The 2002 Experiment: One Month Later

KA-CHUNK

I smiled at the librarian, a little mortified by all the racket, and stuck the next DVD in the special box that unlocks the case with a strong magnet.

KA-CHUNK

Why is this thing so loud? I thought as I looked toward the area where people were quietly working on their laptops, probably annoyed at the aural intrusion in the quiet space. I loaded the next one and grimaced.

KA-CHUNK

Wow. This is a little embarrassing, Wise, I thought to myself, looking at the stack of nine seasons of Big Bang Theory. It was too late to put them back. I’d already checked them out and the librarian was standing there watching me.

KA-CHUNK

I tried to remember why I thought I needed these nine seasons all at once. Considering I am mostly sticking to one hour of TV per day,  these DVDs would take me months to finish. So why?

KA-CHUNK.

A few days ago, I had thought that one or two seasons wouldn’t do. I needed all of them. What if I ran out of stuff to watch?

KA-CHUNK

I was worried that I wouldn’t have enough.

KA-CHUNK

So, instead, I got everything.

KA-CHUNK

Too much.

KA-CHUNK

Watching TV shows on DVD may be very 2002 but this DVD hoarding was the “I need all the streaming services so I can binge everything” 2026 equivalent—a new habit manifested in a very analogue, turn of the century way.

How strange.