Times change. People change. Places change.

We all know that change is inevitable, but is it always for the better?  For example, a local, family owned produce store that had a sandwich counter and wine section has relocated to the mall. The ambiance now?  Insufferable. No more friendly greetings as you walk in the door. The one on one service is gone. It might as well be a huge big box chain that came into a strange town, opened up shop and is trying to overpower the local market. Maybe the store owner thought that a location with a higher traffic count would be better for his business. But people will drive when they've found that special place that they can depend on to deliver what they are looking for.

There's a special place in Orlando that most would call outdated. I would call it outdated. But there are certain aspects of this place that are staples of the establishment that shouldn't be changed.  You don't take down the green monster at Fenway to put in more seats. You don't tear down the Ivy at Wrigley to make way for ad space.  

Today I found that a few places that I hold near and dear to my heart have been removed at this outdated hotel to make way for more rooms. But it's what they took away are aspects of the foundations of this place that very well could have been kept or at least relocated.  Now they are nowhere to be found. For a tourist that has never been here before, they would call it an improvement, but in actuality, they don't know what they are missing because they never saw what was once here. And what was here was great and shouldn't have been messed with. I'm glad that I have photos to remember them by or else I would have to depend on my memory to which I shall be the first to admit can't be relied upon at times. 

Before you make a change, take a moment and take a step back, take a deep breath and make sure of the decision you are about to make. A small change in your eyes might be a huge change in someone else's. You can attribute this to a job, a relationship, a friendship, or in this case a renovation of a hotel. Every place has its own soul, it's ambiance which is important to some, but maybe not to someone living in another state that is only looking at a pro-forma and doesn't care what changes are made as long as the numbers at the bottom line stay black and only increase in size. 

The soap box is now yours.