I used to
rent video games through the post from this company called LoveFilm (they
stylise it LOVEFiLM which really dicks around with the spellchecker, though so
does LoveFilm as a single word to be fair). They decided to stop lending me
video games so I decided to stop giving them money each month; a pretty fair
compromise was reached. Today I received a series of questions attempting to
ascertain exactly why I took this decision. As a conscientious member of
society, I of course chose to oblige and answered all of their questions to the
best of my ability.
By question
two their curiosity had ramped up considerably and they approached the topic of
my absconsion head on. I do feel in retrospect that they peaked a bit early
with this one. The flow of the survey would have benefited if this had come
closer to the end.
This is a ridiculous
question.
This one,
however, really got my creative juices flowing.
I had to
choke back tears of guilt by the last question.
It struck me
how insignificant LoveFilm had been in the bigger picture of my life; that I
might have meant the world to them, but for me they were simply one of a pool
of video streaming services that I used and discarded at will. Looking at all
the ticked boxes made me feel dirty and monstrous, like I’d kept them all in my
cellar for twenty years, abusing them daily for my singular pleasure and to
maintain the facade that I am, in fact, still in control of myself.
So goodbye
LoveFilm; you were once my prized possession, now you mean less than nothing to
me. That unlocked door you dragged yourself through to reach ‘freedom’? That
wasn’t left open by accident, I kept you for years why would I suddenly become
careless? Enjoy your hard won ‘freedom’ LoveFilm, I’m sure you’ll be fine
without me.