[Mpls] BlockEd calls

[Steller at tripark.org]

Block E was the theater of choice on a particularly frigid night last week
when my sister-in-law from out of town decided to take our kids to the
movies. They left earlier than expected and looked for a public phone where
she could call for a ride. Block E has no public phone, she was told --try
Target Center. Crossing a busy downtown street in the dark with a frostbite
wind and three kids in tow when you're not used to it is no joke, but as it
happened Target Center was locked anyway. Finally a clerk back at the Block
E bookstore violated policy and let her use one of their phones.

Block E's management office confirmed to me that there is no pay phone there
-- or, they said, at City Center. I realize public phones are no longer
profit centers now that everyone has a cell, and they're only used for drug
deals anyway, but shouldn't a pair of publicly-financed public buildings
have at least a single public telephone?

Chris Steller
Nicollet Island-East Bank