Street memories

Do I stick to calling "BF Mcdo" the area pertaining to the corner of (BF) President's Avenue and Sucat Road when Mcdonald's has been demolished to give in to a new establishment?

Since I claim Paranaque to be my adoptive city, I know that place as BF Mcdo - a place for meetings, meet ups, tricycle terminals and bathroom breaks. Commuting BF Paranaque residents call it so, too. I wonder what it's going to be called now. According to some information, an SM-owned establishment is going to take the place of ol' McDonald's. Will it be BF SM or BF Savemore or Savemore? We shall soon find out.

Similarly, if you are to enter BF from Alabang Zapote Road, you would have to inform the driver you're getting off at 'Toyota.' However, people did not refer to it as Toyota then. It was 'Standard' from 'America Standard', the toilet seat company once operating in the area. Although the company has ceased to exist, a few still refer to it as Standard but for many, it's Toyota or Concha Cruz, its actual street name.

In Manila, people still identify the street near the La Salle area as 'Vito Cruz' although its present name enacted by law is 'Pablo Roman.' The LRT station is still named Vito Cruz, though. Back in Mindanao, I have heard of Mantrade, the car store, but announcing my destination 'Mantrade' in a bus in Makati takes me to Magallanes MRT Station; no sight of Mantrade Cars nearby. It doesn't matter really as long as I get to my destination.

Changes in street names brought by legal means do not interest me. I have long accepted that things do change, including places and names. But when a landmark of historical significance or of purely sentimental value ends its place in the world, I start lamenting on the possible loss of memories I have of that place, but I also begin to make new ones with whatever new thing comes.