash your hands a few extra times.
It felt that: This was a last resort phone. That the people using it were unwittingly or unwillingly untethered from their cell phones. Or were part of the population who still doesn't carry the devices because they can't or won't afford them.
I didn't get a cell until 2005, and only because I was about to graduate college and start applying for real-world jobs. I imagined a tumor would result in it's usage. I dreaded the thought of having it with me. I didn't want it to become a part of my lifestyle.
Fast-forward to July 2008, the Kahala Apple Store one Saturday morning. In line, I dreaded buying an iPhone because it was for my impending business trip to Maryland (and felt doomed). This "super" phone would help me if I got lost in the big world. I could call a lifeline, or turn on gps.. send an email, or twitter to come save me. But I hated it for it's pure yuppiness, and trendiness. It was my tether to this place that has been carved into the world, like a small indention in a bar of soap where I lie half exposed to the elements. Very temporary, with a delusional sense of permanence.
But it's a damned good phone, I tell ya!
