The only thing constant in life is change.
People change. Communities change. Buildings change. Nothing really stays the same.
Last week in this space I asked why we don't keep anything old in this province; how we like to tear down older, historic structures to make way for new and better.
And that's true. We, as a society, do like to do that in Saskatchewan. We like it, some say, because it shows we're progressing.
But it seems there are a lot of people who have difficultly adapting to change, however much they like it.
That was brought home to me last week.
Case in point: The Humboldt Journal moved to its new location at 535 Main St. in Humboldt over seven years ago. The new doors opened for business in January of 2005. Yet people are constantly calling to complain that they tried to get into our building and it was locked, that there was no one there, and it was during regular business hours.
Inevitably, it turns out that they went to the wrong building, that they were at our old location, one block to the north of where we are now.
A surprising number of people bang on the doors of our old building on a regular basis, looking for the Journal. One person even dropped off a submission there last year, forcing it through the locked doors because they were angry we were not open as promised. We then had to contact the new owners of the property to go and get what they had dropped at the wrong location.
There is nothing on that building, whatsoever, that indicates that it was once the offices of the Humboldt Journal. No signage; no plaques. In fact, there is actually a new sign on it, for the new business that is occupying it and will soon be opening. And yet, last week, we got another one of those calls.
It's baffling. Do people not read signs?
And it makes me wonder if, when the new business - a restaurant - opens at our old location, will people go in there and instead of ordering pizza, try to renew their subscription?
Another case for this argument: the traffic signs along 7th Ave. from Main St. to the Uniplex.
Once upon a time, up until about a couple of years ago, there were stop signs at every intersection when you were travelling along this avenue. Then traffic along Hwy. 5 or 8th Ave., a block to the north, started to get busier. So city council decided to change the stop signs along that avenue, so that drivers did not have to stop after every block, making it quicker to get down 7th. Ave. to the Uniplex.
We wrote a story about it. The city advertised it. And still people stop at every intersection when they are travelling down that avenue, and they stop like they mean it, like there is a stop sign in front of them. Even though the stop signs are now directed at traffic travelling down the streets.
Sadly, even if you realize you don't have to stop at those intersections, you do slow down and drive defensively, because you can never be sure, in this city, if the driver travelling down the street towards you sees the stop sign directed at them.
And it's not just on that avenue.
New stop signs at other locations get blown by all the time, because they haven't always been there.
The only solution to these problems is for those who assume that nothing changes in this community to open their eyes. Humboldt is changing, and it is changing quickly. New people are moving in; new houses are going up, and even if nothing in your life has changed recently, you should probably look out for changes in the community.
Even something as little as signs.
