Often we hear people say, “What’s old will be new again.”
I think this applies more to the fashion industry than the world at large, as over the decades we have seen quite a few changes to the American way of life that will not return.
One such change has been a natural side effect of “progress;” the closure of mom and pop stores, replaced with big box businesses that have to keep being built bigger to accommodate all the items they carry.
Back in the not so distant past, many of these businesses lined main street.
Now, many small towns across America are struggling to reinvent their downtowns, struggling to find a use for all the empty storefronts that used to house businesses owned by our neighbors and friends.
I don’t believe grandma and grandpa will be reprising their roles as shop owners, inn-keepers, or restaurateurs any time soon, do you?
We all know it won’t be long and big box stores will stand empty too, leaving a burden on the town and tax-payers. Just as one could see the writing on the wall for DVD’s, we all see the shift to online shopping.
I know Anson County is eager for “progress” and I just have to caution; be careful what you wish for.
My hometown is unrecognizable from the easy slow-paced life I knew growing up.
The old ways of the South are rapidly disappearing, only to be found now in small rural pockets.
Where I grew up was known for one thing- our crossroads in the center of “town” that contained three churches and one Texaco gas station where we all used to buy our bait, centered around our one lone stoplight.
Yes, kids, back in the day we drove thirty minutes to reach the only nearby grocery store.
While I have to admit it was exciting when our Winn-Dixie opened, it changed everything in our community.
Suddenly, the old-timers you used to see camped out all day at the Texaco espousing wisdom to everyone who came within earshot, were gone, replaced by shiny new stores and parking lots.
We fought hard against allowing progress, even remaining a “dry” town for all of my childhood.
The land the sun used to crest so beautifully over on my way to school is now blotted out by ugly cookie-cutter houses in neighborhoods where the houses are so close you can open your window and spit on your neighbor’s house. Local landmarks, such as Dead Man’s Curve, are also now gone.
Neighborhoods bring an influx of people and traffic; turnng what used to be a five minute trip into 20 or 30.
Increased traffic and people bring over-crowded schools.
My high school was built for 800 students and my graduating class alone was over 1,000. The time between classes had to be extended because too many students were ending up in detention for being tardy. I never once used my locker in all of my high school academic career as it was always on the other side of the school.
The traffic begets For Sale signs in yards, though everyone knows it’s going to be nearly impossible to sell your home, because now you are living on a busy major road, and anyone can see you spend close to an hour sitting in your driveway waiting to get out every time you leave the house. Not to mention, the ever-widening road diminishing your once sprawling front lawn.
Taxes and property values skyrocket to the point generational families are forced out and before you know it, your way of life has changed, and maybe not for the better.
Another thing no one has seen, as yet, come back from yesteryear is county rescue squads.
More and more across this nation, rescue squads are being forced out, left to merge with county Fire Departments or EMS.
A civic organization at its core, rescue squads began popping up in the 1960s and have since seen a mass exodus across the nation as bloated hospital systems have asorbed EMS into their list of services.
What are the benefits of a rescue squad versus an EMS ambulance, you might rightly ask.
A rescue squad is trained to handle a wide range of emergency situations, including vehicle extrication, water rescue, technical rescue, and hazardous materials incidents. The entity provides ambulance service, usually at a low cost to the county, typically saving the county from having to come out of pocket to provide these services.
I don’t know about anyone else, but when my cousin, himself a paramedic, needed to be extricated from his vehicle, I was grateful the Davidson County Rescue Squad was around.
Of course, I was just as grateful when a different cousin of mine, Jeff Wilson who is a volunteer for the Rockwell Fire Department, came to put out a fire at my parents house along with the rest of his fire-fighting crew.
I appreciate all of our various rescue services, as it truly takes all branches to keep citizens safe and protected.
It is not for me to say if Anson County is better with a rescue squad that has lovingly and dedicatedly served its community for nearly sixty years, but I can say with each piece of Americana we lose to progress, a part of the American Dream goes with it.