@galacticstone When I was a student, here is how I would call my mom:
1. Go to a special building
2. Talk to a human being behind a window
3. Pay them for a certain number of minutes.
4. Wait to be called.
5. Enter one of the 6 phone booths in the room (the number of the booth is given to me when I'm being called)
6. Talk to my mom.

I'm actually not that old (about a decade younger than you), just not from the US (and the calls were international)