There was nothing quite like browsing through your local Blockbuster... nothing quite like browsing through any local video store, really. Thanks to Redditor _PM_ME_UR_TIDDIES, we now know the answer to this age old question: "Redditors who worked at Blockbuster as the company was going under, what was it like working at your store during those final days?"
"We had a huge..."
We had a huge liquidation sale, and we just stopped caring since there was no longer video renting to customers, just selling remaining videos and games. I remember when I was first hired, our district manager said "Video stores will be obsolete by 2010, internet video watching will be the future." He was right.
"The liquidation sale..."
The liquidation sale at my local Blockbuster is how I got a copy of LA Noire for only $20, not even 7 months after the game came out. They let me mix and match the disks (360 version is 3 disks) between their copies so I could have the ones with the least amount of scratches on them
"Honestly..."
Honestly... we kind of had a blast. Nobody gave a crap anymore. By corporate policy, we were only allowed to put 'PG' and below movies on the in-store television system... but we watched Jurassic Park 24/7 and now I can pretty much quote that whole movie. We wrote funny signs for the hardware (e.g. "Large-size filing cabinet - makes a great stocking stuffer!") and made a special display for our very last bag of Twizzlers. And on the last day we threw stuff at the big Blockbuster sign in the store and made a huge hole in it. Maybe I'm looking at it with rose-colored glasses because it's been 10+ years but for some reason I remember it fondly.
"It sucked."
It sucked. It sucked hard. And it started sucking long before we knew for sure that it was the end (which for my store came in a mandatory meeting just a few days before Christmas).
We stopped taking our own gift cards. Had to redirect the customer to corporate because in store, they had no value at all.
I worked there for 8 years. My team was exceptionally close, and most of us had been together that whole time. On the night that we transferred all the rental inventory over into sale items, it was more of a going away party that lasted all night. We sang, and laughed, but it was also very sad.
My love of working for BBV wasn't necessarily because of the job itself, and it definitely wasn't because of the company. It was my coworkers, and (most of) our regular customers. I still miss them all nearly that many years later.
"I was an early casualty..."
GiphyI was an early casualty, our district started setting ridiculously high sales goals and pushing up selling merch. (I guess someone up the ranks was optimistic?) But my particular store was located in a lower income, largely rural area, and the bulk of our customers were people who had the monthly unlimited pass and would just trade out their movies every couple of days. Naturally we did not hit goals and our district manager fired me as "an example", as I was the lowest assistant manager on the totem pole.
"It was fun..."
It was fun and rough at the same time. Stores closing, combining with other local stores, team members being relocated or let go as stores were shut. It was such a fun job, everyday was work of course but, a retail form of the entertainment business. We had regulars that would come in often, kids that were excited to come in, etc. Something about families picking out games and movies together, not just selecting on a screen, made it kind of special I think. Buying candy, buying used movies, gift ideas for holidays and such. I will always miss being there.
"I left..."
I left before the literal final days, but worked for a few years just prior to them. I actually started in 2010, and it was already over. The environment was weird. Our SM was obliged to overperform a sense of "everything's fine" that literally no one believed. No one else cared even a little at all. I mean, we did the job, but the stakes always felt non existent when it came to things like making candy sales or getting game preorders and stuff.
Customers were all pretty great, though, and anyone who was an ahole...well we just felt no obligation to cater to anyone so there was a lot less "customer is always right" and a lot more "I mean you're welcome to leave if you're going to talk to us like that."
Honestly it was a wild first job experience. Not quite like anywhere else I've ever been.
"We took the hundreds..."
We took the hundreds of AOL free trial CDs that we had and every night after we closed we would take them out of the packages and frisbeed them onto the roof of the building.
So many discs. Those little buggers are probably still up there, blinding low flying planes.
"Worked at one..."
Worked at one as the company spiraled the drain and was fired before the stores in our area started to shut down.
The first six months - year that I was there was awesome. We were a franchise location so things like upselling and add ons weren't really emphasized.
Then we sold out to the Blockbuster company because the guy who owned our store wanted to get out while the getting was good.
Basically all of our policies changed overnight. We went from having our goal being, ya know, finding the right movie to rent to someone to getting penalized if they left with only a movie.
There's an episode of King of the Hill where Hank spends a month talking people up about finding the right grill for them and then like Bobbie is hired to be a propane tank wiper but he sells people the grills they don't need and at the end of the month, Hank has to swoop in to sell people the stuff they actually need.
I was like Hank Hill. I knew movies and knew most of our regulars well enough to know who needed what so basically every day I wasn't in the guys who were good at sales were getting them what they didn't need and I would have to clean up the mess the next day.
People always say that Netflix killed Blockbuster but honestly what happened was Blockbuster panicked and then got greedy and shot themselves in the foot. Instead of providing decent service to people they decided that the best thing to do was try to make as much money as quickly as possible.
"When I was first hired..."
GiphyWhen I was first hired, we went from 10 employees:
- Store manager, assistant manager, 3 shift managers, 5 CSRs.
To 5:
- Store manager, assistant manager, 3 shift managers.
