Mar 11 2009
Things Learned While Working at a Video Store
The longest part-time job I ever had was working at a video store. The pay was horrible, the hours were horrible, but the job itself had some non-financial advantages (and disadvantages). For instance, it was there that I gained my love for bad movies. Along with acquiring a taste for the awful, I could also rent movies for free which sort of paid off in the long run. In addition, I learned this useless information:
-Video stores sell used movie in bunches for cheap within about a month of them being released. This has saved me so much money in the past.
-People always want the biggest, dumbest movie on the shelf. I know that this is almost common knowledge, but you don’t understand the true extent of this until you’ve seen the amount of people who rent Delta Farce.
-Expired candy tastes just as fine and is free food.
-With the advent of Netflix and RedBox, the consumer base for a video store has dwindled down to the group who can’t figure out a computer or a kiosk. And judging how many people are in that group, video stores won’t go away for a long time.
-The screener DVD is dumb, pointless, and repetitive. Whenever the boss is out, I’d throw on a movie, but something PG so that if I were caught it wouldn’t be that bad.
-If your competitor store carries rental DVDs your’s doesn’t get from the studio, they just buy them from a retail store.
-When winter weather is horrible, people will still rent movies in much longer lines. Doesn’t that defeat the point of staying in and watching a movie?
-People will argue for hours about how they won’t pay late fees. And guess who takes the blame for it?
-No matter how many times you tell them no, no matter what signs you put up, people will always come in asking for pornography. For the last time, THEY DON’T HAVE ANY!
-If it’s a big new release that has just come out on DVD, it’s rented out. Even if you go to the store on the release date, it’s gone.
-Movies are cheaper to buy in the long run.
-Children’s DVDs are guarenteed to have atleast 10 fingerprints on the disc.
-Old people always think you are crazy or yelling at them when you are actually being helpful.
-Not every DVD is going to work on your dinky little $30 DVD player you bought at Wal-Mart.
-I am not your kid’s parent! Do some parenting and find out what they’re watching.
-No, Blu-Ray won’t work in your regular DVD player either. What did I just say!
-There is a reason you can’t rent movies if you have $40 in late fees.
-If I haven’t seen it, then I can’t really tell you anything about that movie.
-Yes, video games are expensive. What a shocker.
-Stand-ups are a ridicilous waste of space as if somebody is more likely to buy a movie based on a cardboard display.
-They never clean the bathroom. And if you’ve seen it, you can understand why.
-I am not your kid’s parent! Do some parenting and find out what they’re watching.
I know that one just from renting movies myself! I always end up wanting to beat the parents
Hey man,
I can totally relate to what you’re saying. I work in the Electronics section at Walmart and I get some of the dumbest questions on the planet. My personal favorite is thus-
Picture if you will a Monday night. Now picture that on every previous monday night you have put new releases out at midnight. This customer has seen you do this week after week and yet still has the audacity to ask
-”When are you putting out new releases?”
That and this one
-”Why don’t you have_____in on the release date?”
Like asking me for an explanation is going to suddenly make your item appear in my hand.