Recently I was traveling to China, and I had a layover in Newark, NJ. While I was in the airport, I saw a couple of things that were once very popular, but I hadn’t seen them used in a very long time. Can you guess what they were?
Not only did I see a shoeshine stand that was in use, but there was actually a line of people waiting to have their shoes polished! Man, I can’t remember the last time I witnessed a line at this type of a business, even if it wasn’t in an airport.
Shortly after feeling good about seeing the old shoeshine place having a thriving business, I saw the opposite. Near the shoeshine stand, I saw a wall full of pay phones. I think the cell phone industry and technology have had a huge impact on the use of pay phones. I had to wonder why those pay phones were still mounted on the walls. Maybe if someone left their cell phone at home before they started their trip, or were just entering the country, they may want to use the pay phones, but I think most people defer to their cell phone.
It was good to see that not all of our culture is obsolete!