25°48'18.9"N 80°12'26.6"W
I have a habit of conscientiously avoiding the same route home. I dont necessarily go out of my way, but I do change things up a bit each day. I also don’t like take the same route home as I took to get where I was going. I remember when the habit started. I had just started working as an executive protection agent, still in training; still wearing the “FNG” hat during exercises. I was tired and not paying attention and I was followed home by someone… and I didn’t notice. Fortunately, she wasn’t dangerous or malicious, just cute and trying to be cute.
During 2019, video stores aren’t a thing. Blockbuster video, on the other hand, was very much a thing of my youth during the 80’s and 90’s while I was growing up along the western plains. Living in the country, were the nearest stop light was more than a mile away, the weekly trek into town on Friday night with my mom to get movies for the weekend was an opportunity to catch up on the latest buzz; even though the buzz was mostly gone as the movies had been in and out from the theaters by the time I got to see them. But it was exciting nonetheless. Usually, I could select one, if I had behaved all week. Birthdays and special occasions, two or maybe three(!) movies for the weekend!
During all the drives that I have taken home along NW 7th avenue, I never recognized seeing “Dracula Video.” The store sits near on the south side of an intersection and I would always be focused on the traffic light and other vehicles as I approached, particularly because I would often turn right at that intersection. This night I just happen to be stopped at a red light with an unusual amount of traffic in front of me, resulting in a few moment to observe, remember and reflect.
During 2019, I imagine their clientele is largely without high-speed internet access. Which is also without access to banking, shopping, grocery deliveries and any form of education, especially during the pandemic. Early on during the pandemic, there were many memes online about learning a new skill or taking up a new hobby while stuck at home. Just as I did not see this video store, most of their patrons may be part of the invisible “other” without access to online job training or self-improvement but among the most vulnerable of our community.