No More Late Fees!

I'm a little torn up inside about Blockbuster closing. All late fees will be forgiven! As a kid I loved going to the video store to pick out a movie for the weekend. Browsing the aisles for a show and looking at all the candy. Slave Lake never had a Blockbuster, the movie store I remember most was Superior Video, although I know there were others. The Video Stores in SL would always come and go but I just can't seem to remember any other names. Maybe there was a Lakeside Video? That sounds familiar. And then there was always that room off to the side or in the back for "Adults Only". I remember  in one of the stores that was quickly taken over by some other video store, the door to the adult room had fringe curtains on it and I would always peek my head in and I was like what's so bad about Debbie Doing Dallas? Isn't that a nice city? Ha ha.

My father-in-law was a school teacher and he has a teaching story that always makes me laugh. A co-worker of his had a sub in one day and the teacher had planned for the kids to watch a movie. I'm pretty sure there is nothing better than getting to watch a movie when you have a sub, right? So these kids got to watch Rudy that day. The Notre Dame football movie. The sub popped the VHS in and went about her business- looking through a lesson plan or something. The class was pretty quiet watching this movie... oddly quiet. When the sub looked up to see why, she saw the class actually enjoying the movie Ruby, instead of Rudy. As Tom tells the story those kids were all wide-eyed as they watched topless dancers on poles. Blockbuster fail right there... but I get it, there really isn't much difference between a "d" and a "b". Honest mistake. Although those consonants look pretty similar, there is definitely a difference between an inspiring football movie and a movie about Jack Ruby, the strip club owner involved in the JFK conspiracy. I can only imagine the phone calls the school got from the parents of those 13 year olds. Hilarious. 

So goodbye Blockbuster. I'll miss you. I think I still have a membership card in an old wallet from a store in Calgary. I guess I won't be needing it for my next trip home. Redbox really is great, but those automated boxes just don't hold the same charm and allure as a hometown video store. No weirdo at the desk. No shady back room full of porn... and (lets hope) no video mix ups over similar looking consonants. I really will miss you and I'm sure a handful of 13 year old kids will too. Of course I love Redbox, I'm not an animal, but the experience of renting my weekend DVD from a cold box outside a sketchy 7-11 doesn't even hold a flame to those indoor stores of wonder.