Keep the Change

I’ve been hearing a lot about “change” lately. Take the Presidential candidates; they talk about change more often than most Panhandlers. Here’s the problem: “change” implies things will get better, when the fact is, they could get worse. Anyone over the age of 40 knows what I’m talking about.

I won’t argue with the fact that some things need to be changed, sometimes desperately. Like diapers. Otherwise, I think most things should stay the way they are. An example is my favorite grocery store. I shop at Fred Meyer, a northwest supermarket chain. I love shopping there because they carry everything from tools to tortillas. Their slogan: "What's on your list today? You'll find it at Fred Meyer!”

Only now I can’t find it, because they are changing the store “to serve me better.” They are installing new fixtures, shiny floors, and updated signage. In the process, they are taking away the thing I like best; knowing where everything is.

A couple weeks ago I went to “Freddy’s” to do my weekly shopping, which I normally complete in an hour, on autopilot. I zipped over to the spot formerly known as the Meat Section. What? Gone! Like the old lady in the Wendy’s commercial, I called out, “Where’s the Beef?”

Next I went to the aisle where the dairy USED to be. I rounded the corner and cried, "I Can't Believe it's Not Butter!"

At one point I got so frustrated I found a store employee and asked in desperation, “Got Milk?”

Finding the things on my list became a game of hide and seek,  and I was losing. I was also getting worn out. Honestly, I haven’t worked so hard to get food since I tried to break open a Pinata. And this time I couldn’t use a baseball bat.

The next week I went back, and everything had been switched again, which was even more frustrating.  I know I’m not alone.  I heard about a guy who wrote a best-selling book called “Who Moved my Cheese?”

I think he's a Fred Meyer shopper.