If It Ain't Broke...Don't Fix It!

Ok....maybe it my age (the big 50 is just around the corner).....maybe it is because I am sentimental, or maybe change is just difficult, but sometimes I think that there are some things that just shouldn't be changed.

Last night, my husband and I paid a visit to the Ritz Carlton in Center City, Philadelphia. We periodically stop by there to have a drink in their small bar called "The Vault" or sometimes just enjoy coffee or tea in their beautiful lobby. This place is filled with sentiment for us. We went there on our first date and subsequently had our wedding reception there as well. We have fabulous memories.

On a regular evening, it was not uncommon to find large groups of people having cocktails, sitting around chatting or enjoying the spectacular Chocolate Bar on Friday evenings. There was always a bustling crowd. The food was great as was the service. Located in a stately, historic, old bank building it was the perfect combination of gracious ambiance of the past and modern day convenience.

Last night, as we entered through the grand doors were were faced with tall white partitions which were erected to hide the view of "renovations." The main lobby is closed, but we ascended the main staircase to have a peek over the barrier. My first reaction was "YUCK." For some reason a decision has been made to convert this once comfortable, traditional, grand old man into something more hip and contemporary. From there we went to "The Vault." In the past, you would never be able to get a seat on a Friday night. There was no problem last night. There were six people total.....two at the bar and four crowded around one the the five, small square tables that have been shoved into a room that once served as the vault to the old bank.

My husband and I talked about it this morning with a sense of melancholy. Must all "old" traditions make way for the modern and urban? Does this renovation actually symbolize a greater message: old and traditional must make way for younger and newer? Since when is the familiar and comfortable such a bad thing? Just because something is old, doesn't mean it is broken.

I know that I am not privy to the $$ bottom line of the large corporation that runs this hotel. Most likely there is a rational explanation for these changes, but on for me it was a huge disappointment. As I said earlier, maybe it is just this baby boomer's impending milestone birthday at the root of this post, but it it ain't broke...don't fix it.