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Unread April 12th, 2011, 03:10 PM
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Antithesys Antithesys is offline
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And so ends our tale.

I started this job at 9:00 am, on Tuesday, July 25, 2000, and 559 Tuesdays later, at 4:09 pm, I finished it.


I also considered "You have a balance of $3.72 on your account."

When the store's front door was locked for the final time on Sunday, I placed this sign on it, and the reality that I had been ignoring for eight weeks started to flow earnestly into every corner of my psyche. This place to which I had given nearly every full measure of my devotion for almost my entire adult life, this place from which I constantly prayed to be delivered, this place that had battled me and sapped so much from my very being...this place was gone. The next time that door would open to the unwashed rabble, they would be greeted by merchants alien to them, alien to that place, and alien to me. They would not be greeted by me.

After placing the sign and re-entering the store, the doorbell chimed. I strode over to the outlet where the wireless speaker was cradled, unplugged it, introduced it to the floor, and stomped it into an unrecognizable mass of plastic. I had been suppressing this and many other emotions with Vulcan-like discipline during this process, and they were going to be released now, come what may.

The final customer approached the counter. I had specifically requested that I have the honor of concluding this particular ritual. She had several movies, and I considered the possibility of giving one to her at no charge, should the moment take me. I told her of the distinction she was receiving. She couldn't have been less impressed. I suppose that pretty much sums up my contributions over the last decade.

We packed our product into a grand total of 21 boxes; four of us did it in about an hour. We tidied up a bit, and went home. The next day it was down to the SM and I, where we spent the afternoon taking out garbage, sitting around, and watching a trio of workmen dismantle every exterior indication that this had ever been a Blockbuster Video.


Ticket-holders assume the risks and dangers incidental to the game of baseball.

I had gotten it in my head that I was going to dismantle the entire new release wall just to see what treasures lay underneath (the wall shelving, in theory, had not moved since the store opened in 1993). With 38 remaining bays, however, I soon decided that this venture wasn't worth the effort. I did notice that the square corner piece in the corner had space between it and the wall...wide enough to slip movies down. Surely there was something lodged in there! I attempted to lean it out a little. It was attached to the shelving. "Maybe you could see behind it if we pulled the bays down a little," suggested the SM. We did so, as gently as we could; I blocked that wall for ten years, it was mine, and I would never do anything to hurt it.


Oops.

Today a bewildered gentleman who was "not from around here" eventually found his way to our store with his 18-wheeler, which consumed our boxes of unsold product. That was it. The computers still needed to be taken out, but other employees would be overseeing that process: my time in a blue shirt had come to an end. I collected my souvenirs: a whiteboard, a pen caddy, my lucky box cutter, a "Rent it Tomorrow" shelftalker, the "7" from the Top 20 (being my lucky number), seven reams of paper, and my original, hand-written paper application from my employee file, among other things I'd really rather not mention until my last paycheck clears. I wanted to take a cart, but couldn't fit it into my car. I didn't have any planned use for it...I just wanted to have meaningful keepsakes for a time that I always figured I'd want to forget.

I took a final tour of my store. The office, where I took so many 35-minute meal breaks, eating gas station sandwiches and reading Rolling Stone, and watching the security camera to make sure there was no one waiting to ask me questions when I came back out. The back room, with that hole in the ceiling where I had to climb up and over when someone locked the keys in. The roof, where everyone went up for breaks after the first run of inventory. The pillar where the DirecTV kiosk once stood, and where I plopped myself down with a PRP pull one night while I watched Steve Bartman lose the pennant for the Cubs. The new release wall, or what was left of it...that wall was my baby, but it was a beast, and though no one ever truly tamed it, I like to think that I came closer than anyone else. The registers, where I basically tried to spend as little time as possible. And the drop box. Where, on that Tuesday morning so, so long ago, I was told to sit and hand-check the overflowing returns. I tried my best to make it seem like I had come full circle, and since much of my life has essentially not progressed in these ten years, it certainly does seem like it in a sad way.


