THE ZERO DOLLAR MOVIE

Well, our mark-down-angel finally did it. He over did it, in fact.
You know that everyone has a mark-down-angel who goes ahead of them marking down every item they want to buy. It happens for me and it will happen for you, too, if you will begin looking for bargains, markdowns, etc. Then thank him every time and you will see more and more mark-downs come your way.
Several years ago our mark-down-angel showed us that he had provided movies for us at the Dollar Movie Theater in a nearby city. Gramps loves movies and I love to see Gramps happy, so I began to go with him every Sunday to the Dollar Movie Theater, whose price fits right in with my frugal nature. I get that from my father, who could make a dime stretch from here to Alaska. We get to see movies after they leave the first run theaters but before they are available on DVD. We have seen some really great movies that we wouldn't have chosen to see if they had cost us the going rate of eight bucks.
Our habit is that we go to see whatever movie is showing at the Dollar Movie Theater at 12:00 noon after we go to Sam's for their $1.80 meal of a hot dog and a 32 ounce pop. That really fits in with my frugal nature. The entire day of a meal and a movie only costs Gramps a little over five bucks. You know he calls me his cheap date; or, really, maybe he says that he takes me on a cheap date. Whatever.
The mark-down-angel surprised us with a real treat Sunday. Actually it was a very heart warming day because we saw trustworthiness personified in the attendants at the Dollar Movie.
We had arrived at the Theater early because the movie we wanted to see had an 11:00 showing. We had decided to go to Sam's for our hot dog/pop treat after the movie. I think our systems are glued together with the ingredients in those delicious Sam's hot dogs. In fact, we went to a funeral of a friend not long ago and his brother-in-law said during his eulogy tribute that at least Lewis got to have a Sam's hot dog before he died because his brother-in-law made sure of that. That was a very unique eulogy, but one we heartily agreed with.
Back to our story about the mark-down-angel. When we arrived at the Dollar Movie Theater the doors were locked but people were milling around outside waiting for the doors to be unlocked. This was a repeat of an experience from several months ago.
Suddenly a snack bar worker came to the door and said that the manager had to be there before paying customers could come in the door. She said that it would take twenty minutes for him to arrive. We decided to wait because we really wanted to see the movie. We're use to minor inconveniences at our movie adventures, and we make light of them, always getting a big laugh from them. We always say, "What can you expect for a dollar?"
Yesterday we started toward the car where we planned to read the Sunday paper and wait twenty minutes. We sat in the car, and as we gazed at the entrace to the Theater we saw a worker motioning people to come in the door. "That was a quick twenty minutes," Gramps remarked. It had really only been a few minutes but the worker had decided that since the scheduled movies were starting their early showings that all the waiting customers could go into the individual theaters and watch the movies. Then he told us that we could pay our dollar to the person at the cash register on the way out, after the movies were over. That was an unusual offer, that we could pay after the movie. What a guy, trusting ten or fifteen people not to walk out the door after seeing their choice of movies. How refreshing!
Gramps and I visited the rest rooms first (we're senior citizens, you know) and then went to Theater Number 7 where Blindside was showing. There were only a handful of people there because it was so early.
After seeing the great feel-good movie we left Theater Number 7 and headed to the man at the cash register where Gramps was prepared to give his couple of dollar bills to the attendant. Then the real surprise came. The manager said that we owed nothing, that it was the gift of the management for the inconvenience. We thanked him for his generosity and left the Dollar Movie Theater also thanking the mark-down-angel for the bargain of the day. We acted like the manager had forgiven us a hundred dollar fee instead of a dollar fee apiece. Generosity isn't measured by the size of the gift, only by the attitude behind the gift.
We are constantly amazed at the gifts we are given by God and his angels, who always keep us surprised and elated by gifts great and small.
Yesterday's surprising adventure came from the Dollar Movie Theater becoming the Zero Dollar Movie for an hour. Thank you, mark-down-angel. You topped yourself with that unexpected surprise! We eagerly await your next surprise. We are grateful for the anticipation of your unusual gifts. It keeps us expectant, like little kids. That's part of what keeps us so young.