Redbox Etiquette

"Patience is the art of concealing your impatience." - Guy Kawasaki 

    A buddy of mine recommended sharing my thoughts on Redbox etiquette. Redbox, for those who may not know, is a kiosk that is placed near high traffic storefronts that offer current movie and game titles for around $1-2. As on-demand services took over, like Amazon, Hulu, Netflix, etc., we all saw the extinction of our movie rental hubs like Blockbuster and Hollywood video. One service that rose to the top like the original Start Wars movie poster, was Redbox.

   As first, the service was new, exciting, and cheap. Soon, as word got out, you'd find you favorite film was out of stock and you'd have to either try another day or go on a Zelda-like quest around town looking for a kiosk that had it. As the product and service evolved, we were introduced to movie reservations online. The Wife and I try to stay on top of the best way to not be met with frustration. Disneyland's FASTPASS is similar in bypassing long waits. So that's what we've been doing as of late with Redbox.

   However, the one thing that does NOT seem to end, is the wait for people who do not know about any of these time saving methods. With a Friday evening line that rivals Disneyland's Peter Pan, they offending patron will stand there and read every movie's synopsis, before reviewing the movies they MIGHT be interested in, and then finally narrowing it down to the ones they ARE interested in, and then discuss it at length with anyone accompanying them, before FINALLY checking out for the first time,.....EVER, which will take another five minutes.

   I do not profess to believe my opinions should be law, but it seems fair to say in this movie rental model, that if there is ANYONE behind you, performing the actions stated in the previous paragraph should be suspended and one should make a damn decision. It's inevitable that once I'm finally allowed to swipe my card and pick up a reserved movie, I STILL have people tapping their feet behind me. Yes, I know you're next,....I had to wait for that person too! It's about thinking of others. I try to be considerate of how long I'm taking, and will only browse when I see the kiosk has no one at the screen. It may never change, despite all the thousands of sighs and feet tapping going on. As it's said patience is a virtue.

J.