So many pieces of my childhood feel worthless now.
Most people take on a job at a Video Store simply because the discounts/perks and they may watch movies now and again. Hey, why not. But some of us, myself included, did for so many different reasons.
*nostalgia music ensues*
As far back as I can remember, I remember the Video Store being THE place to go. This would have been between 1986-1993. Living in Saskatoon, when my parents took us out, it was to the local mom n' pop store just a few blocks from my house called Captain Video. It was the old fashioned type place where they had the VHS covers on the shelf and the actual tapes behind the counter in some sort of cryptic organization that only those honoured with employment could decipher it. If the video was out, there was a little plastic clip placed on the top corner of the case stating "Sorry, Rented Out" and sporting a little red happy face.
Now, while I can't recall any specific titles I would have rented from there, what I do remember the most to this day is two things:
1) My parents bought us our very first NES that first year, and when we opened it there were stickers on the box and on the system stating "Property of Captain Video". Now oddly that never struck me as out of place as out of place (I was 7) and it turned out they bought a sstem that was previously used as their rental machine. But what did I care? I had a Nintendo!! No more Atari. No more hunting for ET's missing phone pieces and awkwardly stretching your little alien neck to escape the numerous hidden pits that strewn about the great video game land. No no - it was Mario time!!!
2) I distinctly recall the cardboard standee for 1988's Night of the Demons. The image was of the main demon standing there with a party invitation that is slightly on fire. The tagline was "Angela is throwing a Party. Jason and Freddy are too scared to come. But you'll have a hell of a time!" Now it wasn't just that it called Freddy a wuss (I had already watched A Nightmare on Elm Street about a year and a half prior and loved it!), it was that the standee was rigged to use two red mini-Christmas lights as the demons eyes. Now this standee was life size...I was 8...it petrified me, yet intrigued me all at the same time. I know then that there would be no more sneaking into my cousins living room to watch Nightmare as I did not so long ago. No, horror was for me!! THAT, is a pivotal point in my life boys and girls.
So, post 1993 we had moved to Lloydminster, SK (not AB). I had become quite smitten with the horror genre, having a friend in Saskatoon share the love and we used to do Freddy marathons, American Werewolf in London and other goodies along the way. So, like our family did best, we befriended the management and other staff of our local video store (which happened to be a Video Update). So it was around this time that my little kick of pro Wrestling was at its highest and I used to go every month like clockwork to rent the previous Wrestlemania or Summer Slam, or (my favourite) Royal Rumble. Yes, back in the day you could just rent them. You weren't forced into PPV (or they never had it yet). Regardless, I got my fix.
Almost every weekend, I would go into the older movie section and bundle as many horror movies as I could in the Rent 7 movies for $7 for 7 nights. It was awesome. More Nightmare-a-thons ensued and I started watching the odd Stephen King movie (as I was big into his books since I read IT in 1990).
Either way, I started picking up factoids along the way. "Hey did you know this actress was also in that?" "Hey that guy directed both this AND that! Cool!" And so began the birth of my useless brain.
I lived in Lloydminster until just after graduation 1997. I then moved to Edmonton to take some part time schooling at the U of A while staying at my cousin's. Now kids, moving out should NOT be a spur of the moment thought. Once I had moved out and was enveloped in all that was freedom, I realized you need money to have freedom. You need a job to have money. So, I put in my best effort and applied at like 3 places...total. So when school wound down and I never got any calls back, and I never made ANY friends, I decided to move back home for the summer.
It turned out to be a smart movie as my sister was now planning on moving to Edmonton for a full time school expedition, and I wanted to take another part time class. So, we put our resources, time, and money together and we rented out a 2 bedroom apartment in first some where off of Manning Drive then later, one in Clareview which I remember was $525 per month (including utilities and use of a pool!). I got a full time job at the Sobey's in Beverly and life started falling into place. We met some friends, one who turned out to be a "net" friend of Krista's before we even moved to Edmonton, and then more from there. Although, the more I think about it, Mike (the friend) was the single man responsible for ALL my friends and quite possibly my job (as he worked there too). Oh and by the way, that same apartment now goes for about $1200 a month. Ahhhh, inflation.
