After a brief summer hiatus, Opinionst is back. Please send DCist your thoughts, comments and critiques on almost all things related to our fair city. Bring it, guys! Today’s opinion comes to us from 10-year D.C. resident Ian Buckwalter.

Video Americain ended its tenure in D.C. last month, succumbing to high rent, diminishing business, and the factors that will likely doom most video stores: Netflix and video-on-demand. But when the Blockbuster on Columbia Road eventually closes its doors to the same forces, it’s doubtful the event will be met with such looks of heartbreak. Video Americain actually meant something.

In a town known for transience and short attention spans, where few people are devoted to anything, residents of Dupont and Adams Morgan were devoted to Video Americain. They followed it from Connecticut Avenue to a frequently flooded, rat infested, mosquito breeding ground at 18 th and Wyoming, and then to its final location at 18th and California. Qualities that would be an Achilles heel to most retail operations were, to its cultish followers, the things that gave the store character.

In the basement store, customers didn’t complain about the soggy carpet, the lack of air conditioning, or the swarms of mosquitoes. No one ever threatened to call the health department when a rat was seen running out of the porn room.

Video Americain’s relationship with the neighborhood was based largely around its eclectic collection, but one cannot discount the draw of those clerks. Sure, they could be slightly pretentious. More than that, they were prone to surly demeanors and hangovers. Usually concurrently. They had no qualms about belittling customers for their inability to find the huge Hitchcock section on a Director’s Wall organized alphabetically. But did they ever make fun of you that time you rented Patch Adams? Of course not. They waited until you left. That’s love.