At my wedding, right before my dad walked me down the aisle when it was just us alone, he gave me a quarter and told me to call him if I ever needed him.  It was a symbolic gesture because my new husband and I were going to live across town.  I got it.  And I still have the quarter my dad gave me that day.

The point of the story is that today, my dad would have to give me a cell phone to make the same point.  Do payphones even still exist?

On a recent trip to New Jersey, the hotel we stayed in had a beautiful area designed for that dinosaur – the payphone.  Though the phone was long gone, it still had a sign explaining how to use the phone.

Also going by the wayside are water fountains.  I am trying to remember to travel with an empty water bottle.  On the New Jersey trip I actually remembered to do that, but I couldn’t find water except from my hotel faucet.

In preparation for my trip to Europe a few months back, I took old traveler’s checks to the bank to exchange for dollars or pounds.  The teller did not know what they were.

While in college, I had to have a phone card to make long-distance calls from my dorm room.  I was recently cleaning out a drawer in my old dresser when I found my well-worn, AT&T phone card.  I used it so often I had the number memorized.

As we head into 2020, I wonder what other staples of our society will be retired.

Some things go out with a bang such as a red double-decker bus in London or the threat of losing Central Park carriage rides.  But most just fade from sight and memory.