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Friday, February 11, 2011

Stay In Touch

It’s not the lines on my face, the grey in my hair or the wisdom ill-timed advice spouting from my mouth that reveal my age.

It’s the Rolodex on my desk.

I didn't know that I was an artifact, possibly the only human left on the planet who doesn't store her business contacts on her phone or on her computer, until a friend texted me that it was so.  I keep my contacts in a contraption that looks like this (for the benefit of my younger readers):



I've carried my Rolodex from desk to desk, from job to job.  Flipping through it guarantees me access to the movers and shakers who faciliate all those very profitable business deals for which I have become known -like when I convinced the cashier at the A&P to give me the dented can of sauerkraut for half off.

So why do I live on the flip side?  Because my phone isn't cool enough to allow me to easily tap all both of my friends' names and numbers into its database.  I do it because I never know when my computer will freeze or when my cell phone is going to die.  Like in the event of a nuclear conflagration or an alien attack.

But I will have the last laugh.  When all of you are trying frantically to remember the number for 911 as aliens mill about, turning everyone into pod people, or to find a taxi service to arrange for A WAY OUT, I'll be sitting pretty, flipping through my Rolodex, and ordering myself a pizza.

14 comments:

  1. You are not alone. I have TWO Rolodexes - one near the family phone and one near my business phone.

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  2. That's because you're older than me, big sister :)

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  3. I have a filofax. Now if I could just remember that I have one.

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  4. Since I'm currently reading The Stand - I think you have a VERY good point there, Joan. But then again, in the event of a global conflagration, do you really think the phones will be working??

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  5. I always used one for work, but now I'm thinking I should get one for home. If contact manager on Outlook pooped out on me, I'd be lost.

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  6. Clearly I have an older "following." Note to self: start inserting "like" and "Justin Bieber" into every sentence.

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  7. Another older reader here. No Rolodex though. I keep my addresses and contacts on my computer and my phone.

    (and also my little brown address book in the desk)

    Gotcha.

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  8. I'm proud that I'm 30 and I know what a Rolodex is. I feel all mature now.

    Just a word of caution about having the last laugh - make sure you have a fireproof box to keep your Rolodex in (though I guess a laptop isn't going to survive a fire, either).

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  9. Okay, Rivki, sounds like you're a "good" young one. You can stay. :)

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  10. I have two rolodexes (A-L and M-Z)...since my days at HBO, in the early 1980's. I love them. Some of the cards are colored! Currently, they are three feet away from me, in the bottom of my bookcase, and I looked through them, last week.

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  11. You need to keep this kind of stuff secret Joan... when you find the number everyone else is looking for long before they can google/touch screen/ipad search for it, let them think you are just a professional genius!

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  12. Ha, I'm working on a post now about "saying goodbye" to old things that become obsolete... good for you for hanging on to the Rolodex!

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