I was at a mall with a friend and he wanted to stop at this record store. For those of you not born before the 1990’s, a record is a plastic, grooved disk that plays music when it is on, that’s right, a record player. I record player is a device with a speaker and an arm with a needle on it that goes over the grooves of the record producing sound.

I asked my friend why he wanted a record when he could download the song or get a compact disc. He said that music sounded better when played on a record. I shrugged and looked at the old albums. He found two records and I gasped when I saw him spend $75 on the old albums. We got back to his house and he enthusiastically put the record on an ancient turntable. The music started to play, that familiar static accompanying the music. He sat back on his couch, head back and eyes closed listening to the crappy recording. Suddenly, the record skipped.

“You’ve got to be kidding,” I exclaimed.

He put his head back, apparently surrendering to the flaw.

“It’s a small price to pay,” he said simply.

“No,” I started, “It was $75!”

I remember records and they sucked. They were big and fragile. Hard to store. If it got hot, they warped and the music came out distorted. When they got dirty or you touched them wrong, they skipped. If you scratched them, the record was ruined. In a nutshell: records sucked and I was glad they disappeared.

We human beings have a tendency to hold on to old things because they bring back the old days. We reminisce about the “good times” and refuse to let go of what is old, ugly and obsolete.

Look at baseball stadiums. The uproar about the closing of Yankee Stadium was deafening. “What about the memories and tradition,” say the millions of fans. Hey, I went to the old Yankee Stadium and it sucked. The chairs didn’t close, the view sucked, it had plumbing problems so there was water everywhere and the hallways smelled like old hot dogs. Good riddance, I say.

The three oldest stadiums (Wrigley Field, Fenway Park and Dodger Stadium) are still standing because the ownership groups have capitulated to the fans’ desires. And those stadiums suck too. Hell, Wrigley Field roof collapsed just a few years ago. Someone may die but Ernie Banks memory lives on.

We have the same issue with traditions. Look at the whining about using instant replay (by the way, I was one of the whiners). We have cameras that allow us to count rocks on Pluto and microphones strong enough to hear an ant fart during a hurricane. Why not use that technology to help the 70 year old football referee determine if the wide receiver got his two feet down in the end zone?

Listen, I loved the old days too. Things today are fast, hectic and stressful. Why would’t I get lost in memories of the past? But I will not forsake the present or future. And I will never spit on new technology. It may be that technology that saves my life or the life of a loved one in the future.

Photos courtesy of:
eBay
Cubbie Doctor’s Examiner
www.nytimes.com
Preservation Self-Assessment Program