Mourning Blockbuster

Blockbuster is closing. Not all of them, just the one around the corner, the one less than five minutes away that I could go to late at night when I wanted to feed my movie fix.

A large "Store Closing" banner hangs outside the building. Employees are overseeing the liquidation of everything in the store. In the windows are posters promoting discounts as high as 80 percent. And I am in mourning.

I know all about Netflix and everytime I go to Harris Teeter, I see the Redbox vending machines. But, for me, there was nothing like going to Blockbuster or Hollywood Video.

I cherished those moments of browsing, your eyes going over all those titles, some big studio blockbusters and others more independent fare. One night it might be the latest Michael Bay movie. Another night, it could be some obscure movie I had never heard of.

And of course, there have been plenty of times when the movies I picked absolutely sucked, such stinkers that the word "stinker" doesn't even do them justice.

But others have been wonderful movie-watching experiences, full of rich indelible characters and superb acting.

I found them through browsing, and that's why I loved Blockbuster. I could spend an hour just walking around, trying to choose, patient in my search.

The first time I used Redbox was this week. I got The Hangover, a hilariously raunchy movie. I struggled with how to use it. I stood at the Harris Teeter an embarrassing long time trying to figure it all out. And I was frustrated with the limited number of titles. You just had to choose quickly as a line formed behind you or just go empty-handed.

That never happened at Blockbuster. Not that you didn't go home empty-handed some nights. But you had the time to figure out what you wanted.

And the joy came when you happened upon some great movie you might not have discovered if you hadn't spent all that time browsing.

We live in this world where patience is a rarity. Time rushes by us, and we have to make these rapid choices. You can't wait and see.

The good things, the wonderful things, in life --- you don't see them right away. You have to browse because the beauty of life appears in unexpected places. You have to walk around searching a bit before you find it, whatever that it is.

And when you find it, whether it's that right movie, or that right person you want to spend the rest of your life with, you know it and you're happy that you took the time to find it.

That's why I'm mourning Blockbuster. I hate having to go to Redbox or order movies from Netflix. I want to walk around for awhile, pick something up, look at it for awhile, put it back, pick something else up, then rent it and see what happens. I may like it or I may hate it.

But no one ever said searching for gems was going to be easy. I guess I'll have to find my gems somewhere else.