Change

They say the one constant you can always rely on is change. Things were not always this way. I recently saw an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum entitled "The Dawn of Egyptian Art". The show displayed the art produced by Egyptians for a couple of thousand years before the pharaohs. Very little changed for centuries, although even there a gradual evolution took place. It's fortunate that some things change over time. For instance, in those days the local rulers wore a bull's tail from their behinds to represent their power and position of leadership. Can you imagine Barack Obama or Mitt Romney going around like that today?

I was thinking about dramatic changes in my everyday life. On top of my list would be cellphones, a dramatic change from stationary phones. The ability to keep in touch after you've left home is a godsend. I remember trips abroad or just meeting up in a huge crowd. Now it's a no-brainer; formerly it was nearly impossible.

The Internet would likewise be at the top of anyone's list. This development has literally changed the world. The idea that entire revolutions could be organized and carried out on laptops or mobile devices would have been inconceivable a few years ago. I would like to mention Yelp here, which has made printed restaurant guides obsolete. I've never had better meals out since following their online reviews. I've even become a reviewer myself.

Some changes are going to be a mixed bag for me. For example, I love that you can get books and tapes online. On the other hand, I can envision a day when having a home library may appear hopelessly old-fashioned and a stupid waste of space. The trend has already adversely affected newspapers, book publishers, and bookstores.

I close by relating a small exchange I overheard this past weekend between a mother and her young son at a local flea market. "What's this?", the boy wanted to know, pointing to a black piece of machinery on the antique dealer's table. "That's a typewriter", the mother replied, as the boy continued to stare at this archaic object from the distant 20th century.

I believe the saying I selected as the motto appearing at the top of my Yelp reviews says it all. It reads: "Change is inevitable, except from vending machines."