Elegy for City Video

I was a college student when I arrived in Cambridge. At first, I was alarmed at the prospect of staying in Massachusetts for four years for several reasons:

1. You cannot put your hand in the air and automatically hail a cab. Hailing a cab requires tons of preparation. You need to call at least fifteen minutes before you actually need the cab. You must have a phone number for a taxi company in your town because even if the adjacent town (ahem, i.e. a certain major metropolitan city called Boston) has a cab in the area, you cannot use it. Finally, hopefully, you have a reliable cab driver who arrives on time and does not peel away in a blast of smoke and burning rubber when you fail to hurl yourself out the window to get into the cab at the first honk of the horn.

2. Most restaurants and stores close early. If you are hungry after midnight, tough.

3. At the time, delivery was not usually a viable option for a student. When it was, you would be required to give your mother's maiden name, last three addresses, social security number and your first born child in order to get delivery of ribs. Sometimes four students would pool together their resources in order to enjoy a wing and a rib (I'm Gonna Git You Sucka shout out).

As I grew to like Cambridge, these flaws became less onerous. During my sophomore year, I became a connoisseur of video rental stores. Suddenly Cambridge was tolerable. My favorite video store is still Hollywood Express, which is now so popular, it has expanded to other locations outside of the Porter Square area. On Tuesdays, I would exploit the two for one special and rent 10 videos. On Wednesdays, I would get my free children's video to catch up on all the Disney movies that I did not see.

I was still a member of City Video and Blockbuster, but I did not use them as much. Hollywood Express was closer, had knowledgable clerks and showcased a number of artsy-fartsy films. City Video was a staple store front in Porter Square. It was dark. The sections were less customer friendly. The video plastic protective covers were no longer clear, but yellowing with age.

City Video recently closed suddenly. There was an 8x10 white sheet of paper with a message written in black marker notifying the customers where to put the videos they were returning. There was not even a closing sale of the merchandise.

Last year, I went there once. Alien vs. Predator was released that Friday, and I had only seen Predator, not Predator 2, which briefly alludes to the Predator hunting Aliens! Shocking! I had to see it before venturing to the theatres. Well, the rest of Cambridge had the same idea because Hollywood Express did not have any extra copies in any format. There were plenty of videos and DVDs of Predator, but video dealers had underestimated the public demand for second-rate sequels.

I then went to Blockbuster where I located the one and only DVD of Predator 2. I sat down to study the intricacies of the drug war meets intergalactic invasion when during the last crucial showdown, the only great scene in the movie, the DVD punked out. It would not continue playing. So I called Blockbuster, and the clerk reassured me that there was an extra one available. While still in pajamas, I rushed out my door clutching the defective DVD only to hear upon arrival, "Oh, I thought that you meant Predator. We don't have any more copies of that one." Noooooooooooo!

Now it was a mission. City Video was my last resort, but fortunately, the Predator 2 video was just sitting there, unaware of the sudden demand for it. Maybe that was City Video's problem. I did not use it except as a last resort, but I was always happy to simply look into its windows as I passed it and went to the supermarket. We took City Video for granted, and now, it is gone after many years of faithful service. I am sorry that you are gone.