Our Urban Odyssey
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Loss of public space

Here’s something I’ve noticed during my urban odyssey years, though hitting me now in adult life. 

I passed by some phone booths in the lobby of a building, noticing they were occupied. But there wasn’t talkers in there. The handsets were sleeping on the receivers. Instead, three elderly faces peaked out from the booths, relief creased contently around the corners of their smiling mouths. I smiled back, acknowledging the comfort of a seat. 

What struck me as sad was how desperate the act looked. They were crunched onto the stools with their bags. All they wanted, I imagined, was to sit down for awhile and not be whisked away with the traffic of a crowd. Perhaps they didn’t want to simply rest their bones. Perhaps they also wanted to watch their surroundings, invite conversation, give company. And the only place available were phone booths, individual glass boxes where you could see your neighbor but not hear them, nor speak to them or touch them. A place where you are become compartmentalized to the rest of the world.

Where are our benches going? Our non-express, non-take-out cafes? When did our city become one big conveyor belt? 

Here’s what touched me as even sadder in this whole sight: they were phone booths. They’re rarely used for their original purpose anymore. They too are on their way out–it’s just a matter of time. The elderly were huddled on a pile of garbage that’s about to be taken away. We’ll see one less face in our urban odyssey landscape. My fear  is everyone and everything will just become a fast-moving blur.

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