I bought my wife the entire series of Downtown Abbey on DVD as a Christmas present not noticing they were Blu-ray. That only matters if your DVD is 20th Century technology. Blu-ray can play DVD's from past vintage years, but like most technology it's downward looking; meaning my technology cannot play Blu-ray because it doesn't recognize its existence; A speaking Martian to a grape situation.
Once we realized that, I was tasked to return to our local Box store and either exchange them for an older version or get a refund. Unbeknownst to me, the current policy at most stores that carry media, once the product has been opened they cannot refund. In the spirit of the Original Barbie Doll being worth thousands of dollars but only if she comes with her original box. I was unprepared for this bit of resistance, but asked to speak with someone who possessed a yes vote. I learned over the years almost every 'associate' has a 'no' vote when it comes to questions about returning products. Few possess the elusive 'yes' that customers so urgently seek when returning products that don't meet their needs.
Brandon was gifted at listening and commiserating with me over my situation when realizing I was in the twenty-first century. It reminded me of my Spanish teacher who painstakingly explained to us students that if we did not turn in homework we would get a zero and when computing scores they would have a negative effect on our grades. So when students were upset with their grades they were invited to come to her office and see all those zeros and then she'd be willing to sit with them and 'be sad together'.
Recognizing I was not cutting ice with Brandon, and just about filled to the brim with "I understand, and I am sorry" I impulsively let go of my outrage and indignation and asked,
"So how much are your Blu-ray players?"
Brandon's face lit with joy.
"Oh they are quite reasonable, cheap actually. You can get one for under fifty bucks."
So as he took me to the Blu-ray display counter he continued to empathize with my plight, saying he really was unable to do anything about corporate policy. Now that we were best friends again (as retail clerks work so hard to convince the customer they are), He responded to some of my protest, such as why didn't they post a caution about Blu-ray DVD's not playing in older players?
"Frankly we don't do that because its so rare that they get these kinds of problems anymore" What a subtle way of saying I was behind the learning curve. As I was checking out with my brand new Blu-ray player, I mentioned that it felt oddly like finding out there was no Santa. The clerk at the register and Brandon smiled at me, but I could see they didn't comprehend my meaning.
"When you were a kid and you found out there was no Santa and you paused, shocked with the news. But you also knew you had to accept the truth of it in time. Your world may have gotten bigger, and closer to actual, but it also became a little bit colder."
They nodded their understanding. But I realized, they were young, they haven't had enough experience with disillusion yet to recognize its a familiar part of life. Not yet anyway. I suspect they were just happy I didn't get violent and turn over the M&M display like the last old fart who didn't get his way.
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