At its peak

At its peak

Today we’re going to talk about the very best moments in the history of a business, an organization, or even a person. We’ll say “at its peak” or “at his or her peak.” A peak is the very top of a hill or a mountain. If you’re hiking up Mt. Everest, you’ll be looking up at the peak for days while you climb higher and higher. In terms of a person’s history or an organization’s history, the peak was the biggest or best moment.

At its peak, Blockbuster had 9,000 stores . That means, at its biggest or best moment in history, Blockbuster had 9,000 stores. It was a great business in 2003, a great business in 2002, in 2001. Even in 2006, 2007, it was still a good business. But it was at its peak, at its best, in 2004.

When did Netflix hit its peak? It’s a trick question. We can only really say a business or a person reached their peak if they have already started declining. Netflix is still strong. Its peak might be right now…or its peak might still be in the future. We won’t know until we look back on the history of Netflix.

So let’s think about a company that had great years in the past, but their best is clearly behind them. Here’s one. I’m watching—I’ve mentioned this before—I’m watching the college basketball tournament. There are tons of commercials for a car company called Buick, an American brand. And to be honest, I had no idea they were still making Buick cars: they’re that forgettable. It’s part of GM. It’s an old person’s car, a boring car, or at least it was for a long time.

Anyway, the first Buicks came out in 1973 and the brand hit its peak in 1984 when it sold 984,000 vehicles a year. My family had a Buick station wagon for a few years; it might have even been a 1984 model year. At its peak, Buick was selling almost a million cars a year. Today, it’s closer to 200,000 per year, which still surprises me. It has about one percent market share in the US. So we can definitely say Buick’s peak was in 1984 because they are a long, long way from their peak, from their best moment in history.

We don’t have to be too strict when we say their best “moment.” It could be their best general time. Blockbuster’s peak was 2004, when it had over 9,000 stores. We talked about Diego Maradona, the Argentine soccer player . He was at his peak when he played for Napoli. Those were his best years. Yes, he was good before he was traded to Napoli. And yes, he was good after he left the team. But he was at his peak when playing for Napoli: those were his best years.

JR’s song of the week

Today’s song of the week is “Tieduprightnow” by the band Parcels. Not “Tied up right now”…that’s not it. It’s “Tieduprightnow,” all one word, no spaces. To be “tied up” means to be busy or occupied. I read the lyrics and I think it’s about a guy saying the one he wants—the girl, presumably—is tied up right now, meaning she’s in another relationship. But the singer is content to wait and be the first in line when she’s single again. I’m not sure that’s how it works in real life, but that’s how it goes in the song “Tieduprightnow” by Parcels. Thanks JR for suggesting that song.

See you next time!

And that’s all for today. Remember to stream, “The Last Blockbuster” on Netflix. One of the team members here at Plain English is Madeline. She helps create some of the content on the web site for us. She used to live in Bend, Oregon, and passed that Blockbuster all the time. But she told me there was an Airbnb listing during the pandemic, which allowed people to book the Blockbuster for the night…not every night, just a few nights in September. All three reviews were—I don’t need to tell you—five stars.

I’ll put the link to the Airbnb listing at this point in the transcript at PlainEnglish.com/355.

Listing: End of Summer Sleepover at The Last BLOCKBUSTER

And if you like to watch documentaries about lessons you first heard about on Plain English…there’s another documentary out there about the university admissions scandal. That documentary is called “Varsity Blues”. We talked about that back in Lesson 140. So that’s a good documentary, too. Two documentaries in English for your list, if you’re interested—”The Last Blockbuster” and “Varsity Blues.” That should tide you over until Monday, when we’ll be right here again with a new lesson. See you then!