The less virtual Craigslist

The thing I like about thrift stores, used book stores, Craigslist is that each object has a history besides the one you are about to create with it, a history outside of the factory. Someone, at some point, decided to buy it or invest in a hobby or give it to someone they thought would appreciate it. There is a conscious decision "YES," and there is just as a conscious a decision when they say "NO," I'll give this away now.

McKay's: the ultimate used book/CD/DVD/software store. I bring visitors there because I think it's a destination. There's always something for everyone, and a lot of it.

I've never really had somebody comment on my (potential/actual) purchases before. Not even the cashiers. I guess even at a used book store the drugstore/grocery store rule applies. I mean, self-check out is popular for a reason.

Joanne and I took our cousin Jasmine (she's visiting for the week) to McKay's after going on a tour of Bull Run (first time for all of us). I pointed Jasmine to the manga/anime/graphic novel section which was about 2-3 whole shelves-worth of material (she'd asked if I read manga, or if there was manga at my school library--apparently it's abundant at Norview HS). I bee-lined it to the DVD sets to check if My So-Called Life or Freaks and Geeks were on the shelves again (they weren't; things like that always appear when you're not looking for them).

The Little People, Big World set was still there. Grey's Anatomy. Dexter. New on the shelves was Breaking Bad: Seasons 1-3. I picked up the first season, $15. A classic horror movie (with directors and actors you hear about but never actually watch) set was only $4. I thought of Staci's November birthday and got it.

Right next to the DVD sets are the foreign language DVDs, and a cover of one particular DVD caught my eye. Joanne voiced what I was thinking: it was the same cover design of the Criterion Collection edition of Au Revoir Les Enfants. I did a paper on Au Revoir Les Enfants a couple of semesters ago for an IR through Film class. This one was called Lucien, Lacombe.

"It's good." I heard someone say somewhere behind me.

I wasn't planning to turn around. But then nobody had replied to the man's comment. So I turned around, waiting for someone to say something back.

A young-ish dude, he was talking to me and Joanne. Woops. 20-something, post-grad probably. Non-descript but good-looking with a green tee and neat blonde stubble.

I was instantly flattered, and then immediately a little embarrassed for the Relay for Life T-shirt, baggy light blue knee-length board shorts, and zip-up black boots I was wearing with my hair tied up because my neck was hot.

I asked if he'd seen Au Revoir, Les Enfants. A test, I guess you could say. And then he shot back with a whole mumbo jumbo which was a spot-on, almost academic or critic's description of Louis Malle's directorial style. WTF?!

Okay, mister, if you know Louis Malle so well, "Which one's better?"

"Well, they're just... different." A pretentious answer. A very critical answer. But not a sure answer.

"Huh."

I went back to sizing up whether or not $15 was worth getting this DVD. Joanne said it wasn't. Then she walked away, saying she was going to find Jasmine in the graphic novel section. She left me alone!

And I thought I was done. I was going to spend a couple more seconds deciding and digesting and then the guy (with my BACK to him) says if I like that kind of stuff, I might like this Finnish movie he just picks up from the section he's standing at. The comedy section? A movie in Finnish isn't in the foreign language section but in the regular comedy section? Inconceivable.

"Cool. Huh."

He puts it back but the Finnish and the fact that this guy keeps going makes me pick it up to consider it again. It was nominated for an Oscar.

I escaped back with my handful of DVDs and retreat to the manga/anime/graphic novel section.

I ended up buying everything (including the Finnish comedy) except for Breaking Bad, which I figured I could find easily enough online or borrow from Staci.

Later on in the car, Joanne says something about why people are put off by pretentiousness. And how it's just everyday practice in intellect, ambition, curiosity, courage, in a way, to not hide capabilities. I wasn't entirely convinced (I'm one of those who are put off by it, but I may practice it). We did agree, however, that this man was some kind of plant, a business idea implemented by the crafty geniuses behind the desks of McKay's. "Green Day's not real punk rock," Joanne suggests. "Try this." Haha!

Thinking about it more, well, 2 things. First, I'm more embarrrassed in retrospect because this guy was probably just trying to nudge his way to the foreign film section (and the Finnish comedy was as far as he could get). And 2) I wonder if Lacombe, Lucien was his?

Anyway in the span of writing this entry it has actually become more explicitly about Craigslist I'd planned: I've posted my first Craigslist ad, ever. It's in Missed Connections.