ATM Grotto

Change is inevitable.

And as you get older you see more and more change. Some good, some bad. Some incomprehensible.

When I moved into my neighborhood there were bodegas on 5th Ave with bullet proof glass and guys playing dominoes all night long in the summer to the sounds of loud music. Crack was sold out of the apartment building a few doors down and sexual favors were sometimes performed in the lobby of a building a few doors up. But overall is was a nice block and as time marched on, the bullet proof glass enclosed bodegas moved out to make room for antique shops, restaurants, more restaurants and coffee houses. Apparently yuppies cannot get enough coffee.

Now gentrification is spreading to the outer reaches of the neighborhood to areas that I NEVER, EVER thought it would reach. What do I know? Recently, a car service store front closed, only to re-open as <shockingly> another coffee shop. This one is extra special because it has an ATM grotto. What is that you ask? I had no idea what it was either until I passed it one day. The alcove had been there for a few weeks and I wondered what would go in there. It looked like an alcove suitable for a statue of Mary, or perhaps a saint. Now there is an ATM there. I call it the ATM grotto. When I showed the picture to some of my friends, they all made the same comment…that people will be praying at the ATM that their card comes back out. Or their money comes out. Or they don’t get held up making a withdrawal. I guess the more things change, in some ways, the more things stay the same. Amen.

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