“May the odds be ever in your favor…”
Only a week late on
this piece from the WaPo, but I only just found it this morning:
These Games may seem barbaric to some, but they’re a modern tradition. They get the Shoppers in from all districts of the nation, train and groom them, and then release them on the fateful morning towards the Cornucopia of electronics-related bargains and plush towels. They have been training for this their entire lives.
The shopping is quick and brutal.
You know what to do. Ignore the shiny displays by the cash registers. Run in and find the iPhones, and then look for a source of water. Never turn your back on the adversaries. Arm yourself and protect the spoils with all your might.
I saw a man stepping out of the Apple store, a beatific expression on his face as he cradled a bag containing what I assume was a new iPad. Then he coughed blood and collapsed into my arms. I turned and saw the other Shoppers, weapons at the ready.
There are fisticuffs over in housewares. In the toys section, a man emerges triumphant from a pile of his adversaries clutching a plush angry bird, only to collapse on the point of a woman’s javelin.
“This — is — WALMART!” she bellows.
Apparently one more thing, besides reality television, the debutante tradition, and modern western class disparity, that Suzanne Collins managed to offer comment on through YA literature.
