Freakish Surgical Accident

My old roomie Ian once spent every weekend of the summer renting "The Three Amigos" from the $1 discount rack at the local Schnucks grocery store. The third time he came in to rent it he said he saw it on sale for $5. He wondered if he should buy it. After making the quick calculation that he would have to watch it four more times after that night to get his money's worth, he decided two things. That A: it would be a good deal because he most certainly would watch it at least that many times. (And as it turns out, he was right.) And that B: he would not buy it beause he enjoyed the experience of going out to rent the same thing every weekend. He felt it was liberating to make a decision every week that he knew he would be satisfied with. And $1 is a small price to pay to run an errand you actually enjoy.

The only reason he stopped doing it wasn't because he got bored of the movie or the experience of renting the movie, but because the manager started to take the fun out of it by keeping it under his desk especially for Ian. Ian would walk in and the manager would simply hand him the movie thereby robbing him of the experience of walking through the aisles and coming upon it. He got a thrill every time he saw it sitting there on the rack and he felt he was just on a great lucky streak. It wasn't just The Three Amigos Ian loved, but looking for the movie, renting the movie, and watching the movie.

Last night I rented Hot Fuzz from my local video store and it wasn't the first time or the last time I'll rent it this year.