I've worked in downtown Panama City since I was 17, which for those keeping count is thirty-one years. I worked downtown through the lean times when we struggled to find a coherent identity and through the prosperous times when everything seemed to finally be moving in the same direction.
Today I went to my office to keep working on the never ending list of things left to do before we can reopen for business. It was wet and cold today. Everything seems more grim in that kind of weather. It is already grim enough here right now, we could have done without it.
Shine enough light on anything and it looks better.
I stopped off at Vinny and Bay's Coffee and Eatery for a mocha and sat at the bar facing the street. From my seat I had a great view of Harrison Avenue north and south of 4th Street. One of the things I love about downtown Panama City is the old and new storefronts: there is such a perfect mix between the old from several eras and the new, that it gives our downtown a really special small town retro vibe.
That view up and down Harrison reminded me of better days when things weren't so roughed up. I squinted my eyes and it all looked normal again. Of course, it will be a while before we get there in reality. But we will.
Vinny and Bay's is an inspiring place, created by two friends to make a place for people with Special Needs to work and be proud of who they are. On the wall is an art installation which reads "Changed for Good" a line from my favorite song in Wicked. The lyrics of For Good play off the difference in meanings of the word good-- at once referencing forever and at the same time meaning better.
Elphaba and Glinda both sing "Who can say if I've been changed for the better" but that "I have been changed for good."
Downtown has definitely been changed. Buildings are gone, some never to return. Nothing will ever be the same. Change is inevitable, whether it comes all at once like it did for us or gradually. And it is surely for good. We can't turn back time. Right now, it certainly does not feel like our town has been changed for the better. But really, that remains to be seen.
It is up to the stakeholders--we who choose to operate our businesses and work downtown, the patrons of those businesses, and those who choose to live downtown--it is up to us to make sure that this change that has been thrust upon us by Mother Nature is for good.
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