At Close Sight

The other day I was out and about in the area of Burbank, which is a place I once only knew about because it was mentioned in the opening to the Tonight Show, but which I now regularly go to as it's right down the road. For a long time I've gone over there on Magnolia Boulevard, passing by a particular Chinese restaurant which I've never patronized. There are others closer and somehow it's never the place to hit on the way to Burbank or back.

Outside the Chinese restaurant I've never been to is something else I've never been in, a phone booth. There are not too many pay phones of any kind, let alone phone booths. This being the case, it was my thinking that maybe it wasn't a real phone booth, by which I mean that it might not have been a functioning one. I found that I was not the only one to think this. The phone booth just looks a lot like a decorative thing, as it's bright red.

Finally I found myself with a few minutes and a now-burning desire to ascertain the truth about the thing. I walked over there and took a close look. I found that, sure enough, it was a real phone booth with a functioning phone in it (or, at any rate, one that produced a dial tone when I took the receiver off the hook). I took a few pictures to substantiate my tale, and got out of there. It was rather warm, which could be one reason phone booths fell out of favor.

Although I tested the phone and saw the Charlie Chaplin painting adorning a wall inside it, there is one thing that I did not do, and I regret it a bit. I did not actually examine the phone book that ought to have been in the hard case hanging there in the booth. It may well be that no book was in there, as I have often found phone books to be missing from other pay phones, and this one could be the same. It's a reason to revisit the booth, as is the fact that I didn't place a call. I will rectify both oversights.