Internet killed the video store?

Miles and I used to have so many choices for seeing movies at home. Up until recently, we had two large video rental stores on either side of our block. If one of them didn’t have a movie, the other would. Me, Miles, and my ankle-length Spongebob pajama pants were late-night regulars at both. Now we walk by both large empty buildings everyday and I feel a pang of sadness over the ghost town feel. Sure, there are online options for video rental, but sometimes, I just want to wander down familiar grungy aisles, feel the rich fiery musk of rotting carpet and stale popcorn stinging my nostrils, get irritated at Miles for not allowing me to freely browse at my leisure because he is rolling on and snorfing on said carpet, and stare at and flip over a billion empty dvd boxes while complaining to a friend that I can’t find anything good until finally giving up and randomly picking something I haven’t seen. This is a process I have done my whole life, and, with the exception of blissfully welcoming a move to this neighborhood with the two video stores right outside my door, is a routine I have always taken somewhat for granted. The only video rental store now left within our walking distance is a small independent one. It lacks the classic pungent aroma (no semi-wet definetely-rotting carpet, no stale popcorn), and actually makes it frustratingly straightforward to pick a video due to the thoughtful handwritten notes everywhere about what is actually decent viewing material. But, they have a fairly good selection of dvds, and the store is named after a dog, so we are set, for now…