Tradition?

I was listening to a colege football game on my XM Satellite radio yesterday afternoon when an ad. came on for an eatery in the Clemson, South Carolina, area. The tag line caught my attention. The announcer said: "A Clemson tradition since 1988.) 1988? A Tradition? As I write this, that wasn't even twentyyears ago! Why, we already had MTV and CD's by then. I'd had cable TV for more than ten years by 1988; and lots of people already had computers. Heck, 1988 isn't even a generation ago! Tradition since 1988? How long does something have to exist before it becomes a tradition? Of course, if we do something every day, it can become a tradition within a year or two--maybe even less time than that! But 1988 sounds so recent to me as I sit here in my 57-year-old body. Then again, think of 1988 from the perspective of a college student. Many of them weren't even born in 1988. To them nineteen years seems like an eternity. Things move so much faster today than they did back in the '50's or '60's. "Traditions" come and go so fast that we don't even realize that something was becoming a tradition until it's gone. TV shows can become a family tradition after they run two or three seasons, and then they're taken off the air! I don't know how long something has to be around before it becomes a tradition; and I probably won't be in Clemson, South Carolina, any time soon to try out that restaurant. Pastorates seldom last nineteen years; but I sure hope this church and I become something of a tradition in Schulenburg, Texas! I do know about a really good steak place in Nashville that's been around since the days of Prohibition. Now *there's tradition for you!