I hate getting into movies after they start. Fucking hate it. But I thought I could squeeze some errands in and then go watch Annihilation (which, by the way, I'm still rolling around in my head; the sound design is fantastic, and yet I'm kind of struck cold by it), and that caused a cascade of things that I regret even doing.
I made fantastic time on the drive from work. What on its worst days could take upwards of an hour instead took about 35 minutes. The flick was supposed to begin at 7:05, but by the time I got to the side street on my way home, it was just past 6:30. Now, I could go home. But I realized a few things just as I was getting off this off-ramp. Father's CVS is on the way, and he said that there is medicine waiting for him. Also, Home Depot is close by, and I surely had time to return the snowblower sparkplug I didn't really need. So I could kill two birds with one stone (so to speak), and then get to the theater with plenty of time. Hell, I thought I would stop by home to pick up the mail and to make sure the water pipe hasn't leaked!
Stupid me.
So I went to Home Depot first to return the sparkplug. But there was a guy in front of me returning some massive items, and the people didn't seem to be in the middle of processing the return. I realized at that point that I might not have as much time as I thought, and I have no idea when these guys are going to get to me, so I bolted to CVS, where the guy there said that there is no prescription for Father. I had one I picked up over the weekend, but he said there was one on Monday. Was Father wrong? Did he actually get a call? All I know is, there wasn't one. I had no reason to stop by there at all.
Oh well, I'll just go home real quick to make sure the house is still standing. I did that; got the mail, took off my watch, then went back outside. The movie theater is only, like, five minutes away. Plus there are trailers, right? So I still took my sweet time; I think I left home at 7:05, the listed start time. But then I got stuck behind a slow car, and then I needed to pee, then I had to buy popcorn and pop, the latter of which I had to get myself.
So it was about a quarter after 7, possibly even later than that, when I got into the theater, and honestly, with all the time I spent getting ready, I thought, "Oh, shit, if I am late for the start of this movie. ..." And yep, the first thing I saw on the screen wasn't a trailer but Natalie Portman saying something. Goddammit, I missed the beginning. And I hate it because without knowing precisely where and when it began (I didn't miss the title card at least) I feel as though I am missing a big chunk of the movie, the start point from which the film is supposed to take you on a journey. I got in not at the beginning, and all I can think about is what I missed. I don't know if I missed much from Annihilation. For all I know it was just, like, 30 seconds. But I don't know for sure, and I am fucking itching to see if I go onto YouTube or something to see the first scene, no matter how inconsequential it could be to understanding the film.
Sure, that guy at Home Depot could have, like, not been there, or I could have went on my hunch and assumed that there was nothing at CVS for me to pick up. I could have skipped home, or skipped going to the bathroom, or even not bought food. And yeah, maybe a flick that's only two weeks old should have more trailers. Bottom line is, this is all on me. I thought I had time, and it turns out I didn't. And not only did I do this myself, neither of the two things I thought I could do because I thought I had the time -- returning a sparkplug and getting Father's medicine -- I was unable to do. Besides making sure the house was still standing (and of course it was), my little plan to get things done was instead a total goddamn waste of time, which made me miss the opening seconds/minutes of an interesting movie.
Right now I hate myself more than I should, but I hate myself, that's for sure.
No comments:
Post a Comment