I read this story the other day and although I don't know the author, I was struck by how much our world has changed, and how touching just ONE person - and being acknowledged in return is one of the greatest gifts that we can give to another person.
When I was a young boy, my father had one of the first telephones in our neighborhood... I remember the polished, old case fastened to the wall. The shiny receiver hung on the side of the box. I was too little to reach the telephone, but used to listen with fascination when my mother talked to it.