I’ve been to enough concerts and events to know that Miamians are proud about many things – their heritage, their food, their music, and …their area code. Miami-Dade’s primary area code is 305. They added 786 a few years ago to keep up with the cell phone demand.
At many events I've seen the crowd polled about which cities or even states represented, but only in Miami has the emcee asked how many people lived in the 3-oh-5…or the 954 (Broward) …or the 561 (West Palm). I’ve heard chants about 305 and raps about 305. I’ve seen tee-shirts and hats with 305 emblazoned on them.
I’m not sure what all the hoopla about area codes is, but I have a theory:
When I was a child, all of Arkansas was in the 501 area code. While I was in college, they added 870 for basically the rural areas. Since I left Arkansas, Northwest Arkansas has become 479. It seems silly, but when they added 870, I felt kind of betrayed. My parents lived in the 870 area and it seemed like all of rural Arkansas had been shoved out of 501. Suddenly 870 meant country and to some people country means backward. It’s an unfair stereotype that I felt keenly.
At the heart of area codes is your home. An area code tells where you live, and to some extent, who you are. Identity and pride are closely related. If you identify with your school, you’re a panther, a cougar, a bear, a razorback, (an ibis if you go to UM). To identify with a city makes you a number, but since you share that number with friends and neighbors it gives you some strange connection.
In the end, I think 305 is just a number that became a mascot for Miami-Dade. It is as Miami as hot pink flamingos and café con leche. Miami is a city that is unfriendly to friendships. Many of my closest friends I see only a few times a year. I would never think that in Arkansas I would have a connection with someone in the 870 just because we shared an area code. But here, sometimes that’s all you have in common, at least to start out with, and you have to start somewhere or you wind up alone in a big city.
In my day...we had phone exchanges that were a name. Ours was LAfeyette 4. The LA equated to 52 when we went to all numbers. Then we went to area codes and now we are multiplying those. It's all a numbers game.
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