Grocery shopping  is not my favorite thing to do.  I hate wasting the time walking up and down the aisles and I always feel like I am being ripped off every time I watch the receipt get longer and longer.  And the pile of seductive coupons they tear off and hand you at the end of your visit is the perfect topper.  Of course, I do my motherly duty but it is not something I relish.  If I had my way, we would eat Sushi or have Lucky Charms for every meal. 

As I prepared to enter the grocery store a few days ago, I dilly-dallied around outside checking emails and took my time selecting a cart without wobbly or noisy wheels.  As I put my phone away and plopped my purse into the little front seat of a shopping  cart, I looked up and saw right before me the sad remains of a couple pay phones.  I looked at these phone shells for a minute and memories flashed through my head of when I had used pay phones...

There was the time when I was fourteen and braved a dance; ha!  Having a miserable time because no one would ask me to dance, I called my dad and begged him to come pick me up.  Then there was the time when I had used one of these very pay phones many years ago to call my children while I was staying down at the beach.  I have only been a cell phone user since 2001, so I have used pay phones in the past.  I stared for just a moment longer, long enough to take a picture with my faddish mobile device.

You can look all around and discover for yourself something that has been replaced by another something - a quicker, shinier, more expensive, more advanced something.  It is the way of this century and every century before us.  It wasn't until ten years ago, that I even used a computer in my work.  And now, I cannot imagine life without it.  Last week, I was the first to complain about the new Facebook pictures app.  In less than a couple days, I had adjusted - like I always do. 

We don't like change.  We are creatures of comfort, creatures of habit.  For the same reason that we like to do business with people we know, we also like to use what we know.  Having know-how gives us a sense of security.  The security of knowing that oneself and one's loved ones will be protected.  Comfort culls security, removing feelings of anxiety and trepidation about change.  We, the embracers of new technology,  like to say we are flexible, but we are really just like everyone else.   Our favorite jeans will always be our favorite jeans.  Yes, fads come and go - like pop rocks and cabbage patch kids, chia pets and hoola hoops.   Don't get so caught up in not wanting to change that you label obvious disrupters of technology as a fad or whim.  Reserve judgment? Fine - no problem.   Change is good, it keeps us on our toes and supports efforts to provide the best service possible. And isn't that what we all want?

by rayannethorn