Change – whether for good or ill – never stops

Our tabby-cat, Casey Rose, doesn’t like change.

Normally a very docile and lap-loving companion, she gets agitated if we move a single piece of furniture more than an inch. Prowling about and sniffing the air, she acts like something evil just took residence in the living room. Move the furniture far enough and she’ll start howling and charging around the house like an animal possessed.

I’m not so good with change myself, and I suspect that’s true for many others. Oh, change can be exciting, all right. The bright freshness and clean smell of a newly painted room, the thrill of a car that not only starts but drives straight and keeps running until I turn off the ignition. Those are changes to look forward to and be happy about.

But what if purchasing a toaster or buying a plant for the backyard is on the radar? The mere thought of shopping for such things with a significant other is enough to get many males hollering like a wounded animal. For men like us, even simple change may be as big a challenge as it is for Casey. Just ask my wife.

But change never stops, whether it’s at home, at work or in the city.

If you stay employed in one place long enough, you build relationships with people, even if it’s against your will. It’s not like what happens to those stuck together in a prison camp during a war, but over a period of years, there’s a bonding that occurs when you’re working shoulder-to-shoulder with the same people every day. You get to know a little something about everyone: Katie loves dogs; Jeannine loves birds; Jack crumbles under pressure. And they get to know you, too, warts and all.

So when a long-time co-worker leaves, there’s an odd feeling in the air. It’s not quite like a death in the family, but it’s a loss nonetheless. The remaining staff reminisces about how things have changed over the years and worries about how the new guy with his hyper personality will fit into a laid-back office or, if there is to be no replacement, how a demanding job is going to get done with a reduced headcount.

It’s also tough when a favorite store or restaurant closes. Long ago, when drive-ins and car hops were popular, there was an orange-floored place near Sprague and Farr called A&W. The burgers were named after characters in “Goldilocks and The Three Bears.” That building ultimately became part of an enormously popular Asian-themed restaurant chain that started in Montana in the late 1970s.

Now, the building housing The Mustard Seed Asian Café, a longtime favorite of locals, and the vacant Home Depot that sits behind it, are about to be transformed into a 24-hour supermarket. WinCo Foods – which has more than 60 stores in the West, including two in the Tri-Cities area – purchased the property in early February as part of its plans to open two stores in the Spokane area.

Deborah and I have eaten at the Valley Mustard Seed for almost 20 years; the wait staff can practically order for us. I take vendors and employees there for lunch every chance I get. There’s nothing quite like the combination of good food, excellent service and being greeted by name.

Like our cat, I could arch my back, ranting and raving at the loss of one of my favorite restaurants in the Valley. But it’s the nature of things; change is good for some but not others.

People change careers and, despite the sorrow, the businesses they leave soldier on. We’ll continue to move furniture, even though it upsets the cat. And the Mustard Seed’s marvelous menu will still be available at Spokane and Montana restaurants and, eventually, at a new location in the Valley.

In the meantime, if Casey can settle down and get used to the idea that things have changed, then I, too, can get used to the fact that a favorite place has gone.

Even if I don’t like it.