New and Improved

Lots of new and wonderful things turn out to be just plain pains in the elbow.

In the 50s and 60s it was thought that Daylight Saving Time would be helpful because it would allow people more daylight time in the summer evenings for activities. Most states have adopted it, and that’s fine ---except that it means that 4^th of July fireworks have to start at about 9:30--- but then they decided that we need to go back to Standard Time in the winter so there would be more daylight in the morning --- and going to the grocery store after work means doing it after dark. I wish someone would just let us stay on Daylight Time.

 Then there’s one-way streets. In the 50s most ‘modern’ cities turned their major thoroughfares into one-way streets. I can remember when Jefferson and Adams in Peoria became one-way, and the only good thing about them as far as I was concerned is that you usually only had to watch for traffic from one direction when you were crossing the street. Hardly any city I have been in has truly grid-like street systems, and many times there’s a street going north but not a matching street going south, for example. Bloomington is a good example, and I can get lost in Bloomington’s downtown faster than you run a yellow light. One-way streets were supposed to make travel faster, easier and more efficient. Now Peoria’s city fathers are considering turning Jefferson and Adams back to two-way streets, because it would be faster, easier and more efficient.

And then there are ‘traffic circles.’ Our midwestern city planners are busy adding circles to all kinds of intersections, in spite of the fact that they are a pain to navigate, even in a downtown like Washington’s (Illinois, not D.C.). I remember all too well getting into a traffic circle in Washington, D.C. with my two kids in the car. We went around it twice because I couldn’t get over to get off on the street I needed. When I finally did get over, I was spun off onto the wrong street…in the wrong part of D.C. It was spooky! People who are familiar with the circles in their neighborhoods are comfortable with them, but for visitors they are a nightmare.

And what’s with the bike paths? Everywhere in the cities you see these 6 or 8 foot wide strips laid off on the streets, and they are supposed to be for bikes. But I never see any bicyclists on them. I suppose if you are fond of riding your bicycle in the city, you like them, but they seem like a lot of money gone to waste to me.

I remember many years ago that I acquired a dread of the words “New and Improved.” Whenever I saw them appear on the packaging of a favorite product, I groaned. Never did I find the product improved. Usually it meant that whatever I liked about the product was now gone. “New Blue Cheer” didn’t whiten as well; new Crest didn’t clean teeth as well; new wrinkle-free fabrics were the worst at wrinkling, etc.

But no matter how much I grouse about it, people who design things are going to continue to make them ‘new and improved,’ and I’ll just have to switch routes or products or schedules with everyone else.