Change Will Happen if you Like it or Not

I took a stroll through my old haunts in East Lansing, Michigan, recently and I overheard two guys talking.  "...yeah don't you remember? That use to be a pizza place. And over here was a bar. God this place changed. What was the name of the pizza joint?"

 

"Bell's," I said as I walked by. "It was a Bell's Greek Pizza. They have a location still down Grand River." And as I wondered down the street I started to think about how much really had changed. There use to be two smoking cafes. I had done open mics at both, sipping my java and puffing with pursed lip my favorite nicotine dispensing product while listening to the local hack musicians. There was Bilbo's bar, and BW3's use to be in a basement. And small planet was the place to be. And Pete's use to be packed all the time... and had more than one location. A condom store was on Grand River too. So much had changed. 

At least one thing had not changed though, and the was the age of the people walking around me. I was older but the average age of all the people was still eighteen to twenty something; and this generation of future spartan grads walking around me were living in the same dream world I did when I walked those streets at that age. 

So, had anything really changed? People trying to further there lives, worrying about getting to class, or why their boyfriend broke up with them, or where the next party is. Sure a few stores had closed and opened, and buildings constructed and torn down, but the spirit of the town was still the same.  It was me that had changed. 

I had spent those years figuring out stuff, and though I know school was only a first step in life long learning I found my beliefs back when I walked these streets. 

Someday it will be them looking around remembering there Caffee Latte, or Bilbos Bar.