Been there, my old shop guy pulled the same thing on me and I just stopped going there. Find a shop that stocks variants without judging you, or just buy online, life's too short to argue with some dude at a counter lol.

14 shows is wild, I hit 11 back in fall 2023 and by week 6 I couldn't tell you which plot twist belonged to which show. What really got me was the math, if each ep is 24 min then 14 shows a week is like 5 and a half hours minimum, and that's before you add in the 3 or 4 ep catch up when one show has a recap ep. Cutting to 3 means you actually sit with a show for a bit, you notice the small stuff like background art and voice acting choices, and you catch stuff you'd totally miss at 1 ep per week when your brain is just sprinting to the next queue item. Plus you can actually rewatch a good ep instead of treating it like a chore to check off. The seasonal hype machine makes you feel like you're missing out but you're really just missing the shows you're already watching.