47: Christmas and Commerce
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You know that saying, you can really tell who somebody is in a crisis, you can really tell a Christmas too. That's because Christmas, more than any other day in the American year, is a day when we're all handed the same stage props, the same tree, the presents, the meal, the relatives, and all the same expectations. And then we all try to create more or less the same kind of day. Like, hundreds of millions of people all set to work doing exactly the same art project. Not just any art project, but a very high stakes art project. An art project everybody cares about getting right. And in that setting, the choices people make never seem clearer. In one place, you can witness this human drama at work. Is it one of the epicenters of modern Christmas? The world's biggest toy store, Toys R Us. Closing time, Christmas Eve. Still, the store is filled with parents making one last run to the goal line of a perfect Christmas. Mark Nemus and his teenage son, Ricky, are walking the length of the store. Walking literally as quickly as men can walk without actually breaking into a run. Their bodies are tense, they spot a sales girl. Did you know where these twins dolls are? They're twins, they're like 70 bucks. They're directed into aisle 12C. It is stacked high with dolls. The Nemus voice don't have much time. Where are the twin dolls? There's heart to heart baby whose heart really beats. There's poseable sleepy soft skin. There's soft teen in the miracle soft foam doll. There's baby bathe a lot. There's Danielle's fashion ensemble. There's baby braids, the pretty, huggable fashion hair doll. There's baby tumming talks. They're in a sale somewhere. Well, no. Actually, they're not. A middle aged black couple themselves in the search for a doll called the Sparkle doll suggests 11C. All the dolls in 11C for some reason have names that suggest the names of starlets and adult films. So shy, sherry, baby shivers, powder pool twins, previous playmate, dibby attachable accessories. Standing there, I realize, of course, they're names of names from adult films. Where else do you find this kind of hyped up, packaged theatrical girlishness? Right here. Oh, here they are. Okay. They find the price sticker on the twins doll and they stand there. I don't know. Oh. What are you laughing at? A price. It turns out to be $90. Oh, well, I guess I got to get it. Yes.
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