Was it really Purgatory this whole time?

I punched out, dropped my key on the counter, and walked out the door, waving goodbye to my boss - in the end I will only really miss the people I worked with - and got in my car. Then I took a deep breath and stared into space for a minute or two. Then I pulled out of the parking lot and left the store behind me forever.

I have this feeling like I forgot something. In a literal sense, I did: a bottle of water. But I don't think that's all. There is some corner of that empty store that is forever me, and it seems like there is a space within me that is empty. I do not at all feel like this is the beginning of something new, something better. I feel only like something has come to an end. I am wistful and sad about losing something I always claimed to loathe. I think the place "institutionalized" me. Can I make it on the outside?

Right now, it doesn't matter. It's over. This chapter of my life has come to a close, officially, permanently, finally. When I am ready, I can turn the page.

Goodnight, you princes of Maine...you kings of New England.
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PUT THE FUCKING MOVIE IN THE FUCKING BASKET.
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  #2  
Unread April 12th, 2011, 03:28 PM
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If that's you with the dog, then I'm curious why your hands are all bloody. Did you just eat a meatball sub from the gas station, or did you leave out a MAJOR part of the story?
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Unread April 12th, 2011, 03:41 PM
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I think I peed a little from laughing. Thank you for making my week.
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Unread April 12th, 2011, 03:49 PM
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This was a good tribute...thanks for sharing your turning of the page.
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Unread April 12th, 2011, 03:51 PM
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Antithysis > blockbuster
Antithyis < hot head



Not to be a dick but you worked somewhere for 17 years and wasn't a store manager ever?
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Even the Devil, which is the main share holder of blockbuster is saying you guys are making me look bad!

Horse Power is how fast you hit the wall. Torque is how far you take the wall with you.

Last edited by Hot Head; April 12th, 2011 at 03:57 PM.
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Unread April 12th, 2011, 04:03 PM
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I think this is the best of the "last day" stories on here.
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Disclaimer: The postings on this site are my own and do not represent Blockbuster's or Dish Network's positions, strategies or opinions, because they are all a bunch of dickless idiots.
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  #7  
Unread April 12th, 2011, 04:08 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hot Head View Post
Antithysis > blockbuster
Antithyis < hot head



Not to be a dick but you worked somewhere for 17 years and wasn't a store manager ever?
Were you ever a store manager for BBV? I did it for a little while and it was awful, and they pay you in peanuts. I don't recommend it to ANYONE.
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No thanks, I don't rent enough.

Disclaimer: The postings on this site are my own and do not represent Blockbuster's or Dish Network's positions, strategies or opinions, because they are all a bunch of dickless idiots.
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  #8  
Unread April 12th, 2011, 04:15 PM
Spohiesmom2008 Spohiesmom2008 is offline
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Well this made me cry. My last day is thursday when i have to sit and watch them dismantle my computers. Movies leave tomorrow. I was there when the movies all arrived to open the store and I will be there when the last ones leave. This just fucking sucks
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  #9  
Unread April 12th, 2011, 04:29 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BlockbusterLuvsU View Post
Were you ever a store manager for BBV? I did it for a little while and it was awful, and they pay you in peanuts. I don't recommend it to ANYONE.
Agreed. I was on track to be an SM and then demoted myself to CSR. Besides I'm pretty sure s/he said they started working there in 2000, not 1994.
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Unread April 12th, 2011, 04:32 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BlockbusterLuvsU View Post
Were you ever a store manager for BBV? I did it for a little while and it was awful, and they pay you in peanuts. I don't recommend it to ANYONE.
No this wasn't my career if it was maybe but he could of been an rdo.....too

That's what I don't get.
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Even the Devil, which is the main share holder of blockbuster is saying you guys are making me look bad!

Horse Power is how fast you hit the wall. Torque is how far you take the wall with you.
 

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