I am once again about to sound like the old man in the room. However, I must confess that I really miss the video stores we've had over the years in both Hannibal and Quincy. Be kind. Let's rewind.

The current and future generations will never know the excitement of finding a rentable video cassette behind the movie box of a brand new release.

As a child of the 80's, my generation grew up with video rental stores as our movie option. In Hannibal, I spent a good amount of my high school time at Great River Video. Very nice family ran the place and I was on a first-name basis with pretty much everyone that worked there. I also frequented the Blockbuster location in the Huck Finn Shopping Center every now and then. Yes, it was Broadway Video before it became Blockbuster. Thanks to James Hark for reminding me about Stutsmans Studio at Broadway and 6th Street in Hannibal, too.

When I moved to Quincy in the late 80's and early 90's, I was a constant presence in both Blockbuster and Family Video. Thanks Robin for reminding me about Frese Video. Went there many times. I also had friends mention the Quincy Public Library and Mr. Video, too. Is it weird to admit that I can still remember the smell of those locations? I can.

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I'm not in denial about the convenience of streaming movies/shows/whatever. I'd kick myself when I'd forget to return a VHS tape and end up paying a late fee. Bah. There's also the fact that the movie you want to watch is never "checked out" so you can enjoy whatever you want on demand.

I think we've lost something quite significant as the world moved on from brick and mortar video places to online only movies. I can count many friendships that developed with people I would run into in the video stores where it would begin with small talk about recent movies that were good or needed to be avoided at all costs. Those stores almost became Friday and Saturday hangouts when there was nothing else to do.

The current and future generations will never know the excitement of finding a rentable video cassette behind the movie box of a brand new release. That's a TRAVESTY.

Do I enjoy the convenience of pushing a button on a remote and streaming whatever I want from my couch now? Sure. But, do I miss the camaraderie of discovering a good movie I never knew about from a fellow renter? I absolutely do. But, I recognize those days are gone now.

(*sad face*)

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