Mobius Strip

"But I ask,
Does anything ever stay the same?
No, no, no.
Just same
Changes."
 - Same Changes, by The Weepies


  Do you ever find it interesting to stop sometimes and remember things that used to be taken for granted that now no longer exist? I was reading a book set in the 1960's that described a little girl playing with the metal ash tray in her parent's car. Instantly I could see the scene in my mind, placing myself as the little girl who flipped open and closed the metal tray inserted near the car door handle. My parents do not smoke so the trays were never used except to stuff bits of trash in - like straw wrappers - or to place childhood trinkets. There were built into every car and then one day, they weren't. As a child, I never gave it a second thought, not a single one, until now.
  I do remember when restaurants stopped having smoking sections. For years when my family would go out to eat the hostess would ask, "Smoking or non?" and my parents would firmly reply, "Non." Then a law was passed and restaurants no longer gave the option. It was non-smoking all the way.

  Do you remember when it was 'in' for people to have pagers? When people first started carrying cell phones, and how suddenly things changed once you could get a hold of someone anywhere? Do you remember when people first started getting home computers, and the computers were set up with Mouse Exercises, intended to teach children (or anyone) how to properly maneuver and click a mouse? It was so fun and exciting. All those first, innocent games whose graphics seemed so incredible, moving in front of you and responding to clicks and scrolls. Incredible how far things have come in just two decades. Once, having a website was a bold cutting-edge way to advertise. Now, it's not only a necessity, businesses have to have Facebook pages and twitter accounts to try and reach a culture that is so plugged-in that an add on a phone screen can often reach more people than a giant billboard.
  When my grandmother was a young wife and mother, she would put on a dress and jewelry to go to the grocery store. Now, one can scan their groceries at a machine and be on their way without making contact with a single person, wearing pajamas if they like, and many restaurants urge their customers to order online before coming to pick up their food.

  Some changes are good, like installing seat belts in cars and removing the ash trays. Some are questionable, such as the way people are so drawn to the internet: a gateway for knowledge and communication that can be very good and very bad. Connecting with friends in faraway places? Good. Connecting with strangers who encourage each other in their eating disorders?  Bad, to name just one example of each. But, what can one do? The world moves on, the bad with the good.

  I like to remember. It's so easy to get caught up in the flow of life and technology and change and not give it another thought, so I think it's good to note the changes. Even if the world has always been a changing place, one thing after another through each age and culture. I like to remember.