It was weird the way corporate tried to make us cut costs. If a store is telling you to reuse old garbage bags, you know they're in a bad place.
There were days where only 2 employees ran the whole store. One of the lead managers came in to open, and a 2nd manager came in to help close in the evening.
We weren't allowed to give any refunds for any reason. If the customer didn't want an item after it was rung up, we weren't allowed to cancel the transaction.
If the register was under for some reason, the store manager made the closer pay the rest and said they would refund them later. Often times they didn't.
They still made us push the rewards program up until the end. But instead of rewarding us for selling rewards cards, we would be given a write-up or fired if we didn't sell any in a month.
It kinda got a bit scary at the end.
Experiencing death is a fascinating and frightening idea.
Who doesn't want to know what is waiting for us on the other side?
But so many of us want to know and then come back and live a little longer.
It would be so great to be sure there is something else.
But the whole dying part is not that great, so we'll have to rely on other people's accounts.
Redditor AlaskaStiletto wanted to hear from everyone who has returned to life, so they asked:
"Redditors who have 'died' and come back to life, what did you see?"
Sensations
Happy Good Vibes GIF by Major League SoccerGiphy"My dad's heart stopped when he had a heart attack and he had to be brought back to life. He kept the paper copy of the heart monitor which shows he flatlined. He said he felt an overwhelming sensation of peace, like nothing he had felt before."
PeachesnPain
Recovery
"I had surgical complications in 2010 that caused a great deal of blood loss. As a result, I had extremely low blood pressure and could barely stay awake. I remember feeling like I was surrounded by loved ones who had passed. They were in a circle around me and I knew they were there to guide me onwards. I told them I was not ready to go because my kids needed me and I came back."
"My nurse later said she was afraid she’d find me dead every time she came into the room."
"It took months, and blood transfusions, but I recovered."
good_golly99
Take Me Back
"Overwhelming peace and happiness. A bright airy and floating feeling. I live a very stressful life. Imagine finding out the person you have had a crush on reveals they have the same feelings for you and then you win the lotto later that day - that was the feeling I had."
"I never feared death afterward and am relieved when I hear of people dying after suffering from an illness."
rayrayrayray
Free
The Light Minnie GIF by (G)I-DLEGiphy"I had a heart surgery with near-death experience, for me at least (well the possibility that those effects are caused by morphine is also there) I just saw black and nothing else but it was warm and I had such inner peace, its weird as I sometimes still think about it and wish this feeling of being so light and free again."
TooReDTooHigh
This is why I hate surgery.
You just never know.
Shocked
Giphy"More of a near-death experience. I was electrocuted. I felt like I was in a deep hole looking straight up in the sky. My life flashed before me. Felt sad for my family, but I had a deep sense of peace."
Admirable_Buyer6528
The SOB
"Nursing in the ICU, we’ve had people try to die on us many times during the years, some successfully. One guy stood out to me. His heart stopped. We called a code, are working on him, and suddenly he comes to. We hadn’t vented him yet, so he was able to talk, and he started screaming, 'Don’t let them take me, don’t let them take me, they are coming,' he was scared and yelling."
"Then he yelled a little more, as we tried to calm him down, he screamed, 'No, No,' and gestured towards the end of the bed, and died again. We didn’t get him back. It was seriously creepy. We called his son to tell him the news, and the son said basically, 'Good, he was an SOB.'”
1-cupcake-at-a-time
Colors
"My sister died and said it was extremely peaceful. She said it was very loud like a train station and lots of talking and she was stuck in this area that was like a curtain with lots of beautiful colors (colors that you don’t see in real life according to her) a man told her 'He was sorry, but she had to go back as it wasn’t her time.'"
Hannah_LL7
"I had a really similar experience except I was in an endless garden with flowers that were colors I had never seen before. It was quiet and peaceful and a woman in a dress looked at me, shook her head, and just said 'Not yet.' As I was coming back, it was extremely loud, like everyone in the world was trying to talk all at once. It was all very disorienting but it changed my perspective on life!"
huntokarrr
The Fog
"I was in a gray fog with a girl who looked a lot like a young version of my grandmother (who was still alive) but dressed like a pioneer in the 1800s she didn't say anything but kept pulling me towards an opening in the wall. I kept refusing to go because I was so tired."
"I finally got tired of her nagging and went and that's when I came to. I had bled out during a c-section and my heart could not beat without blood. They had to deliver the baby and sew up the bleeders. refill me with blood before they could restart my heart so, like, at least 12 minutes gone."
Fluffy-Hotel-5184
Through the Walls
"My spouse was dead for a couple of minutes one miserable night. She maintains that she saw nothing, but only heard people talking about her like through a wall. The only thing she remembers for absolute certain was begging an ER nurse that she didn't want to die."
"She's quite alive and well today."
Hot-Refrigerator6583
Well let's all be happy to be alive.
It seems to be all we have.
Trying to lose weight is a struggle understood by many people regardless of size.
The goal of reaching a healthy weight may seem unattainable, but with diet and exercise, it can pay off through persistence and discipline.
Seeing the pounds gradually drop off can also be a great motivator and incentivize people to stay the course.
