I Saw Superman in New York City!

OK, OK, I have to admit…I didn’t actually see Superman today in New York City.

But I did see his “changing room”…better known as an outdoor phone booth.

You may remember that a phone booth was the place where Clark Kent, nerdy reporter for the Daily Planet, changed from his conservative office attire into Superman’s tight-fitting, muscle-hugging, electric-blue body suit with a huge “S” on the front.

(No way that outfit would have passed Daily Planet’s company dress code.)

In Manhattan, there are only 4 outdoor phone booths left and they’re all located on the Upper West Side of the island.

You can imagine that with the dawn of the cell phone, the outdoor phone booth became an almost extinct sight in the Big Apple.

However, I figure that the 4 remaining outdoor phone booths could still come in handy in case a New Yorker actually needed to use one if:

– Their cell phone was inadvertently dropped in the path of the oncoming “L” train during the rush-hour crowd.  Cell phone now resembles more of a hot pretzel instead.

– Their cell phone was involved in a scuffle between a runaway hotdog cart, a street mime and a pigeon.

– Their cell phone took a dive into the Hudson River after a run-in with a distracted, texting jogger and his fanny pack.

But seriously speaking, in an age of cell phones and other technology, it was nice to see this phone booth today.

As I strutted down the street, (cue the “Saturday Night Fever” theme song),  this phone booth transported me back to a time when communication was different than it is today — when we didn’t have cell phones.

In my teens, I always had to carry a dime in my pocket in case I needed to call my parents to say I’d be home past curfew.

And if someone was already using the phone booth, I had to wait…and wait…and wait…

And all important phone numbers had to be memorized because there was no “Contacts” list to scroll through.

Alas, today this phone booth made me recall my youth and the simpler times gone by.

And so I wanted to use this phone booth to call my parents and say hello.

Now…wait…hmm..

If I could only remember their number…