Today’s read is not political for a change. And that’s just fine. As the title of the blog suggests, a good column is a good column.

We revisit a part of the past when things as many say today were different, but in a good way. Trust me, as you read the entire column (and I hope you do), you will be prompted to admit, ‘Yep, I remember’: ‘Ain’t that the truth’; ‘That’s exactly the way it was’.”

Here’s the obligatory tease:

Not picking up the phone would be like someone knocking at your door and you standing behind it not answering. It was, at the very least, rude, and quite possibly sneaky or creepy or something. Besides, as the phone rang, there were always so many questions, so many things to sort out. Who was it? What did they want? Was it for … me?

No one picks up the phone anymore. Even many businesses do everything they can to avoid picking up the phone. Of the 50 or so calls I received in the last month, I might have picked up four or five times. The reflex of answering—built so deeply into people who grew up in 20th-century telephonic culture—is gone.

There are many reasons for the slow erosion of this commons.

Read the entire column here.