Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Lessons From The Library

Current Location: Midland, Michigan, USA / 43°37′25.0″N 84°13′45.7″W

Walking thru the library today, I got lost. Too many aisles, too many books. A steady flow of rascals passed me by; seniors too old to care looked away. Please be quiet and no smoking signs hung rampant on chalked up walls . An orchestra of pages flipped and turned. Fluorescent lights flickered in perfect harmony. Silence set the mood.

Not knowing how to search on the computer data base, I searched manually in vain. Aisle by aisle, shelf after shelf. A stream of unknown titles flood my peripheral vision. Randomly picking a book, I turned the pages looking for pictures--sadly, none to be found. Text, all text. Text books, I thought.

Finding nothing that sparked my interest, I kept walking. While turning right, I looked left. Looked left again--a double take. Crashed into a pile of books. Regaining my posture, my eyes had to refocus, had to squint. Wow. The Audio Video section! I never knew.

Like a kid seeing boobies for the first time, I smiled. 'Videos are my favorite,' I proclaimed.

Head tilted sideways, I walked backwards--reading spines. Memories from film school flickered in my proverbial mind. A sea of genres thump to the beat of my Hitchcock heart. I had died and gone to heaven. A million videos, free to borrow.

While driving home, I weaved thru traffic. Pedal to the metal like NASCAR greats. Home in record time.

Popcorn popped. Lights dimmed low. Going to insert the tape, I realized something missing. My heart skipped a beat. SHIT.

I no longer use nor own a VHS machine.

13 comments:

John said...

Hahahahaha... Ron... you are unbelievable... You actually FORGOT you don't have a video tape player anymore?

Besides, aren't all those dinosaurs extinct already? That's like so many generations behind man... VHS tapes --> CDs --> DVDs --> and now, Blu Ray. A lot of shops don't even sell CDs anymore. I'm surprised that video tapes still exists.

Random Hiccups said...

"Like a kid seeing boobies for the first time, I smiled."

Classic.

Anonymous said...

Hahahahhahahahahaha That's happened to me too!!! I felt like such a moron afterwards

floreta said...

little kid seeing boobies. hahaha! love it. i actually still have VHS :P well, it's actually a small TV with a VHS player built in. you were too excited to realize!

DUTA said...

We all have our "forgetful professor" moments , but not everyone has your rare writing ability to depict them.

Ron said...

Thanks everyone for your comments. Tonight, I shall venture to the nearest Wal-Mart to look for a VCR. Wish me luck.

Kimberly said...

FYI- Walmart no longer carries VHS. We looked for one several weeks ago and they no longer exist. Unless you go thrifting...

New to your blog, per Random Hiccups.

I love the way you write!

Anonymous said...

*lol* classic

Technology changes so quickly these days.

Bon Don said...

Ron, I'm such a dirtbag, why did "Like a kid seeing boobies for the first time, I smiled." just jump right out to me!??? HAHA

What's VHS?

kidding!

*Bon Don*

The Demigoddess said...

When something is free, there is always a tiny catch. haha.

Jay said...

haha... oh wow. I have done that, but I typically realize it b4 I get home.

You should check places like goodwill or a pawn shop. Good luck.

Gabby said...

You're a great writer, this story made me smile!

Anonymous said...

Hilarious! "Videos are my favourite." Love reading your blog Sarorn.