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Some people call through and say things they may not
otherwise feel comfortable talking about. More often than
nont, people call to talk about nothing in particular.
One researcher in the medical building with a window view
of the installation says, "AgoraPhone has changed my
life. I call it all the time, several times day, both to talk
with strangers and with people I know. If someone is coming to
meet me, I tell them to meet at the orange phone sculpture in
the courtyard, and then when I see them from my window I call
AgoraPhone and surprise them by saying hello and that he will
be right out to meet them."
Some people at the site of the AgoraPhone sculpture
approach it on their own and ask if anyone is there and
sometimes passers-by are beckoned to talk. A woman tells of
her experience at the sculpture, "I was just walking by
and someone said, 'Hey, anybody there?' so, I said, 'hello,'
and they asked me how my day was going... But I felt kind of
weird... Yeah, kind of self conscious, because I am talking
to this person and I do not even know who they are and people
are walking by seeing me talking to this thing... It is like
talking to yourself in public if people do not know what it
is... It is kind of like when you are talking on a cell phone
in public only this is really big and out loud like your
conversation is on speaker phone! I think if it were well
known what it was, you know, if it was socially acceptable,
then it would feel less weird."
Another woman reports, "I just want to tell you that
it is really so wonderful. I was just over visiting my
daughter. She works over there (pointing) on the other side of
campus so she can not see the sculpture but she sometimes
calls me here anyway. My son, he works right in that window
(pointing to the biology building nearby). He calls me and he
can see me and it is just so funny. We have the greatest
time. It is just so fun. But my daughter cant see me when she
calls, so we were talking about it and I was thinking maybe it
could have some sort of camera so everyone can see who is at
the phone here?" her son and daughter call and talk to
strangers through the AgoraPhone, besides talking with
her. Her son calls more often than her daughter.
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