It appears the naming rights to the tallest building in the western hemisphere (once the tallest building in the world) have been given to a London-based insurance broker that will rename the tower The Willis Tower.  The Willis Tower???

While I don’t live in Chicago anymore, when I did live there the Sears Tower was as familiar to me as a good Chicago Hot Dog. It’s a symbol of the city.  From Facebook updates I’ve seen from family and friends, I’m sensing that others are as disturbed about this as I am.  Which is why I’m happy to see that you can get your Sears Tower venting out on Twitter, as the @SearsTower twitter profile is happily responding to your complaints.

In a mildly snarky fashion (similar to my beloved @thesnuggie), this inanimate object is responding to your tweets with such bitter comments as “Willis Tower is following me. And that’s exactly what you’ll do, Willis. Stand in my 1,450.58 foot shadow”, and “Ahem. Mr. Plumeri. Moving into an awesome building like me isn’t a “bold move.” A bold move is deciding not to wear pants to work,” and the best one yet, “Sticks and stones may break human bones, but new names will never come to define me.”  Good one Sears Tower, good one.

So while the name Sears Tower may be going away, its Twitter profile lives on. I’m looking forward to following my new Twitter friend and seeing it all unfold.