Stuff I Miss: Video Stores (R.I.P.)

As I get older (my bday was on Saturday, I accept any and all gifts, I'm a size medium), I find more and more things that I love are disappearing.
With On-Demand video and online movie rental sites like Netflix, the need for the local Video 99 has gone down to nil. Sure, you can watch stuff instantly, but it's everything surrounding the choosing of the movie that I love.

I loved going to the video store. My favorite one to go to when I was a kid was Jumbo Video. They had a HUGE selection, and they gave out free popcorn for you to eat while you browsed. AND BOY WOULD I BROWSE. Sometimes I would be in the video store so long that I wouldn't have time to watch a movie that night. Looking at all they had to offer was the best (except of course when what you wanted to rent was all checked out). But the selection seemed so vast at the time. Maybe since VHS had just come out (late 80's) not too long before, everything was just put onto video. Now when I'd go to the video store, the selection blew. They barely had anything older. That sucks! Everyone knows that every really great movie has already been made.

I remember Jumbo had a really wicked Horror Section. It was all done up dark and scary, with cobwebs and a scene from a scary movie inside the section on display. I was such a pussy as a kid that I was scared to even venture into the damn section, but once I did I realized how magical it was. It was always fun in there, and I always found something interesting to watch. These days I could scroll through Netflix for HOURS and not come up with anything. Maybe I should make some popcorn for the choosing stage..seemed to help in Jumbo.

Not only did the video store have awesome movies, but it also rented out VIDEO GAMES. This was crucial to me, as I have been behind in every single aspect of cool technology since I can remember. For example, I was still listening to cassettes when I was 14, I didn't get a computer until 1999, had dial-up internet until 2006...should I go on? Anywho, I would rent a Nintendo and Super Mario Bros. 3 and be set for the entire weekend. It was incredible.


The video store used to bring me so much joy, and it really sucks the bag that they are slowly becoming extinct. I enjoy so many aspects of the digital age, but when things from my childhood start disappearing, it makes me angry. AND YOU WOULDN'T LIKE ME WHEN I'M ANGRY. *Ahem*. RIP, Video Stores. You will be missed. :(