Every states phone companies are not equal I guess.
I guess not. To be honest, I was surprised that night I was trying to find a payphone. The half-dozen places I went to that I *knew* had payphones (including a shopping center with at least a dozen businesses including a large grocery store) were all no-pay-phone zones, apparently. My older son says that there is a payphone at the HS but it didn't work when he was a freshman in 1999 and it still doesn't.
When my mother lamented the absence of payphones a year ago, I thought she was being difficult but she was right, at least around here. I am not at all pro 'cell phones for every kid' but we got my youngest (15) one for Christmas. It has been great because while I used to give him my phone to take when he went somewhere, it meant I was tied to the house the entire time. Now he can call me and say "Dave's dad is bringing me home from Baptist Youth Group, I don't need a ride" or "I missed the bus but I rode Tony's bus home and I'll walk home from his house" which has been really, really nice.