Yesterday British Telecom announced that British cities and towns can keep the Phone Booths (see picture, courtesy of Le Devoir of Montreal) that are so prevalent. These nostalgic and beautiful boxes, together with the London double decker buses, bring to my mind everything that is beautiful and good in Great Britain, but with the advent of the cell phones, not many people use these boxes anymore. It is easier to talk while walking with your cell phone rather than waisting time sitting inside these cabinets.
British Telecom had a plan: to get rid of all the red booths located all over the three and a half Kingdoms of the United Kingdom. The Municipal Councils and the people of Great Britain had different ideas and decided that these boxes should remain being part of the scenery of English towns. British Telecom will comply with these requests.
British Telecom, however, will make a profit from this. It will charge £500 per year per booth for a booth with a working telephone, and £250 per year for a cabin without a phone. Make the numbers: Today there are over 60,000 booths in the UK.
I think this a small price to pay in order to preserve the patrimony. For us who do not live in the UK it will also be a relief to know that when you go to London those beautiful big cabinets will be there.
I wish other countries could follow the British example to enhance our sense of belonging to our history by conserving the national patrimony not only in museums but as an integral part of our daily living.
Could you post the names of things that you think your country should have preserved but it didn't, in the name of progress? Let's make a list so all the readers of CR4 can enjoy some nostalgia.
Abe
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Re: Bravo for British Telecom!
