Anecdote Time!

Many years ago, while I was still a little crum of a chip in a jumbo bag of Doritos, and my brother Will was just a wee munchin wrapped in swaddling blankets, we had an amusing struggle with a dastardly designed DVD!

Here's the story.

One evening, back in the days where you actually had to buy DVDs instead of streaming the shows —while sitting around the dinner table, we heard the rumble of UPS. Now as a kid that rumble meant one thing... Hours of enjoyment (well at least minutes of fun). Because even if the content of that package was not meant for you, you'd still get either a box or bubble wrap, and for me a box was like a portal to another world! A world of brown paper, awkwardly cut eye slits, and crayons, (which I'd use to decorate my "life-saving space helmet", my "pirate ship" or my "evil genius laboratory"). And bubble wrap... Well everyone knows how mesmerizing it is! So jumping up from the table, I ran out the door and to the fence where I snatched the package from Santa's elf (I'm still convinced that UPS men are secretly elves), hurriedly yelled "thanks elf" and ran back inside!

After a hurried battle with the packaging, I grabbed the scissors and sliced it open! Inside was the first season of "The Walton's" on DVD, now I realize that most of you probably don't know what "The Walton's" are, well to tell you the truth, I didn't either. My dad explained to me that it was a tv show from when he was a kid about a family who lived in the back woods of West Virginia. So later that night we popped it into the Computer to watch it (we didn't have a DVD player at that time). Well after enlightening us with how we'd go to prison if we tried to copy the DVD, the menu popped up — playing on a loop as background music for the menu was the theme song,
Ba da-da da Da DAA...... Ba da-da da Da DA DAA...... Ba da-da-da-da DA DAA..... Ba Ba Ba-Da DA DAA...repeat...Ba da-da da Da DAA...... Ba da-da da Da DA DAA...... Ba da-da-da-da DA DAA..... Ba Ba Ba-Da DA DAA....repeats..
Well after my dad remarked "Ohhhh this is such a great theme song!" I clicked on PLAY SHOW...... Nothing happened......clicked a second time.....still nothing.....third time......nope......double click.......nothin........continuous clicking......naw..... then I tried clicking all the other buttons on the screen.... And of course, the only one that worked turned on and off the subtitles!! AGHH!!!! Nothing else worked!!

So after 30 minutes of trying every possible solution we could think of, The theme song was driving us nuts (for some reason we didn't think of turning off the speakers). At least 5 or 6 times in the following weeks we tried to get It to play and stubborn as it was, it wouldn't!!! But the one thing that would play..... Was THAT FREAKING THEME SONG!!!!! OVER AND OVER AND OVER!!!!!!! AGHHHH I felt like banging my head on the wall every time I head it!! Ba da-da da Da DAA...... Ba da-da da Da DA DAA...... Ba da-da-da-da DA DAA..... Ba Ba Ba-Da DA DAA..............

After many months of sleepless nights where all I could think of was " Ba da-da da Da DAA....." I tried one last time to play the DVD....... guess what happened????..... It didn't work!! So finally I gave up on it and as a last ditch effort I randomly clicked all over the screen..... O.O ..... A moment later there was a satisfying click, the episode started playing, and THE THEME MUSIC STOPPED PLAYING!!!! I have never been so OVERJOYED In my life to hear music stop playing!!! It was so peaceful :) and quiet :) and gorgeous :)

And still many years later the only way to get that DVD to play is to plug your ears and randomly click the screen :)