Grrr...
The cinetrix just encountered the roiling cauldron of stupidity that is a big-box store and its staff. Not naming any names, I can tell you that it rhymes with "Mest Muy," and it seems to pursue an aggressive idiot-hiring policy.
Why would I subject myself to an atmosphere pretty much guaranteed to reduce me to tears of frustration, not to mention a kicking fit? Well, today is the day that To Have and Have Not comes out on DVD, and there was no way I'd be making it to a [friendlier local] DVD purveyor after work, so I slipped off at lunchtime.
Consulting the shopping monolith's Web site, it looked like I should be able to pick up my copy tout de suite and spend the afternoon fondly turning from my work to gaze at the treasures held within the DVD case. What the site neglected to mention was that I would have to ask a lazy "sales associate" to look up the title [after scanning every single shelf in the DVD section, under "H" as well as "T," just in case]. He'd never heard of it, or Humphrey Bogart for that matter. Sigh. Ascertaining that there were four copies, according to his computer, our boy just stood there and did not shift himself to help me find it. Bastard.
Incredulous, I stalked off, looked around some more, noted that Criterion appears to have released four Kurosawa samurai films and that Twentieth Century Fox's idea of the ultimate chick flick collection seems to list heavily toward Ashley Judd--to the point of taking on water. Then I asked young Young for help. He also checked his computer, came and looked in the "T"s with me, then suggested it might be hiding in the warehouse and went off, himself, to look.
Enough time passed I suspected him of ditching me and hiding in the storeroom until I gave up and went away. I've worked retail; I understand that impulse. Then, the clouds parted, and Young emerged from the dank, cavernous warehouse [OK, not really], triumphantly wielding a copy of To Have and Have Not. Yay! He'd even been buried under a stack of falling DVDs during his quest. Good man.
I still hate "Mest Muy," and I'm chagrined that I didn't stalk out and take my business elsewhere. But I can't wait to see Steve and Slim tonight.
