Since When does a LOCAL PHONE CALL cost 50 Cents??

I can't complain about prices in Trieste without at least doing the same in America. That's where I was the last couple of weeks. It is the reason for my silence, my absence on Daily Mile (not so many miles on the feet, you see), and for my expanding waist band. Good thing I found the fat pants right underneath the ones I can no longer zip. Phyoo! 

Here is my Stateside complaint (don't want Racine, Wisconsin to feel left out). 

I have switched to the simplest Nokia Phone on earth, which means that I can talk on the phone in Trieste without my brain overheating after one minute. This is good news. The down side is that it is not Tri Band so I can't use it in America. Pazienza. Sweety became my secretary (I could get used to that!) in the meantime and I decided to use the public phone to tell my mom to come and get me at the gas station that the Wisconsin Coach Lines luxury cruising bus left me at not long after my smooth arrival at Chicago's lovely O'Hare airport. 

It was a local phone call. I know times have changed, but didn't those things used to cost a Quarter? Now it costs two. And the phone doesn't even have the decency to display the price like it used to on the front. 

What's that all about? I mean, who is using public phones anymore and now that I know how much it costs, WHY WOULD THEY? I paid (like an idiot) once and left a message that my mom got the next day. The second time, I called her cell phone. Before doing that, though, I looked around like a damsel in distress until a very kind, but strange man let me use his cell phone because he had unlimited minutes. 

So, here is my USA update. People: still nice. Public phones: Still exist, hose you.