Ah, Blockbuster Video.
If you're of a certain age -- say a person born before Bill Clinton became president -- you no doubt recall visits to your local Blockbuster as a legitimate thing to do on otherwise quiet Friday nights during your youth.
Finding a good movie (and a good movie that was actually in stock) was one of life's more modest pleasures in a simpler time. Returning the video or DVD before its due date became a challenge of both memory and discipline. Ironically renting *Leprechaun 4: In Space* was never as fun when you were met with a beefy late fee at checkout.
Enter Julian Edelman, the Patriots wide receiver who made a nostalgic discovery during a recent return home.
Edelman's accompanying caption: "When you go home and find out you still haven't returned a blockbuster from 2004..... #latefeesfordays #bekindrewind"
This is where it always paid off -- literally -- to have a friend or family member working at the store. My cousin worked weekend shifts at our local Blockbuster and I'd estimate he waived roughly $38,000 in late fees for me and my friends from 1996 to 2002. Thanks, Matt.
Edelman's situation is relatable. Everyone has that one rental they forgot about. For example, I'm forever saddled with a copy of the Will Ferrell 2004 banger Stranger Than Fiction. It's of little use to me in modern life.
Edelman should be wary. Last week, a Concord, N.C., man was arrested for failing to return a rented VHS copy of the 2002 Tom Green career-pulverizer, Freddy Got Fingered. For what it's worth, Edelman couldn't return Rainbox Six 3 if he tried. Blockbuster was asleep at the switch on the streaming revolution, went belly-up and eventually shuttered nearly every location.
Ultimately, Edelman's foible makes him relatable. Very few of us will ever catch a touchdown in the Super Bowl, but just about all of us have our own Rainbow Six 3 collecting dust somewhere in our parents' house. Blockbuster is the tie that binds.