About 5-6 years ago was my last pay phone experience. I'd flown home to Wisconsin via O'Hare, and once I'd landed, I could not get my cell phone to work. All flights out were canceled due to thunderstorms, and I said "fuck it" and rented a car, because driving 6 hours was preferable to shelling out for a hotel room with none of my luggage and toiletries.
Anyway, so my phone doesn't work, and I need to call my parents to tell them I'm driving. I stop at a rest stop, and of course I don't have any change*, and either I forgot I could use a credit card or thought that it was way too much trouble to do so, I called my parents collect** to let them know I was driving instead.
When I got back into the car, I realized that I'd never shut my phone off completely when I got on the plane, so it never had the chance to reset itself to the local network when I landed. I rebooted it, and it worked fine.
Oops.
* I had no change thanks to the Chicago tollways. I didn't even have enough money for the final toll, and was convinced they were going to fine me or arrest me or not let me continue driving on the highway ... honestly, I had no idea what happened if you couldn't pay a toll. I pulled up and, on the verge of tears, told the woman in the booth I was 10 cents short. She smiled and told me not to worry about it.
** Yes, as an fully-functional adult I could not deal with the hassle of using a credit card, or remember that I could, to make a call. I also really was panicked and on the verge of tears at the toll booth. I'm pretty even-keeled usually, but travel problems stress me out in the worst way. So between the O'Hare hassle and my phone not working, I was not at my personal best that night to begin with.
/ridiculously long-winded and unnecessary story
Totally agreed on this, that's one of the reasons I love that album so much.
