One man, one boy, and one girl approach the counter with all three Star Wars movies in hand. Father looks to son and says, "I think we should play rock, paper, scissors to decide between Star Wars and Berryfest Princess" Son looks horrified. Father laughs. I say, "I think you should go with Berryfest Princess," and sneak a glance at the daughter whose eyes are brimming with some raw emotion. There is sadness there for sure. Father laughs at my joke, but I do not smile. I think she wanted that movie more than Star Wars, and my heart is breaking. She will learn this lesson a million times, I think, the notion that her desires are not as valuable, are, in fact, a joke. When she marries (and she will), she will have to fight to have her voice be heard as equal to that of her husband's. And she will think this is normal.
Then it occurs to me that maybe I'm reading too much into this brief encounter, and I wonder what the hell Berryfest Princess is.
Meanwhile, I'm putting prices on movies that used to be for rent but are now going out for sale because the management needs to earn some quick cash, and doing this feels like I'm a cartoon mouse sawing a circle around the floor under my feet.
