Supporting the little guy

Jav and I got really miffed at Blockbuster about six months ago. They signed us up for one of their new "plans" where you get to check out as many movies as you want (or can) in a month, but only three at a time. The words out of the clerk's mouth when we signed up were "try it for a month". Jav immediately determined that this really wasn't a good deal for us, because it's hard for us to find the time to watch movies. But I coaxed him into it. What the clerk didn't mention, however, was that they would be charging his credit card each month for the service. Obviously we don't always read the fine print. When Jav found this out, he complained, but they said they could only cancel the service AFTER the current month ended. So we pretty much vowed to never rent a movie from there again.

UNTIL Jav won a free month trial of Blockbuster Online. I really liked using the online service, because it turns out that we DO have time to watch movies. We just don't have time to stop after work and argue about what we want to see, or to take the movie back before work. I loved the convenience of having movies delivered to my door and the US mail taking care of sending them back. We watched more movies in the month of March than we had the entire two years we've known each other. So when the month was over, I wanted to continue, only with Netflix. But Jav didn't want an extra monthly bill.

So now we are renting movies (one a weekend) from a little family owned place called Bergeron's. The store is out of the way for us to get to, they don't have a great selection of new titles, and rarely have DVD's of movies. But after renting from them for a month, I feel really good about the experience. They have hard to find movies, an unbelievable selection of classic and foreign films, and I don't mind watching VHS. The prices are relatively cheap. But the best thing about it is the feeling that you are supporting a dying breed - the neighborhood Mom and Pop establishment. The Bergerons actually attend our church, and are very well-known to Fort Worth's Eastide community. A few years ago they moved their store to the historic area of Old Handley, only to have it destroyed by the same tornado that blew through downtown Fort Worth. But with hard work, luck, many friends and just plain stubborness, they perservered. I like the small town feeling of the store. They are always willing to help you find something, even if there is a long line waiting after you. Nobody seems to mind waiting. They must all feel the same as me, that I can put up with alot as long as I'm still helping David beat Goliath.