video store

Remember American Gigolo?  I was trying to recreate the effect they produced with Venetian Blinds in this picture using the shadows cast by a chain link fence.  Maybe Richard Gere is just a little bit more handsome than I am.

So today's blog concerns an incident at the Video Store last week.  I went in to rent a video which is something I do on my days off.  When I got to the counter with The Peaceful Warrior, the girl who works there told me that I owed $3.50 for a movie that I returned late the week before.  She said that I returned The Last Mimzy on Saturday and it was due on Friday.  At first I didn't question the delinquent return but when I thought about it I realized that the last time I was in that part of town was Friday not Saturday.  I worked Saturday so I had no time to drop the video off on Saturday.  Friday was the only day I was able to return the video and that was the day it was due.  She tells me she is going to double check and she says her records show the video being checked in on Saturday.  Furthermore she adds that the computer went down those days but it would not account for when I dropped off the movie.  I heard this and I thought, if your computer went down how can you be so sure of your records, so sure that you would argue with a regular customer about a $3.50 discrepancy.  I got mad and told her I would pay the late fee but would no longer be renting videos there.  Me getting mad is not as bad as it sounds.  As you can see I was passive-agressive in that I was going to pay the late fee but no longer going to patronize them.  So she says she would waive the late fee but "just try to get your videos in on time".  I thought this isn't about a late fee.  I have never argued about being late before, if I am late I pay.  This was about her not believing me when I told her I returned it on time.  I asked if I could see what my account looked like.  She showed me the screen and since she had waived the late fee there was nothing outstanding on the account.  She asked if I still wanted The Peaceful Warrior (ironic huh?) and I said no and walked out of the establishment for the last time. 

At work a lot of people come up to me and begin thier adress with " I also work with people and I know how you are supposed to treat customers".  This usually means "give me what I want or else!"  The incident at the video store showed real bad business sense by my antagonist.  Maybe I only spent $15 a month there so I wasn't a valuable customer.  I think it is a shame that they would lose me for a $3.50 disagreement.  And, I REALLY DID RETURN THAT VIDEO ON TIME!!!

Do I sound stressed?