All Americain

To take a different tone from yesterday's post, and get back to reasons I love this city, I'd like to take a moment to congratulate it. My wonderful former neighbor in Roland Park, Max Weiss just wrote this article in the new issue of Baltimore Magazine in tribute to Video Americain- who are about to celebrate their 20th year in the Coldspring Lane branch in Roland Park. While they are still struggling with building upkeep, and making payments, they are nonetheless surviving and sticking with us. While the owners turn down the idea of holding a fundraiser, John Water's appears in the article suggesting we all stick a donation through their mail slot at night. Not a bad idea.
The end of her article mentions a moment that one of the interviewees had with a customer one night- they were watching a movie (Two for the Road with Audrey Hepburn and Albert Finney) and at one point found themselves in the middle of the store, looking at each other crying. I loved hearing that, because Phil and I had a similar experience not 2 months ago. We were in the Roland Park branch and a collection of old cartoons was playing. It was a friday night, and we'd felt a little lame staying in and watching a movie, but I felt sick, and he was tired. The place was packed, and the louder the two guys at the desk laughed at the animation, the more people came into the front room and started watching. After about 30 minutes, we realized we were surrounded by twenty people, all of us absent mindedly clutching our movie selections (which ranged from a japenese horror movie, an action movie, TV shows on DVD, to Hillary Duff movies, and a french film) ignoring the room full of new releases and the traffic jam outside, and laughing together out loud at cartoons. When a good one ended, everyone clapped. Moments like that..... those are what make me love Baltimore... I just need a better memory, so I can keep those things in my head.
Congratulations, Video Americain. Thanks for getting us together (or at least out of the house), where netflix couldn't.