home is where the area code is
i saw a snippet of a news report on area codes the other day that i originally dismissed as fluffy fodder, but have since reconsidered. the topic may in fact have some interesting cultural relevance. yes, i'm talking about area codes, those three little digits at the beginning of your phone number. what's so special about them? well, the reporter claimed that area codes have emerged as a new age status symbol.
at first, i considered the hypothesis to be a bit ludicrous, because how many area codes does the average person really know beside their own? and then it hit me that perhaps that's exactly what the reporter was trying to point out. we may actually pay closer attention to area codes that we realize, and even if they don't mean anything to us, they almost certainly mean something to someone else. for a fun little exercise, i started to rattle off the area codes in my head that i do know by heart.
i hail from the land of the 410 and the 443, which was originally part of the 301, which is now more closely associated with national politics in my mind than anything related to home. when i'm in the mood for a little sin with my city, i head out to the 702, and for some cosmopolitan action, no-cal style, the 415 does the trick. big shout-outs to my west coast counterparts in the 310, 323 and the 818, and my sister down south in the 407. i'd be remiss not to mention my homies across the east river in the 718, and of course i now represent the 646 and the 212.
whether or not that last paragraph was crystal clear to you, or as jumbled as a game of sudoku, the point is that area codes may actually be a bigger part of our cultural conscious than we realized. and with the advent of the cell phone, the area code no longer has to stop at the state line. in fact, if you adapt to an area code you're particularly fond of, you never have to change it at all. area codes are portable, and our cell phone numbers themselves have become as much a part of our identities today as our screennames and email addresses.
conversation starter, cultural identity, hometown pride, whatever the case--it's fascinating just how loudly three little digits might be able to speak.
at first, i considered the hypothesis to be a bit ludicrous, because how many area codes does the average person really know beside their own? and then it hit me that perhaps that's exactly what the reporter was trying to point out. we may actually pay closer attention to area codes that we realize, and even if they don't mean anything to us, they almost certainly mean something to someone else. for a fun little exercise, i started to rattle off the area codes in my head that i do know by heart.
i hail from the land of the 410 and the 443, which was originally part of the 301, which is now more closely associated with national politics in my mind than anything related to home. when i'm in the mood for a little sin with my city, i head out to the 702, and for some cosmopolitan action, no-cal style, the 415 does the trick. big shout-outs to my west coast counterparts in the 310, 323 and the 818, and my sister down south in the 407. i'd be remiss not to mention my homies across the east river in the 718, and of course i now represent the 646 and the 212.
whether or not that last paragraph was crystal clear to you, or as jumbled as a game of sudoku, the point is that area codes may actually be a bigger part of our cultural conscious than we realized. and with the advent of the cell phone, the area code no longer has to stop at the state line. in fact, if you adapt to an area code you're particularly fond of, you never have to change it at all. area codes are portable, and our cell phone numbers themselves have become as much a part of our identities today as our screennames and email addresses.
conversation starter, cultural identity, hometown pride, whatever the case--it's fascinating just how loudly three little digits might be able to speak.
posted by mark at 11:49 AM
1 Comments:
further to the point of social status and area codes, i have to wonder if say, pre-paid phones have different area codes attributed, or if it's just based upon geographic location of the purchase. funny, bc i thought of this too on the same day i read that bobby brown has his pre paid cell phone paid for by the queen o video hos. (different hos in different area codes yo yo)
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