Back in the days of my youth (also known as the Dark Ages by most people born after 2000), there were so many wonderful things happening…spiral perms, slouch socks, Swatch watches, Madonna and the birth of MTV to name a few. But nothing was quite as awe-inspiring to me as the wonderful invention of the VCR. For the first time in my life, I was able to watch movies in their original form without commercial from the comfort of my own home. What I should actually say is, I could watch movies on my VCR after I saved money from my part-time job at the grocery store and was able to purchase it a few months later. (Side-note…for those of you born after 2000 and don’t know the device I speak of, they were the hot commodity back then and cost a pretty penny, but I digress.)
I will never forget the day I had finally saved enough money to go to the store and buy my device. It was huge and heavy and took up more space than any electronic device ever should, but it was my pride and joy. I cannot begin to tell you the elation I felt when I was able to host movie night for the first time. My friends and I piled into the car and went to the local video store to rent our VHS tapes for the evening. Walls and walls of movie boxes on shelves separated by genre lined every wall. It was like the Holy Grail of moviedom…but again I digress. We eventually settled on two horror films and headed back to my house for an evening of scary fun.
The evening was amazing and my friends were so impressed. It was after they went home that I noticed for the first time the yellow sticker on the front of the VHS tape that read “Be Kind/Rewind.” That little smiley face sticker became the mantra of every polite movie renter on the planet. You were agreeing to make a little extra effort so that next person who watched the movie after you could have the same joy you did of simply popping the tape in and watching. Eventually, good will and kindness waned in the world of VHS rentals. People stopped being kind and the movie stores started charging a fee to rewind.
Fast forward to today…now…this moment. For more than a year, we have faced some of the most trying times of our lives with the pandemic. On top of the many adversities we face normally, we had to add isolation, loss of income, illness and fear. Then, just as things start to normalize a bit, we learn of the new variants and the possibility of another shutdown. So, naturally, people are stressed more than they have ever been before.
I mention all of these things to talk about my experience at the store today. I cannot say it was out of the ordinary, I observed things as I always do because that’s what writers do. There were masked shoppers and unmasked shoppers. There were a few who smiled as they passed, but most carried their worry on their faces.
Now, being the good southern gentleman that I am and because my parents raised me right, I decided to utilize one of my parents’ favorite pearls of wisdom: “It doesn’t cost you anything to speak a kind word when you pass someone.” So, I smiled with my eyes (because the mask was covering my pearly whites) and started saying, “Good Morning” to everyone I passed.
Now, I bet you’re thinking that most people instinctively returned my greeting and schmized(it is a word and technique created by Tyra Banks) back at me. To my dismay, more people than not did not return my sentiment or even looked me in the eye. Every time I was ignored, I got a little angrier. I wondered how these people who were raised to have southern charm could be so inhospitable. Then, I started saying snide comments when I wasn’t answered. Until I heard that little voice in my head echo the words from my times as a VHS aficionado…be kind/rewind.
Now that statement had nothing to do with my current situation, but somehow it suddenly did. I had no idea what these strangers were dealing with. They were not obligated to smile and wish me a good morning. All I needed to do was to show a little kindness, rewind and do it again. After that, it was up to the Universe to put it to work in the other person’s life. It may seem like a small thing but every act of kindness, every little bit of love you share, every sincere gesture helps dispel more hate and fear and adds another point of light in the darkness. Its as simple as wash, wait, wear. Be kind…rewind…and do it again.
As I started to care less about whether my kind words were being returned and I just started to focus on being kind, I started feeling happier. It became almost like a game. Let’s see how many smiles we can get and how much better we can make these people’s day. I left the store smiling and singing a bit as I made my way to the car.
For those of you who are awesome enough to have owned a VCR, I hope this trip down memory lane has brought back happy memories. For those of you who practiced the be kind/rewind rule, kudos. Keep doing it on a bigger scale. The Universe knows and your karma will be good. For those of you who did not be kind and rewind and chose to pay the fifty cents instead, I still love you but I hope this has inspired you to turn over a new leaf. Who knows? Karma may be making your spiritual bank account overflow with more blessings than you can handle. Either way, you will know that you are a good human and being a good human is good.
Health, happiness and good vibes to all and I’ll catch you on the flip side!
