Change By Linda Stowe
Change. We all hate it. We want things to change, but we don’t want to experience the change close up. When we go through change, we begin to think that the familiar isn’t so bad after all. Moving away from the familiar can be uncomfortable. But sometimes things change, and we don’t even notice because it happens so slowly. That’s how glaciers work. Or aging. Or erosion.
Or maybe we might notice the change for a while, but then we realize it isn’t as bad as we had feared. Like when we had to start using 937 before every local number we called on our phones. It seemed disruptive at the time but now we rarely think about it. That seems to be how change works. Once the disruption dies down, we accommodate the change and move on to the next thing.
Years ago we had units of measure that are no longer in common vocabulary. When was the last time you bought a peck of apples? Or told someone you were going on vacation in a fortnight? Or knew what Lincoln meant when he said, “Four score and seven years ago”? Our grandparents probably knew and maybe they even used these terms.
Now the penny is slated to go by the wayside and a few people are suggesting this might bring about the end of civilization. I doubt that that will happen, but we may be the last generation that remembers penny candy and penny loafers.
Wordle guess words: about, close, score
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Polly here. I don’t particularly like change. And we’re not talking pocket change, like those pennies that will be moving into oblivion.
No. The change I speak of is the one Linda addressed. You see. I love the familiar. I love the routine. My life, these days, feels the need to have that scheduled repetition. But sometimes, a noticeable change comes along. And Linda was right. Once we get used to the “disruption,” it all doesn’t seem to be that big of a deal.
I’ve learned to try to accept the changes that happen in my life. They are inevitable.
And yet? There are some changes I try to refuse. For instance, I don’t want to see a change in our democracy. I don’t want to see a change in our freedoms. I want our America to abide by our Constitution, just as it has been doing for nearly 250 years.
But here is the the thing. Orange is the new Red, White, and Blue. And I think someone is counting on us getting “used to” the new way.
Change By Linda Stowe
