Cherishing Blockbuster

The Bend store, three hours from Portland, was already attracting tourists last summer, when it became the last Blockbuster in America. As it prepares to become the last true Blockbuster in the world on Sunday — when the only other one, in Australia, closes — even more selfie-snapping pilgrims have arrived.

One of them, Steven Mercadante, drove his 2013 Kia Soul nearly 1,000 miles from Southern California through pelting rain to get to Bend.

“I just wanted to relive my childhood, said Mr. Mercadante, 32, a Walmart cashier who grew up in a military family that moved frequently. Blockbuster, like strawberry milk and Kraft macaroni and cheese, was a constant and a comfort for him.

NYT

don't condemn this man

for his driven folly

*

he wants his past back

which is never a silly

thing

*

behind all of us

far back in the summer

smiles of a moment

wrapped in amber

 resides Blockbuster

*

one last chance

one final view

to feel

quickened

*

then back to the

brexiting

and trumpeting

and netpicking

*

the comfort is gone

gone from me

taken away by

tinhorn maturity

and barcodes

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