Today, instead of either a talk show or reality court show, there was a movie playing. I was very heartened to have something better to watch, but also a little sad, knowing I would be watching that instead of reading about 0-60 times and braking distances.

The sadness quickly went away when I saw this was a Jet Li movie. How many chances do you get to sit in a waiting room and watch something you’re actually interested in? This was the first time for me. As I watched the movie, I knew I should be able to figure out what is was, but I just couldn’t place it. The sets and costumes all made it look pretty recent, but the quality of the DVD was pretty bad- way too much contrast, the picture wavered at times, and the sound was really echoey. I thought maybe it was dubbed from a VHS tape. The quality and the fact that everyone was speaking Chinese led me to believe that it must be one of his older Hong Kong movies I’d never seen. A real treat indeed.

But then I noticed something a little weird. Looking closer, under the big yellow English subtitles were tiny subtitles of some language I didn’t recogonize. Then Brendan Fraser popped up on the screen. Jet Li? Brendan Fraser? Hey, this is The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. Then it hit me. Crap quality, weird subtitles- this was a bootleg someone recorded in a theater. How many times do you walk into a legitimate business to find them publicly displaying an illegally recorded movie?

What a great concept, showing first-run movies while your customers wait. I’m going back there as soon as I can. This time I’ll get the coolant flush, A/C recharge, and the whole shebang so I can see the rest of the movie. If only they got together with Les Schwab and had a popcorn machine.

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