You all remember that great TV series from the 60s, "The Twilight Zone"?? I'm a big fan and came up with a plot for an episode which, like the shows themselves, contains an ironic twist which proves a point (usually a MORAL point.) Anyway, here goes.....it's only an OUTLINE of my plot, by the way. So as host Rod Serling might say at the outset of his show, IMAGINE IF YOU WILL...
Imagine if you will a desperate, crazed man holding a handgun to the head of a Department store clerk. The crazed, dazed gunman is in the Electronics section of this store and angry at a DVD he saw for sale on the shelf. "It says BLURRY DVD," he screams in frustration. The clerk is trembling and sweating as the potential customer, angry at the way he thinks Department stores rip off their customers, keeps yelling and screaming "WHY WOULD YOU SELL US A BLURRY DVD?? IT'S A RIPOFF, WHO WOULD BUY A BLURRY DVD??"
"M-maybe the m-movie is NAMED B-blurry?" suggests the frightened male clerk. "M-May I see it?"
"It says BLURRY DVD" says the angry gunman. "See for yourself!"
The clerk's hand trembles as he reads the cover of the DVD. He agonizes within himself, knowing that his life might depend on what he says next to the gunman...IF he chooses to respond. Yet, to let this crazed gunman continue to think he is right about his presumption might lead to his getting shot ANYway, simply because in what's left in the insane mind of this gunman HE (the store clerk) represents the STORE and right now he irrationally HATES the store enough to want to destroy it.
He decides to tell him the truth.
"S-sir," he whispers..."P-please c-calm down. I have something to t-tell you. S-sir, the box doesn't say 'BLURRY' DVD....it says 'BLU-RAY DVD'."
A shocked look comes across the gunman's face as he listens in silence, slowly lowering the handgun down from the head of the terrified store clerk. This action emboldens the clerk to say more....with more CONFIDENCE. "Blu-Ray" is the exact opposite of "Blurry," it's very high-definition, it's crystal clear."
Rising from his knees now, the clerk's confidence goes WAY over the top as he sees the horrified look on the gunman's face. "In fact, the reason you thought the title of the DVD was 'Blurry' is because your EYESIGHT is blurry, you fool! Get your eyes checked!"
The gunman turns and slowly walks away in silence, but now the clerk follows him BADGERING him with hateful, insulting speech. At this point, the host, Rod Serling (or in this case, ME) appears into the scene. "Two men have had a date with destiny today. One man judged a situation very wrongly because he could not see clearly, and catastrophic results WERE averted. But the problem also revealed a lack of clear vision in the mind of a CLERK who failed to see that EVERYONE makes mistakes and who might have had more compassion on the errant one, might have helped him GET help for his deep anger issues. Instead of being a HERO who de-escalated a potentially violent situation, he merely gave a man who hated Department stores further reason to do so. Do you hear that sound?? It's the sound of THE MAN WHO KICKED THE CAN DOWN THE ROAD....in The Twilight Zone."
Suggested title: "THE MAN WHO KICKED THE CAN DOWN THE ROAD."
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