Before the internet moved in with us, we easily did business with travel agencies, book and music stores, film developers, retailers, newspapers, pay phones, and Western Union.
Then we replaced those services with personal pocket phones full of communication, information and entertainment.
In 1968, it was not uncommon to find a public restroom that cost 10¢ to use, exact change. Airports, train stations, municipal buildings and Howard Johnson’s all participated.
Four high school students in Dayton, Ohio, wrote in their school paper how unfair it was to tax such a personal endeavor, especially since urinals (boys) were free, but stalls (girls) were a dime.
Students and their friends wrote letters to editors, wire services picked up the story, and during the 1970s, pay toilets across this country were banned. Cities and companies were losing money collecting dimes anyway and didn’t mind taking meters off bathroom doors.
Things change, frequently due to young people. Sure, we still need teachers, plumbers, electricians, healthcare workers, bartenders, undertakers, farmers and rabblerousers. But mostly, we need bright and aware high school students to make things better.