Those who've achieved their respective weight goals shared their experiences when Redditor apprenti8455 asked:
"People who lost a lot of weight, what surprises you the most now?"
Redditors didn't see these coming.
Shiver Me Timbers
"I’m always cold now!"
– Telrom_1
"I had a coworker lose over 130 pounds five or six years ago. I’ve never seen him without a jacket on since."
– r7ndom
"140 lbs lost here starting just before COVID, I feel like that little old lady that's always cold, damn this top comment was on point lmao."
– mr_remy
Drawing Concern
"I lost 100 pounds over a year and a half but since I’m old(70’s) it seems few people comment on it because (I think) they think I’m wasting away from some terminal illness."
– dee-fondy
"Congrats on the weight loss! It’s honestly a real accomplishment 🙂"
"Working in oncology, I can never comment on someone’s weight loss unless I specifically know it was on purpose, regardless of their age. I think it kind of ruffles feathers at times, but like I don’t want to congratulate someone for having cancer or something. It’s a weird place to be in."
– LizardofDeath
Unleashing Insults
"I remember when I lost the first big chunk of weight (around 50 lbs) it was like it gave some people license to talk sh*t about the 'old' me. Old coworkers, friends, made a lot of not just negative, but harsh comments about what I used to look like. One person I met after the big loss saw a picture of me prior and said, 'Wow, we wouldn’t even be friends!'”
"It wasn’t extremely common, but I was a little alarmed by some of the attention. My weight has been up and down since then, but every time I gain a little it gets me a little down thinking about those things people said."
– alanamablamaspama
Not Everything Goes After Losing Weight
"The loose skin is a bit unexpected."
– KeltarCentauri
"I haven’t experienced it myself, but surgery to remove skin takes a long time to recover. Longer than bariatric surgery and usually isn’t covered by insurance unless you have both."
– KatMagic1977
"It definitely does take a long time to recover. My Dad dropped a little over 200 pounds a few years back and decided to go through with skin removal surgery to deal with the excess. His procedure was extensive, as in he had skin taken from just about every part of his body excluding his head, and he went through hell for weeks in recovery, and he was bedridden for a lot of it."
– Jaew96
These Redditors shared their pleasantly surprising experiences.
Shopping
"I can buy clothes in any store I want."
– WaySavvyD
"When I lost weight I was dying to go find cute, smaller clothes and I really struggled. As someone who had always been restricted to one or two stores that catered to plus-sized clothing, a full mall of shops with items in my size was daunting. Too many options and not enough knowledge of brands that were good vs cheap. I usually went home pretty frustrated."
– ganache98012
No More Symptoms
"Lost about 80 pounds in the past year and a half, biggest thing that I’ve noticed that I haven’t seen mentioned on here yet is my acid reflux and heartburn are basically gone. I used to be popping tums every couple hours and now they just sit in the medicine cabinet collecting dust."
– colleennicole93
Expanding Capabilities
"I'm all for not judging people by their appearance and I recognise that there are unhealthy, unachievable beauty standards, but one thing that is undeniable is that I can just do stuff now. Just stamina and flexibility alone are worth it, appearance is tertiary at best."
– Ramblonius
People Change Their Tune
"How much nicer people are to you."
"My feet weren't 'wide' they were 'fat.'"
– LiZZygsu
"Have to agree. Lost 220 lbs, people make eye contact and hold open doors and stuff"
"And on the foot thing, I also lost a full shoe size numerically and also wear regular width now 😅"
– awholedamngarden
It's gonna take some getting used to.
Bones Everywhere
"Having bones. Collarbones, wrist bones, knee bones, hip bones, ribs. I have so many bones sticking out everywhere and it’s weird as hell."
– Princess-Pancake-97
"I noticed the shadow of my ribs the other day and it threw me, there’s a whole skeleton in here."
– bekastrange
Knee Pillow
"Right?! And they’re so … pointy! Now I get why people sleep with pillows between their legs - the knee bones laying on top of each other (side sleeper here) is weird and jarring."
– snic2030
"I lost only 40 pounds within the last year or so. I’m struggling to relate to most of these comments as I feel like I just 'slimmed down' rather than dropped a ton. But wow, the pillow between the knees at night. YES! I can relate to this. I think a lot of my weight was in my thighs. I never needed to do this up until recently."
– Strongbad23
More Mobility
"I’ve lost 100 lbs since 2020. It’s a collection of little things that surprise me. For at least 10 years I couldn’t put on socks, or tie my shoes. I couldn’t bend over and pick something up. I couldn’t climb a ladder to fix something. Simple things like that I can do now that fascinate me."
"Edit: Some additional little things are sitting in a chair with arms, sitting in a booth in a restaurant, being able to shop in a normal store AND not needing to buy the biggest size there, being able to easily wipe my butt, and looking down and being able to see my penis."
– dma1965
People making significant changes, whether for mental or physical health, can surely find a newfound perspective on life.
But they can also discover different issues they never saw coming.
That being said, overcoming any challenge in life is laudable, especially if it leads to gaining confidence and ditching insecurities.