Bootleg Logic

A library patron comes in to ask for a movie that is still in the theater. I remind her that the movie is still in the theater.

Me: “You and your daughter are gonna have to go to the theater and see it there, [Patron].”

Patron: “Nah. It would cost twenty dollars for the two of us, popcorn, and sodas. Well, put me on the list for when you get it. I just need to see the end so I know what happens.”

Me: “Won’t you want to watch all of it?”

Patron: “I’ve seen almost all of it.”

Me: “You just told me you won’t go to the theater.”

Patron: “No, it costs too much. It would be twenty dollars for [Daughter] and me to see it at a matinee. So, I bought a copy from the store up the street.”

Me: “You bought a bootleg copy from the corner shop?”

Patron: “Yeah. It was fifteen dollars, but only the first part of it was clear because then someone sat in front of the guy filming it and I couldn’t see the rest. So, I went to [Another Store on a different street] and got a bootleg there for twenty bucks; the beginning was messed up, but we watched the middle okay. Now we need to see the ending.”

Me: “[Patron], forgive me for being skeptical, but did you just hear yourself? You bought two bad bootleg copies for fifteen dollars more than you would have spent at the theater.”

Patron: “Yeah, I just hate spending so much for the theater.”

Me: “…?”