Whatever happened to the Hawaii we once knew? It’s gone, changed forever, becoming new for another generation of Hawaii locals, residents, visitors.
What Hawaii means to a person depends on the person asked, and their response depends on their generation and status, because Hawaii changes dramatically every 20 to 30 to 40 years.
We drove by Moiliili Mochi the other day. It’s now in Liliha. Kaimuki Typewriter is in Moiliili. Diamond Head Plumbing isn’t anywhere near Diamond Head.
St. Francis Hospital is now Hawaii Medical Center. Aloha Motors is now a convention center.
The Hawaii we once knew is gone, forever changed by new yesterdays, and todays, and tomorrows. Expatriates visiting Hawaii after years elsewhere don’t recognize Chinatown or downtown. It’s more of a little Saigon or a mini-San Francisco these days.
Parts of the Hawaii we once knew remain, of course, but for how long?
Waiola Store still has shaved ice. So does Matsumoto’s in Haleiwa on the North Shore. What of Ala Moana Center? If you left the islands 20 years ago and returned for shopping this week you would be in for a shock.
There’s a Neiman-Marcus store where nobody local shops. Gone is JCPenney and Liberty House and Iida’s. The only part of Ala Moana Center that’s similar to the Hawaii we once knew is Sears which still smells like tools and tires.
Parts of the Hawaii we once knew are here and there. Zippy’s. Wailuku. Hilo. People still get lost while hiking. Sharks still bite, the lava still flows, Molokai residents still don’t like visitors, Kauai still doesn’t want change.
The Hawaii we once knew is still here. And there. But not everywhere.
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