A book I couldn't finish (skip if you're feeling icky today)

I tried to read Nathan McCall's "Makes Me Wanna Holler."  I couldn't finish it.  I got about 50 pages in, and the problem was that the actions of the narrator as a youth were so completely repulsive to me that I couldn't imagine ever rooting for his success in any way.  I thought the fact that this book was a) published and b) has received critical approval has to be one of the biggest signs of sexism ever.  Honestly, it gave me a whole new perspective on some of the issues Ms. bell hooks had written about in her book, about how it was difficult to be a feminist and a black woman because the community was often more interested in building up men than in acknowledging the violence some of those men did to women.

Because here's the thing -

( Repulsive details of ick behind the cut... )

Payphones. I miss them.

Though written about the California payphone situation, this San Francisco Bay Guardian article struck a chord in me.
I've noticed as I walk around Minneapolis that many if not most of the payphones I used to rely on in 1999 are no longer available.  Two months ago, two of the payphones I used to use in the LynLake area were gone, which had both been there earlier in the year.

I don't own a cell phone, and so I am more aware of this problem than most of my friends.  Because I am an innocuous white female, I have been able to make emergency local calls from small businesses kind enough to share their phones a few times.  But more and more, once I leave the house I am unable to call friends to check in or make plans.  This is especially inconvenient, as cell-phone carrying friends will not commit to firm meeting times and locations in advance.

I can afford a landline, so I am not in the position of many of the poor folks described in the article.  But I do think it's a shame.  It used to be an assumption that if you were in a public place such as a hotel, museum, airport, gas station, etc, that there would be at least one convenient pay phone for you to use.  Gas station pay phones were especially necessary for stranded motorists.
Now, that assumption has faded, replaced by the assumption that it is the individual's responsibility to purchase a cell phone with a calling card or plan for automotive emergencies.  Many gas stations no longer have payphones.  The reason I have most often heard involves loitering or drug dealing or similar, for removal of all payphones.  I don't believe this, as I suspect that the majority of drug dealers have the cash for cell phones.  Whatever the reason, it's a change I resent and would love to see reversed.