This story really brought back memories of the days past. I grew up in a very small town where everybody knew everybody. I can remember being able to just pick up the receiver and tell the operator that I wanted to talk to my grandmother and she would hook me up with her. No number needed.
People who lived in the country often had party lines where several homes shared the same line. My older brother's girlriend's family shard the line with my grandparents. When I was at my grandmothers I loved to pick up the receiver and if they were talking, listen to what they were saying and of course I just had to put my 2 cents into their conversation. This did not make my brother very happy. LOL
Also, as a teenager, my boyfriend lived in a really, really small community about 9 miles out side of town, There was only one phone line going out to that area and it was shared by everyone in that community. You had exactly 5 minutes to talk before the line automatically disconnected. LOL
How times have changed. Thanks for the memories.