Last minute Christmas

As a general thing I'm a fan of stores being closed on Christmas Eve. It seems like if people knew they would be closed they would just plan ahead and get what they need before hand. And then all those poor little clerks and sales associates could be home with their families, basking in the warm glow of the television.

But they're open and, as it so happens, I was one of the many pressing hard against the 6 pm closing time.

Well, Bethy wanted to watch It's A Wonderful Life - it's not exactly a Christmas tradition in our house as Bethy and I are the only ones who really love the movie. Holly and Daniel outright hate it and my mother can't get through a viewing without commenting on the stupidity of "Every time a bell rings an angel gets it's wings".

Usually the Christmas classic comes on tv at some point during the season, but not this year, so we set off for Wal-Mart where a Christmas DVD display rack should have held the answer to our dilemma. Then we hit up Target. Then Blockbuster. Once burgeoning with holiday delight these stores now only held a picked over selection of such titles as Caillou's Holiday Movie or Deck The Halls . The only conclusion being that now every family in the tri-state area owns a copy of It's A Wonderful Life - well, all except one.

We were able to obtain a copy - it was the last one in Blockbuster. Collectors edition, two disk set. "The black & white and the color version," cooed the Blockbuster clerk, as if this made it better that I was paying $24.95 for something that I normally watch on tv. Well, it seemed silly not to buy it after we'd been to all those stores!

Oh, you thought one family didn't own a copy? Well, they don't. A customer came in a half hour later wanting the buy the film and tragically they were unable to purchase it...it's even more tragic because at the same time as their holiday spirit was being gently crushed...we realized that the reason It's A Wonderful Life hadn't come on tv yet...was because the networks also thought Christmas Eve was a great time to watch it.

So, the collectors edition, complete with commentary, original trailer, and a superfluous color copy (because who's going to watch It's A Wonderful Life in color?) will be wending it's way back to Blockbuster. Too late, of course, for the random Blockbust customer. Her Christmas was probably ruined.