So I decided to quit Blockbuster. I gave the manager my two weeks’ notice tonight.

It’s not really a bad job. All you have to know how to do is work a cash register and alphabetize things. And be able to deal with extreme stupidity:

me: I’m sorry, this coupon expired January 31st.

girl: But it says valid through January 31st.

her boyfriend: That means until January 31st.

girl: But through…doesn’t that mean it starts working January 31st?

me: No, that means it stops working January 31st.

girl: But…but…through generally means continuous, right?

me: Um, not on coupons, sorry.

her boyfriend: No, honey, it expired. How much?

me: $7.58.

girl: But I don’t understand. this coupon should still work, right?

me: 42 cents is your change. It’s good from when you recieve it through January 31st.

girl: So it still works?

me: No. Through means the same as until. The coupon is no longer valid. Your movies are due Wednesday at noon.

girl: But it says through….

(boyfriend leads her away)

So that part’s kind of a pain in the ass. The other thing is that standing for eight hours is a pain not only in the ass, but in the feet, knees, back, and leg muscles as well.

I did the math, and the amount of money I was going to make by staying on as long as I had planned to just was not going to be worth it. The free movies are a nice benefit, but I’m so goddamn busy with school I never have time to watch them anyway, so that moots that whole point.

And it’s not like I was getting health insurance from them or anything (hooray for Searle, where a bleeding flesh wound could be a sign of pregnancy, even if you are, technically, male), so the only thing quitting takes away is money. And granted, I need more money for this album I have all these elaborate plans to record. But when it comes right down to it, I can eat Mac N Cheez instead of Papa John’s for a few weeks, and all will be well in Financeville.

Well, until I graduate. Then I’m fucked.

This has got to be one of the oddest stories I’ve read all year. Granted, it’s only April, but it’s still pretty goddamn strange. Thanks to Obscure Store for this one.

Michael “Mucko” McDermott shot and killed seven of his co-workers just outside of Boston last year, and is getting ready to go on trial soon. His defense lawyers unveiled his defense today. From the Boston Herald, here is a boiled down version of what happened:

“In a dramatic turn of events in Cambridge Superior Court yesterday, Reddington (the lawyer) outlined his insanity defense, saying McDermott gunned down seven co-workers because he thought they were Hitler and six German generals whom he was sent to kill by angels to stop the Holocaust. McDermott, 43, believes he died while being booked for the killings and that the whole world does not exist, Reddington said.”

This story is so bizarre I’m not sure if it’s real or not. However, one of the officers who arrested him testified that when he approached McDermott, Mucko told him he didn’t speak German.

I’m not sure which idea is scarier: That his story is true, and that someone could become this delusional, or that he has a mind twisted enough to make something like this up.

Further proof, I guess, that we humans are one fucked up species.