End of year realization

Three things came together in the past couple of days that have made me realize that things change, and that just because things have happened one way for a long time or even for generations, they may not work that way in the future. It seems obvious when I write it down, but I want to elaborate with some examples.

It started on Tuesday morning when I turned on TV while I was exercising and the movie Happy Feet was playing. I thought it was a movie that a high school friend told me about, so I watched it. (She was actually referring me to Penguins, oh well) One of the movie's themes illustrated the change of cultural ways when the outcast, young, emperor penguin, was rejected by his community because he could not sing; all emporer penguins were singers. Instead the protagonist penguin was born moving his feet rapidly in a manner that was embarrassing to his parents and shocked the community elders. As he grew up, he tried to become part of the community, but finally decided to leave home. He set out to find out where all the fish were going that was leaving his community without food. When he returned, after learning where all their fish were going, this dancing penguin got all of his generation of emperor penguins dancing. It was a poignant scene when the elder penguins couldn't stop the masses from dancing in delight. I noted then that things can change from one generation to the next. And I thought about my Ancient History class in ninth grade where we discussed the role of traditions in society. They are there for social stability but there are times when cultural norms can change for numerous reasons. And whether a culture sings or dances, it doesn't matter.

Then this morning, I heard on France 24 news, which I usually watch while I exercise, about smarva.com, a community lending forum in Germany. All of a sudden I realized that it might be possible that individuals will start lending to small companies, or to other individuals, and that the banks potentially could be superceded. I realized that our current economic stand-still could pick up in ways that I hadn't anticipated and that things will be different, maybe for the better.

Then Marc returned from his new doctor's office. Our doctor of 15 years is moving from her sole practice in Bethesda, to New Mexico. We are looking for a new doctor. Marc commented how nice it was to be in a modern office. There the records are electronic, the prescription was emailed or faxed directly to the pharmacy from the doctor's computer while she was talking to Marc. We have been talking about how important it is to digitize medical records. I got a copy of my 15 years of records, and I entered data into a spread sheet to see how my cholesterol levels have changed over the years. There is no reason that medical records don't show that information routinely. I have a feeling that our new doctors will provide us with more efficient care. We'll see if this potential is realized.

I'm looking forward to the New Year, and the changes they will bring. It may not all be easy and I hope some things will stay the same. But it is an interesting feeling to realize how different things will be. Things I hadn't even thought of, such as individuals lending to individuals. Of course, I'm not going to learn how to evaluate someone's credit worthiness.
Nor will I be making loans. I just think it is an interesting idea.