Standing in their midst, though, one is likely to feel a sense of camaraderie. Everyone is sharing in the plain good luck of having found something interesting, and then there is the vague sense of relief that the occasion for gathering isn't anger or indignation or a chance to rubberneck at some disaster, but simply an opportunity to cage a few free chuckles.

The crowd has gathered to watch Charley Chaplin. Video To Go often plays one of his movies in their window. Modern Times or The Great Dictator can be seen with the sound of traffic and the occasional car stereo replacing piano as accompaniment. The unusual soundtrack aside, the peals of laughter that erupt with some regularity are quite familiar. Some of those watching might be recollecting long ago dates at long lost revival houses, while others might be encountering the funny guy with the mustache and baggy pants for the first time. The size of the audience tends to build during each skit and then dissipates when the gag is over, only to build back up when things get going again, which is more or less right away. Chaplin's movies are standard fare for the video monitor in the window, and a clerk at the store recently remarked that his movies are the only ones that draw a crowd. "But no one ever rents them," she said.»