How Netflix Saved My Marriage

Before we had children, my husband and I watched lots of movies. Sometimes we went to the movie theater for a night out. Other times we'd watch whatever was on Turner Classic Movies, occasionally watching two or three movies back-to-back late into the night. But often, we'd find ourselves at the video store (yes, it was VHS for us back then) trying to agree on a movie to rent.

If we were at VisArt Video (when we lived in Chapel Hill), we usually made it out safely with some interesting foreign or indie film. But if (Lord, help us) we had to go to Blockbuster, all bets were off. Inevitably, we wasted nearly an hour wandering around the store, unable to agree on anything, before finally picking something out of desperation that neither of us really wanted to watch. By then we were both so irritated that we'd start arguing about anything petty and pointless on the way home, so that we had no interest in spending time together by the time we finally got there.

And then the heavens opened, and we subscribed to Netflix.

The fighting ended. Happy movie watching ensued, with no late fees.

Over the years, our subscription has changed. We used to get 3-at-a-time unlimited rentals back when we could actually watch three movies in a weekend. Now we're on the 2-at-a-time/4-a-month plan, which might still be too much for our lifestyle -- but one of them is usually a kids' DVD, so it works. Our excessively long queue is still filled with new releases, old classics, quirky independents and those series we missed on TV -- but it's also peppered with Bob the Builder, episode of The Muppet Show and some Herbie movies.

Nice that Netflix can evolve and grow with us -- just like the marriage it helped save.