Wow I must be ancient. I remember a time when you could ask a fellow citizen if you can borrow their phone for a minute. I guess that's called a mugging now.

A time where you'd borrow a phone from a stranger "for anonymous communication, say as a whistleblower" rates not as ancient but as fictional.

I wonder how prevalent "turning someone in for a crime anonymously" was before the pay phones disappeared. Now I'm guessing it's damned near impossible.

That’s now called “I’d say no because of the scam where they use a premium number and bill you for a very expensive phone call.” If somebody’s phone is dead they can borrow my battery pack.

I did this recently after a marathon! It took me 10 minutes to remember my girlfriend’s phone number

And I had to text. Scam calls have made it far too unlikely that anyone picks up for an unknown number