Something Borrowed...

Last week, the bartender at my Thursday lunch place and I were talking about the kinds of movies we like -- and he mentioned a BBC series called Foyle's War which I had heard of and considered renting. He told me he thought I would like it, and he'd bring me his box set. I tried to convince him not to, said I could easily rent it from Netflix.

The reason is I do not like to borrow things from people. I don't like the responsibility, and I don't like the pressure I feel to read it/watch it/appreciate it and then return it to them in a timely manner.

I totally like recycling books and the occasional DVD. And I feel as if I have trained myself to release all expectation that the recipient will enjoy what I've passed along. In fact, it is not unusual to get a call or email six months or even a year later... "Remember that book you gave me during the summer? I finally read it and loved it!"

Today, when I went for lunch, I had forgotten about Foyle's War until he came promptly over to me with the four discs in this bookshelf-style sleeve.

I also understand his enthusiasm for wanting me to like what he likes. I know the feeling. We want our friends to have the same pleasure we had with a particular book or movie.

So I'll dutifully watch them -- well, at least the first one. Hopefully I will like the series as much as he did -- this is just the first season, and he told me he's asked for the next five seasons for Christmas -- so this could keep me stocked in DVDs for a while!

Here's what Netflix says:

In this popular British detective series, actor Michael Kitchen stars in the title role of Christopher Foyle, an English police inspector who fights local crimes in an environment riddled with war propaganda and social turmoil. The ongoing drama boasts a marriage of history and fictional mystery, and explores the effects of World War II on the rural villages of England's vulnerable southern coast.