Second Round of Blockbuster Letters:
The Thin Line Between Love and Hate

Another unhappy camper:

Jon:

As I read this article, I have but one thought in my head...who is this asshole. You talk about the employees of Blockbuster video as if they have any control over the placement of a video called swimming with sharks. Let me ask you, which idiot watched it in the first place... Blockbuster video is controlled by a corporation in which the employees working there have no say in where the fucking movie goes. But I do guarantee you that when you sit there and waste their time arguing over where a movie is you are the jerk that is creating that long line. Get a life.

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JR notes: Despite his rough bedside manner, this fellow made a couple of valid points that I had not addressed clearly enough in my original piece. Done. As an experiment, I sent this guy a pleasant email back, but he didn't respond further. Turns out he was more interested in shoving his aggressive hate down my fucking throat than reaching a better understanding. If this guy is an employee, then his hostility could be indicative of the kinds of attitude problems I was encountering in the store when I wrote the Blockbusted! piece. If he's not an employee, then I hope he has gotten laid since he wrote this letter.

A rather happy camper:

Hello Mr. Reed.

I suppose I could start by telling you a bit about myself. I am seventeen, male, and I live in Virginia. I just finished my second day at Blockbuster (as an employee of course…a simple minion, or grunt, if you will - but an employee all the same). For the last 6 months, I have picked up a good 500+ rentals, and a hefty debt on my mom's credit card which I painstakingly paid off every cent. I am beginning to feel that I 'know my movies,' yet at every visit I realize how very few I have actually viewed. During the last six months, I have been increasingly (on a daily basis, literally) excited about recommending movies to others. I love the entertainment industry, and like most teenage guys of my age, I am an avid PC and console gamer.

I find entertainment to be an exceptional form of art (movies and games in particular, obviously), and enjoy the 'deep' benefits they provide to the individual (either on a deep psychological level, or a shallow 'ugh,' I am bored lets get a movie'). I even recently wrote a paper for school that is based on Stephen King's essay 'why we crave horror' (first published in Playboy mag. in 1986). To me, films, games, and books are an incredibly important part of our life's. Helping people find the 'good ones', is my way of helping others. Every time I have gone into Blockbuster, I have thought to myself 'I would love to work here!'.My family owns a winery (which I have the option to work at), yet I chose (and FINALLY) got accepted to Blockbuster because I want to be able to help people the way the employees at my blockbuster help me. So here we go.

I would like to congratulate you on your article. I found it entertaining while at the same time truthful. I am mainly writing you to give you a little input (which, I assume you have plenty of), and maybe hope. The town I live in is extremely small, and well...pretty much a hick town. I have hated almost every aspect of where I live, with only a few exceptions (each characteristic having its pros and cons). The one that relates here is the small town cliché, 'everyone knows me'. Of course, its not so small that everyone has 'Sunday supper' together, but I think you get the point :)...we're talking somewhere between 10 and 30 thousand residents in the surrounding area.

Anyhow, I would like to tell you of my experience at Blockbuster. I walk in, and am greeted with a smile, and then a personal greeting from the employee stationed closest the door (of course, I am not a good example since I am friends with them all). I return the greeting and check the new release list, then move around the store to find something that suits my mood. As I begin my first walk through, I hear something I have gotten pretty accustomed to. The door opens behind me and an elderly couple walks in and is greeted with an 'Oh hello Mr. and Mrs. xyz'....OK now, how many times does an elderly couple come into Blockbuster? Right - this means the employee knows them from somewhere else. Small town eh?

In a few minutes I approach an almost empty front counter and whimper a 'God please help me find something to watch!'. Almost immediately I am fought over by who gets to do the recommendations tonight, often two employees grabbing the job. I am asked what I am in the mood for, then 10 minutes later, I walk out with 6 movies.

And that is not just for me - anyone who has the time, or is hopelessly lost in the selection stage, gets this kind of treatment. This turned out as great for me AND future customers. I am now an employee, and in my first two days (even though I am supposed to be training only) I have helped countless people find 2, 3, even up to 6 awesome movies. Of course there is always the grouch who grunts 'no' to my offer of assistance, but hey - who can blame 'em? We all have days like that.

So, if all of your experiences at blockbuster have been like the one in your article, don't feel too hopeless. Although the idea of you moving to my town simply for the Blockbuster is absurd, there are stores like mine out there, and people like us exist. On a whole, I agree with you. Blockbuster needs a good competitor to give 'em the run for their money...but there is always a diamond in the rough.

Hope things go better for you.

Allen

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Hi Allen.

I really want to thank you for your thoughtful response to my Blockbuster article. In all honesty, people like you represent everything that is right in the world and so, yes, I do get a bit of inspiration when I hear from someone like you.

The atmosphere you are describing is exactly the kind of videostore atmosphere I really miss. It is a lot like the atmosphere in the store in my area that closed because of the big chains like Blockbuster. Actually, I have to admit, even at the Blockbuster that I criticized, the overall attitude of employees does seem to have improved a lot - though not nearly to the level of what you are describing at your store.

Of course, as you probably saw in my article and in my subsequent responses, I am actually more concerned about overall corporate trends in the "infotainment" than I am with the individual treatment of people in stores. Nevertheless, if there is any hope for our messed up world, it is represented by a person such as yourself - someone who has every right to complain about his dead-end job, but instead has found a way to add some passion to his work and make connections with other people, thereby making everybody's lives a little better.

I think that your attitude is going to serve you very well in your life and take you far. I would love to know where you end up, check in with me down the line.

best regards,

Jon

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