Nothing Stays The Same

Today I went to have my drug screen done as a requirement for my new position in Memphis, TN. I was sent to Concentra Urgent Care facility for the test. The building is located at 688 Spring Street in Midtown Atlanta. Most people visiting this site may not know it's history, but I do. This building sits on the site of the old Club 688, a punk club in it's heyday. I always wondered what happened to this place and now I know. Club 688 opened back in 1980 and was a venue for new acts to get their music out to the masses. The club quickly became known as a haven for alternative music, punk and new wave, but it was punk where the club really made it's mark.

All the famous punk bands played there and I saw quite a few like: Circle Jerks, Iggy Pop, Dead Kennedy's, TSOL, Fear and many others. It was always dark inside, with the floor in front of the stage being a mosh pit for mohawked punkers and the like. People may think that African-Americans were not into punk, but oh we were, we just didn't admit to such. I saw many a black mohawkers there moshing away.

Ironically, the club at this site shut down in 1986 and moved just down the street from where I presently live. At this site I saw the Mentors (2X) and other punk acts. This site didn't last long, closing down sometime during the early 1990s.

Today, a medical center sites on the original site, giving testament to the fact that nothing lasts forever, which is a true fact for me at the present.

I have lived in Atlanta for 22 years and have seen many changes come to the city, some for the better, a lot for the worse. I must say that since that time I have never seen this city like the state it is in - stagnant. The economy is in shambles and won't be back to it's previous level anytime soon. However, other places, like Memphis, seems to be showing signs of life. Thirty years ago I would venture to say the opposite was true.

Just because you were on top yesterday doesn't means that you will be on top today or tomorrow. Times change, people change, life moves on. I always wondered about those souls I met at Club 688. Did they move on or did they stagnate, thinking nothing ever changed?

As I embark on my new journey I realize now, more than ever I have to change, evolve into something that I previously wasn't. I used to be afraid of doing that, but not anymore. My destiny is cloudy and clear at the same time, with points of previous reference not important. What is important is the present and future state because in those, that is a true measure of the person.

In the end, I could either be Club 688 or Concentra. Frankly, I prefer the latter.