A Payphone Bridged Two Neighborhoods in Los Angeles as a Social Experiment. The Conversation That Followed Was Surreal: ‘Look Up At the Moon’

Humans are more similar than they are different—at least, that’s the hypothesis Matter Neuroscience (@matterneuroscience) on TikTok wanted to prove. They refurbished two abandoned payphones to run a social experiment. The first recorded call that came out of it sparked discourse on social media.

The group had separate signs for the payphones. One of these had “Call the 1%” sticker plastered on it, and the other had “Call the 99%” on it. Attached with brand new working red telephones, both booths were shipped to Los Angeles, California.

The “Call the 1%” phone booth was installed in the Martin Luther King Jr. Shopping Center at Compton Avenue. According to the group, the neighborhood has the highest poverty rate in Los Angeles.

Meanwhile, the “Call the 99%” payphone was placed on Abbot Kinney Boulevard, one of the richest neighborhoods in the city. They strategically put the payphone in between a store that sells $2,200 chairs and an apparel shop that offers $800 sweatpants at retail.

The mechanic was simple. If one person picks either of the phones up, the phonebooth on the other end of the line will start ringing.

“The richest and poorest people in America tend to experience the highest levels of mental illness,” the researcher theorized. They continued, “The goal of this project is to get people from different backgrounds and economic statuses to have meaningful and non-hateful conversations.” The experiment is still ongoing, but the first recorded call has already garnered social media attention.

The first phone call of the experiment

“Hey, I need some money,” said the man who was calling from the neighborhood with a low socioeconomic status.

“Hahaha, so do I,” the woman from the wealthy area replied. She continued the conversation by asking how his weekend is.

“Been going good,” the man told her. When asked what he did for the day, the man had a surprising answer.

“I went stealing from CVS,” he said.

“You what?” The woman seemed to be in disbelief.

“I went and jacked something out of… I went and steal some shit out of CVS,” he confirmed.

“How did it go?” The woman asked. He confirmed that he was successful in his mission.

“And I made some money off of it,” the man said. He said that while it wasn’t much, the money served its purpose for him.

“Let’s go get us some tacos tonight,” the man suddenly suggested.

“I can’t tonight, but maybe another time. You should look up at the moon. It’s really beautiful, almost full moon,” the woman replied.

“I’m finna look at it. Where is it?” The man answered in confusion. Not long after, they would say their goodbyes, with the man ending the call on a flirtatious note.

Same moon, different worlds

Social media users had differing first impressions about the call. Some were touched by the conversation, as the individuals seem to have found a middleground during the call.

One commenter wrote, “Strangers, talking about the moon… Absolutely beautiful.”

Another said, “The fact that she didn’t lecture him.”

But there were also other social media users who noticed the glaring communication gap.

A social media user commented, “I don’t think it went as well as intended. Sounds like they’re having 2 separate conversations.” Someone else pointed out that when both individuals agreed that they needed money at the start of the call, there was a chasm of a difference in what they meant.

Humans can be similar, but they’re still different in their own ways.

Have a tip we should know? [email protected]