Last night we showed up at the sale late, that is, after the massive crowds had gone. Normally, it’s elbowing, jostling, and on memorable evenings, verbal abuse and shouting among the testier buyers. Heavier ones use their bulk shamelessly. Overflow books are in boxes underneath the tables, so at any given time, large people are pushing politely from both sides above, while others are scrabbling down there at your feet.

I mostly go to get videos that are being phased out for DVDs. This is where I found Picnic at Hanging Rock, for example. The price is now down to $1 each. I found one of my all-time favorites, Playing By Heart. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, which I’ve not seen. Joe vs. the Volcano, which has those wonderful trunks. Paulie.

Once I got into a conversation with a woman in line that had similar interests, except she looked for PBS specials, English series and such.

One year I had some noxious flu for three weeks. Nothing to take my feverish mind off the suffering except Harry Potter books, which gave me incredibly vivid, terrifying nightmares. Now I will have Mad Max, Beyond Thunderdome for convalescent imagery. And many, many others.