So, I lived the big city life. I partied hard every weekend. I lost my virginity...repeatedly...in that town. Things were great. One night, after coming home from work, I noticed my sister had someone over. Krista (my sister) had begun to think of herself as a beauty consultant. Had the whole Mary Kay bag and everything. Turns out, this many years later, she actually can do it. Who knew? Either way, while I was technically seeing someone else (though it was more of a I'm just trying to get another girl in bed...it's awful, but I was 19, give me a break). Regardless, that night, at my own apartment, I met Lisa. We got along great almost right away. A weekly occurrence at our place was to all get together and watch movies. Time moved on, hang outs (movie watching) with Lisa became more frequent, and, on August 15, 1999, I asked her out on a date (to the Fringe Festival). We got real close, and when fate(?) shined and she had to leave the apartment she was living in, we offered our for her to movie into. She could stay in my room, cut rent by like 17% each, and all would be well.
Well, did I mention she was a classmate of Krista's and that's why she knew her? Either way, the Grant MacEwan graduating class of 2000 came and went and there was nothing left to do in Edmonton. She couldn't find work, I was miserable now at my job, and had an imminent knee surgery. So we decided to pack up (Lisa and I only) and move to Red Deer with her mom. Temporarily of course, until we found something of our own. Of course, those temporary months turned into years all too quick. Not that it was a bad thing, her mom was cool. And guess what. Immediately, I began frequenting the local Video Store (or stores in this case). So Rogers Video, VHQ and sometimes Movie Gallery became a place for me to go. Rogers were still selling old Previously Viewed VHS and I would pick up a few here and there. I then made the jump in about 2001 and bought an $80 (on sale) Sanyo DVD Player.
So between Lisa and I we owned about 200 VHS movies...which we watched...frequently. Now the power of DVD is ours and it was time to re-buy!
An interesting event happened in about 2004 or early 2005. I stopped at the Movie Gallery for their Buy 2 Get 2 Free deal. How awesome does that sound?! Except of course, I could only find 2 movies remotely interesting and could NOT decide on 2 more. So I wandered. And wandered. I started reminiscing to the days that it took no less than one hour to pick one video when I was younger. Now I have to pick two. So, while I wandered like a lost tourist in downtown New York, the worker kept asking if she could help. I refused as I knew I had to come to this decision on my own. Either way, conversations started about movies (which back then I still did frequently). The girl was so impressed she was certain I had worked for a Video Store before. I assured her I hadn't. But something snapped. In my head, I said "why not"? I was working for easyhome. Not my finest few years but it paid decently.
Speaking of easyhome they had an opportunity to open a brand new store in Camrose in late 2005. I had recently been screwed out of getting the manager position of the store I was at and thought a fresh start in a fresh city would be a great idea.
So October 2005 I moved in with a friend of Lisa's family and began the assembly of the Duggan Mall easyhome. Now Lisa had not moved yet. She was still working at the Parkland Mall in Red Deer and didn't want to leave them during Christmas rush. Did I mentioned we were now married in 2002, went to Disneyland/Universal Studios/Sea World for our honeymoon (Universal Studios for a movie buff is like heaven, by the way), and had a beautiful baby boy named Andrew in 2004.
It wasn't until February 2006 she would move up. In the mean time I figure I would take on a second part time job to fill the gaps as I had nothing else to do in Camrose. So I flashbacked to that Movie Gallery girl's words. I NEED TO WORK AT A VIDEO STORE! Ironically, my one staff at easyhome was a former manager of the Camrose VHQ and knew the Manager of the Movie Gallery as well. But she had heard Blockbuster was hiring. So I drew up a fancy resume and faxed it to them. so, as luck(?) would have it I got a call back from blockbuster to set up an interview. Now I knew they were hiring but didn't know they were desperate. I was hired on the spot. Now my life kept going. I had another awesome little boy named Stephen, my full time job at easyhome expired and turned into an assistant manager role at blockbuster. Days turned into months then years. I was surrounded by movies and had the perk of watching them a week before release. I made the jump to Blu Ray some time in 2009...until the player (a PS3) crapped out on me. In all fairness it was one of the original models and I bought it off someone, so it wasn't as if it was new. That Christmas Lisa's boss had bought us a new Samsung Blu Ray player. Pretty sweet boss, I know. Turns out Samsung's are crap as well, but hey, it was a gift. after 6 months of owning it, it already needed a repair. Nice. That's OK because Christmas 2010 I bought myself a Sony and all is well. in fact, my Blu Ray count is already over 80.
So, in the end, knowing how much of a role the Video Store has played in my life, I find out that they are closing us down. Thus ending the final chapter on big box Video Stores, and, most importantly, my life. I will never forget the experience, certainly not the friendships (some more so than others), and everything else that lead me to this point of my life. I guarantee my life will never be the same. Thank you corporate receivers, thank you for destroying me.
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