I was recently thinking about the popularity of Blockbuster Video stores when I was in High School.
At a given point in time, I would go with friends, and spend approximately an hour walking through the store, scanning the racks and racks of movies before selecting one or two and bringing them home to consume.
As I described this scene, it seemed completely archaic to my daughter. She couldn’t understand why you even needed to leave the house to pick a movie. The point that was most striking to her, however, was the idea that they might not have a copy of the movie you were looking for.
She couldn’t fathom that all thirty copies of the original Jurassic Park might not be available. When this happened, my friends and I were forced to make other choices. We had to look for an option B. Or C, D, E, or even F, for that matter.
Some of the best movies that I ever saw, that I came to love, came on the nights when I couldn’t get my first choice.
We need to remember this in education. We may not get our first choice right now. But we can still come away with something awesome with options B, C, D, E, or even F. The alternatives, second fiddles, and varied options may provide us with something that we come to love.
Go beyond the first choice. Consider the other options that are out there.
Make it a Blockbuster Night.
Rich