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At 57 I have had to adjust to many things . What stands out most to me is the rate things change compared to years ago , this is a bit unsettling . While driving down a street , a familar street I may pass right by a turn I have made for years and realize a building has vanished as if it went into a sink hole , down the memory hole . I can't quite recall what was there , it has become a stable landmark gone in a day .
Everything I felt comfortable with is for the most part gone , there is rarely a place I can visit now that I can find the center of reality . There were book stores and record shops , musical instrument shops and shoe stores , old hardware shops and a corner grocery store , all of which I knew well , spent time in and knew the owners and long time employees all by name . This was in every city I lived something you could count on , your small safe section of the world all in a state of reliable harmony .
I have no great concerns about invention or a sort of progress , at least I did not , then there comes a time suddenly when you begin to question just how much is good and how much is a realization of an end .
We all by now know the history of the box store or super store , the cheapness of products where the selling point was how many years you could count on things lasting and now it is a flood of what's next .
I have seen too many faces bearing expressions of loss and sadness as the small store they worked in for 30 years is suddenly on going out of business mode . Not only the aisles and shelves have been picked clean with surrounding evidence of a swarm , so are the faces and stance of the employees who are now left facing unbearable , unimaginable loss and change .
It never seemed as if lack of business or profit was the cause , these shops were always busy and well kept , it appeared it was the value of land and the hovering competition with rather large teeth .
I never found myself wishing the old record album would vanish or felt the quality of sound needed improvement , I was quite happy with what I had , it was a colletion that took years to acquire . I never felt the need for a phone I could carry about where ever I went , there were plenty of phones and a dime would do the trick most of the time .
I am sorry to see it all vanish , to be quite honest it was a time and a world that allowed community , this was encouraged by it's very design alone .
This will never be replaced and cannot be improved upon no matter what one can invent or offer .
I must repeat we have lost more than many will ever know , be very careful for what you wish for , don't save time , let time save you .
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