BROOKLINE, MASS. (WHDH) - A newly installed free payphone on Boston University’s campus is helping generations connect the old fashioned way; giving people the chance to “call a boomer.” The payphone directly connects to a similar phone installed in the game room of a senior housing complex in Reno, Nevada.
The payphone is located outside Pavement Coffeehouse on Commonwealth Avenue in Boston.
The two-way connection offers those baby boomers a way to reach out as well. Their phone is labeled “call a zoomer,” and it lets them talk to people passing by along the busy street.
“It adds a bit of color to a rather gray sidewalk,” Ava Gordon, a Boston University student. “There’s a lot of traffic in this area.”
The social experiment was started by a group called Matter Nueroscience.
Some students say the new installation is a fun way to help people stay connected in the modern age.
“I think it’s a great idea,” said Gordon. “I think in the digital age, loneliness is more pervasive than ever. And I think it’s a good idea to bridge the gap between generations and give people a chance to connect in another way.”
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