Sadly, another soldier has gone down. This one was known as The Video Store in Sebastopol California. I'd never been there before the closing sale which is my bad but it was a bit out of the way for us which is no excuse. It's something that I feel bad about. My lack of support is annoying BUT it wasn't like me popping in to grab a Used DVD or something was going to make the difference between life or death. Still though, I suck.
Sebastopol is a small hippy town that borders Santa Rosa. It's where we go every sunday for the flea market. One of the two flea markets that we hit up. I know, I just said that it was out of the way for us but the flea market is on one side, the video store is on the other. I already said that I suck so leave it be.
The Video Store has been open in it's present locale for 20 plus years so it's really sad to see it go. I felt that it'd be there forever and that I had all the time in the world to dip in there. I was totally wrong but I felt that Hippy-Dippy Sebastopol was the sort of place that would strive to keep it's last Video Store open just out of the belief that it's the right thing to do... It is the right thing to do BTW. Support your local Video Store if you are lucky enough to have one.
The store was cool in that they had a bunch of handwritten signage that gave the place a one of a kind feel. They also sold toys and stuff, mostly Funko stuff like Pop Vinyls but still, it's pretty cool to diversify your stock.
Considering that Sebastopol is a wacky town and the fact that the store had been open for so long I did expect it to be wackier than it was. IDK, I imagined that it'd have like tons and tons of stuff like stacked to the ceiling but it was really more or less a standard DVD store.
It's wrong to hold something up to a standard that you have made up in your head but I was a bit disappointed overall. It was fine and if this was your video store it'd be fine but it sort of lacked the wacky-wildness that I love to see in a mom and pop store. Does that make sense? It was pretty standard. Standard but fine.
Still though, I am super sad to see it go. That takes Sonoma County down to 3 Video Stores, two in Santa Rosa and one in Petaluma.
Listen, I say it all the time but if you have a Video Store near you go there and give support. The world was a better more interesting place when you had to go out and get movies as opposed to the more convenient digital world we live in now. I truly believe that.
I love convenience but the thrill of going out and hunting for the flick that you wanted to watch added to the fun you had when you actually watched it. It felt like you earned it. You appreciated it more. It adds to the overall experience and what is life if not a series of experiences. No one will look back and reminisce over a movie they watched alone at home on Netflix...
Get out. Go do something fun. Go hunt or something and then savor it when you have it.
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