On Demand

Dier ez-Zur, Syria. The sun had gone down in this rural city a few hours northwest of the Iraq border. We were wondering through the streets lined with shoe shops and sweets looking for sustenance - some hummus perhaps? It was 7:10pm and the restaurant we found was temporarily closed for cleaning (what?#@%!). They told us to come back in 1/2 hour. We wandered around the corner. Before us stood a movie theater. The movie playing, "Millions" (a 2004 release), was in English.

We walked inside. Four men sat in the lobby. "What time is the next showing?" we asked. "Seven" was the reply. I looked at my watch - 7:15pm.

"Now? What have we missed so far?"
"Now." I took the lack of expansion on the second part of the question as an indication of their English ability.
"How much?"
"60 Syrian Pounds." ($1.15)
"Okay. We're in."

We paid our money and pulled the curtains aside to enter the theater. No film. No audience. The lights dimmed. "I'm going to get some water, mai. I'll be right back." I ran outside as the film started.The wheels (or reels) were in motion and couldn't be stopped in this comical scenario of a movie on demand that couldn't wait. The preview was for the movie we were about to see. I made it back in time for the feature film. There was a constant buzz from the audio system. The volume was a little low. I went back to ask them to turn it up. Half way through the movie colored flood lights illuminated the screen from below. The movie stopped. They changed reels. It began again...on demand, sort of.