Yesterday, I read a USA Today article about how McDonalds is going to be revamping it’s stores. It’s going to try to upscale things a little bit – leather couches, comfortable atmosphere, bring things into the year 2011, and try to be a place where people are comfortable to gather. Basically, they’re trying to be like Starbucks. A Starbucks that makes burgers that will ultimately introduce you to your untimely demise. It’s kind of like the old saying “A monkey in a suit is still a monkey” (I’m really not sure if that’s an old saying, but I think I remember learning that in Spanish class. That, and “hola!”). The joke was/is that as much as you try to change it, people are still going to look at it as the same old McDonalds, and always think of the cheap fiberglass seating when we think of the place. Nobody is going to look at it any differently. I’m not sure if that’s the case.
Remember the old Facebook? Yeah, most people don’t anymore. Your Facebook homepage was much different a few years ago. Then, with the advent of Twitter, Facebook decided to try to be just like them, and make their feeds look like Twitter. Everyone complained. Then they got used to it. Now, they forget what it was like before (that’s also happening with the Facebook profile pictures at the top of your page). The point is, when change happens, it seems laughable at first. Sometimes ridiculous. Sometimes we avoid it. Then it comes, and we get used to it, and realize it’s not so bad. We begin to like it and forget the way things were before. And so it goes.
In the years to come, we’ll probably still remember what old McDonald’s was like, but it won’t be a first thought. It’ll be like seeing the old Mountain Dew Logo and thinking “Hey! Remember that?!” For kids, they will never know the difference, and McDonalds will always have had leather chairs. It will be their norm, and it will be fine. And McDonald’s will still be relevant, making tons of money, and slowly killing our bodies with delicious bi-product.
And wherever we are, we will continue to see change. In our churches, in our towns, in our stores. And it’s okay. And in fact, we should probably embrace it. Things can’t stay the old way forever, lest they die. As much as I ridiculed McDonald’s at first, props for them to taking the risk and moving forward.
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