I don't usually have sympathy for multinational corporations. But I must admit I was a little sad to hear that Blockbuster was closing the last of their brick and mortar stores. I haven't seen an open Blockbuster in years and the last video store in my town (Video and Tan) closed a couple of years ago. I miss the video store.
I miss going into the video store on a Friday evening and browsing the hundreds of VHS tapes then DVDs. I miss the internal debate about which movie to rent. I don't miss the lines or the late fees or the hassle of having to actually go to the store to return the movie. I miss the late night college runs to the video store to rent a marathon's worth of movies.
Today I am one of the dwindling few who continue to use Netflix's DVD mail service. Soon that will go by the wayside. Digital streaming is very convenient but there is still something missing in the process of physically going to the video store. Part of my nostalgia is due to the fact that I'm old enough to remember when movies were not so accessible. It wasn't until I was ten or eleven when most people could actually afford a VCR. It was a stunning concept that you could watch movies any time you wanted if the movie was available at the video store. You no longer had to wait until the movie played on television. I remember that transition that so many take for granted today.
So goodbye Blockbuster. It was fun...
