I was sitting listening to the Hothouse Flowers’s song “Movies” and it slapped me with quite a wave of nostalgia. Thanks to battling anxiety disorder for years, I haven’t been able to go to the movies in a long time. I’ve missed the premiers of so many movies I wanted to see, Transformers, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Guardians of the Galaxy, just to name a few. Sure, there isn’t much of a wait anymore for the movies to be released on DVD and On Demand, but despite the convenience of watching movies at home, pausing whenever I need to, I miss going to the movies.

Forget worrying about parking, the cost of tickets, whether or not the movie is sold-out etc. I loved going to the movies. When we were in high school one if my older sister’s summer jobs was working at a multiplex, across from the mall. It was one of the best summers I had.

Two or three days a week, I would go with her to the movie theater.  I would go to the mall and buy the crew bagels to start their day. I would take my bagel and drink and head into a darkened theater to while away the morning by being transported into whatever movie I was watching.

I saw so many movies that summer, I can’t remember them all. One that stands out, was the painfully awful Jaws 3-D. I saw it way too many times, and it never got any better, of course it really couldn’t have gotten much worse, and I loved every moment of it. It wasn’t the movie; it was the fun of it. I would alternate between food runs to the mall, walking around the mall searching for whatever must-have item I wanted but couldn’t afford, and losing myself in the movies.

I miss that so much. Going to the movies has changed a great deal since I was last able to go. Tickets are preordered. No more showing up and waiting in long lines to either be one of the lucky ones to get in, or finding out the hours long wait was in vain. That happened to me once. It was freezing cold and we were waiting in line for hours. As it happened the movie was sold out the theater didn’t say anything, leaving the crowd to stand and wait until tickets went on sale for the next showing. When word started filtering through the line, we left.

Food is no longer, sort of, maybe fresh popcorn with questionable pseudo-butter oil gloped on it. Odd sized boxes of candy you really didn’t find anywhere else, Whoppers and Non Pareils, anyone? And didn’t we all hate the moviegoer who smuggled in chips and munched and crunched through the movie. Now every kind of food is possible, including wait staff bringing meals to you while you watch the movie.

Sure the movie going experience is different, and I miss going.