Current Events > Do you remember when people drove around with no cell phones?

(+) Yeah! (+)

That had to be stressful. Break down? Start walking to the nearest phone.

What a time to be alive.

when's the last time you broke down

the anxiety is 100% manufactured

I dunno how we survived without GPS

We had to print out Mapquest directions like a fucking caveman

Yep. Using actual maps or MapQuest... Honestly made us use our memory more too for the simplest stuff.

But at least apps nowadays give you the best time when there's accidents.

Naysaspace posted...

when's the last time you broke down

August 2020, my starter gave out

At least I was already at a gas station. 300$ tow on top of 400$ car repairs.
Fun!

couldn't be that stressful since there were probably as many phone booths as there are fast food places or kiosks today.

it would probably be the same as breaking down today and being stressed about not having access to food or water nearby.

LeoRavus posted...

That had to be stressful. Break down? Start walking to the nearest phone.

There used to be payphones everywhere. There used to be shops and hotels everywhere.
The fact that you fear the possibility of walking a few miles is interesting though.

anyone remember those old foldout maps that had 2,000 pages to it. you would have to get out at a gas station and while you filled up you had to plan your next 20 moves.

I only use my phone as a GPS when I drive anyway, so I expect that's similar to just using a map (expect better).

This is something that genuinely baffles me. How the hell did people have the courage to drive around the country with just a map for guidance? I would be too scared of breaking down or getting lost in the middle of nowhere.

SauI_Goodman posted...

anyone remember those old foldout maps that had 2,000 pages to it. you would have to get out at a gas station and while you filled up you had to plan your next 20 moves.

road atlas, yeah, some people still keep them as a backup

It was not unheard of for people to stop at a stranger's house and ask to use the phone if there was a breakdown. I never did it but you heard about it from time to time.

SauI_Goodman posted...

anyone remember those old foldout maps that had 2,000 pages to it. you would have to get out at a gas station and while you filled up you had to plan your next 20 moves.

Oh yeah. Drove from coast to coast with one from AAA. They used a highlighter to mark my path. It was maybe 3 or 4 maps. TripTik, is what they called it IIRC.

Naysaspace posted...

when's the last time you broke down

the anxiety is 100% manufactured

I've been in one major car accident, I got stuck in the snow once, I slid on ice another time and wound up in a ditch.

I can't remember the dates of all those but I would have been fucked without a phone. Just sitting there in the freezing cold hoping someone stopped to help.

I remember back in the mid '90s when my aunt was the only one with a cell phone and it was the size of typical cordless phone maybe even a little bigger.

My grandma also had a car phone.

My rich ass uncle had a car phone in his caddy. I was mad jealous of that

I still remember the time before caller ID where my dad would say don't answer it, it might be work

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

How did you manage to break a modern transmission?
My last car was was so old it had it's own unique organisms that evolved inside of it before some lady smashed into me. 13 years, 300,000 miles and it was an American car.
I'm a bit bewildered here.

Boombam99 posted...

I still remember the time before caller ID where my dad would say don't answer it, it might be work

This reminds me of when my step dad told me to answer the phone and say he's not home.

I told the person he went to the store. But in reality he was trying to say he was still on the road for the job.

He was fucking pissed.

I drove from northern California to Louisiana with no phone in early January.

My dad used a beeper until the mid-90s. Most annoying thing in the world on vacation.

Yeah, Im in my 50s. I remember when pagers came out and I had one of them, then I had one of those 10 X 2.5 X 4 big beige phones. Then the monochrome flip phones.

Used lots of pay phones back in the way way back. Cost a dime for a phone call.

Every time I used a pay phone I called collect.

Tenlaar posted...

I drove from northern California to Louisiana with no phone in early January.

Why didn't you at least get a cheap prepaid one?

When I was a kid I went from Maryland to California twice with my grandfather with no phone. No GPS neither. But we had no choice back then.

Yea. It sucked. I didn't get my first cell phone til I was like 25 or something.

I remember when the radiator split and I had to coast off the interstate with no power/steering. I then had to walk half a mile to a gas station with the car left near the off ramp, then call collect, because the damn payphone wouldn't take my change.

Then I had to walk back and wait to be picked up.

It was an adventure, a lame one, but yeah.

LeoRavus posted...

Why didn't you at least get a cheap prepaid one?

Because the phone I was using stopped taking a charge right before the trip, I knew Id be able to get one working after I arrived, and I dont doubt my ability to get places or handle an emergency situation in less than ideal circumstances if one had come up.

I remember life without cellphones. People actually paid attention to things back then.

Of course I do

Purple_Cheetah posted...

I remember when the radiator split and I had to coast off the interstate with no power/steering. I then had to walk half a mile to a gas station with the car left near the off ramp, then call collect, because the damn payphone wouldn't take my change.

Then I had to walk back and wait to be picked up.

It was an adventure, a lame one, but yeah.

Sounds like an adventure. When I was younger I was driving with my brother and his car stalled. I can't remember why. He started walking down the street towards someone's house he knows and told me to wait in the car. Then some old man in a station wagon stopped and offered me a ride. He took me home and my brother came back a couple hours later with blisters on his feet from walking. lol

NecroFoul99 posted...

Yeah, Im in my 50s. I remember when pagers came out and I had one of them, then I had one of those 10 X 2.5 X 4 big beige phones. Then the monochrome flip phones.

Used lots of pay phones back in the way way back. Cost a dime for a phone call.

Then they jacked the price up to a quarter.

Tsukasa1891 posted...

Then they jacked the price up to a quarter.

I remember the quarter phones. Haven't seen a phone booth in years