Some things that have changed its way over the years (keep in mind, I don’t like change).

Bowling alleys.

Years ago, if you bowled, you threw a black ball that weighed as much as your refrigerator. It rolled down an alley that stretched for a mile or more. Today, bowling alleys provide choices of balls in bright colors like pink and purple. They can weigh as much as a tube of mascara so if you feel like it, you can fling it like a Frisbee. I think it’s okay to fling your ball as long as you shout, “Everyone run for cover!” beforehand. Kids, and maybe adults too, have the option of putting up guard rails that serve as bumpers along the lane. This makes “gutter ball” an unnecessary term. Personally, I don’t think the rails are a good idea for kids. Their pink or green ball has no chance of going to the gutter. Instead, it bounces back and forth between the railing and knocks the pins down. No gutter balls ever. If you never experience failure in life, like throwing a gutter ball, you never learn to improve. That’s my take. Back to the changes at the bowling alley. Massive movie screens, like 200-inch wide, entertain bowlers. On one screen, Rihanna prances around mouthing who-knows-what (you can’t hear her) while on another screen a basketball game ensues. You can fling your pink ball down the alley, while following the basketball game and prancing along with Rihanna in the process of hoping for a strike with the help of your guard rails.

Crayola Crayons.

As a young child, I had 48 colors of crayons to choose from. I had red and blue and if I wanted to get wild, I chose magenta. Today, kids have over 100 colors to choose from, some with glitter or fragrance and with names like Razzle Dazzle Rose, Purple Pizzazz, Electric Lime and Atomic Tangerine. Chocolate and Blueberry crayons were discontinued when children began eating them. The company has kept the color called Macaroni and Cheese, which sounds very tasty to me.

T.V. Commercials.

As a kid, I remember lots of commercials for Trix cereal, Good and Plenty candy, and Camel cigarettes where actors would boast they would walk a mile for a Camel. But I never saw a commercial for erectile dysfunction. Today, the prolific commercials for e.d. make it seem like most of the men in the world need a little “pill” soon after their partner gives them a smile in the kitchen.

People talking to themselves.

If I had seen a person chatting away alone in their car before the invention of Bluetooth technology, I would have feared for their mental safety. Now, I don’t think twice about seeing someone laughing and gesticulating to their car’s dead air space. You can be totally talking to yourself and to no one else, and you look perfectly sane to me.

Things that haven’t ever changed.

 

Vitamins never change.

They always come in the size of footballs and are designed to gag you as they go down.

The color of a school bus has never changed.

A school bus was yellow yesterday and it’s yellow today. In 1939, yellow became the standard color for the school bus. The color was selected because black lettering on that hue was easiest to see in the semi-darkness of early morning. Maybe a few people voted fuchsia as the standard school bus color. But yellow won.

Grocery carts with three round wheels and one square wheel have never changed.

If only we could have carts with four working wheels, that would make life better for all.

Love, Mercy, Grace, and Prayer haven’t changed either.

All have remained glorious, continue to make lives better, and don’t contain carcinogens or Polysorbate 80.

 

People have not changed their ways and continue to tell me where to go.

All my life people have commented on how unique and uncommon my name is. Many times, adults go with the different-sounding name they heard and call me “Blown Wind” or “Barnwell” or “Brunhilda.” Sometimes they call me “Barbara” or “Rhonda” thinking that’s got to be what they heard rather than some funny, oddball name like Bronwyn. My high school geometry teacher called me “Brown-nin.” Each time she did, I would give her the proper pronunciation. She always frowned at me for correcting her. She then made a mental note to give me a bad grade on my next test. Oh! How I wish I had just let her call me Brown-nin.

Most people ask how to pronounce my name, however, and inquire my name’s nationality. “Welsh,” I tell them.

And their questioning of my name is how the inspiration to visit Wales grew.

If people tell you something often enough in regards to your name, you begin to believe it. Consider Sue Yoo of Los Angeles. She had people telling her all her life that she should grow up to become a lawyer with a name like Sue Yoo. Today she’s an attorney. So you could say her name helped determine her destiny. When people hear my name, they don’t tell me what I should be but where I should go.

“Have you been to Wales?” they ask. When I tell them no, they say. “You must go. It’s beautiful there.”

I guess our names can determine our career choice or vacation destination.

And for that, I’m thankful to all the people who told me where to go. This time next week, I’ll be there.

 

 

 

 

the end. ♣♣♣βϖ