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Connie Brooks talks with Mrs Davis about an important phone call from the school board head, Mr Stone. The trouble that they are having is that she is on a party line. A party line was a way for the phone company to deliver service to a group of people who were on the same loop. Kind of like having a phone extention that ran out of your house to any number of neighbors. If the line was tied up with someone else, no calls could be made. Just like having an extention in your house, if you picked up the phone with a conversation in progress, you could eavesdrop, or join in the phone call. The thought was that typically not everybody would need to use the line at once, and people would respect the others on the circuit by keeping calls short.
With the line tied up, Connie gets some news when Harriot drops in to tell Miss Brooks that she missed the call, and her presence is needed at school. Despite being che2wed out by Mr Conklin, she gets another chance, and another phone call is due later in the evening.
Connie wants a ride to talk with the others on her party line in person, in hopes of keeping the line clear. Walter Denton explains to Connie about his recent bout of automobile problems. She goes to Mr Boynton to see if he can help. If the woman is always on the phone, why not just pick up and talk to her? They couldn’t work in so many jokes that way of course. Does Connie get her important call? Just listen in to see.
