Tradition and Change Summary

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6/19/2013 Summary of “Tradition and Change” Everyone gets comfortable with how everything is currently and with repeating old traditions but change is inevitable. Some welcome change happily whilst others find it hard to stray from the ways things have always been. Jeanne Harnois, a writer in Boston, explains that tradition can be comforting and should be respected, that tradition can be a double edged sword, and also that people have mixed approaches when it comes to tradition in her article “Tradition and Change.” Harnois expresses that just knowing something is as it has always been can be comforting and many people respect that. In one instance, a bridge was renovated in Harois’s hometown and even though she had not seen the bridge in years it was still a bit of a shock to hear it had been changed. It was comforting that the bridge was the same as it always was so hearing that it was being changed removed some of that comfort. Even when faced with change some people still respect past traditions. When the Boston Garden was replaced with the FleetCenter, once the naming rights changed owners they changed it to TD Banknorth Gardens to honor the old building that used to stand there and the memories of it as well. Likewise when the subway systems changed the payment method they nicknamed the new cards after an old story about a man named Charlie stuck on the subway because he had no fare to get off. Tradition is comforting and respected but there are some downsides to it. Tradition can have a potential “dark side” Harnois explains. By blindly following in old traditions, it is possible to repeat dire mistakes of the past. Whilst the civil rights movement was going on in Boston, even though blacks legally had equal rights, they still had to fight hard since tradition thought otherwise. Plenty of situations that happened in the past are undoubtedly best kept in
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