Thanksgiving comes and goes in a puff of smoke, like a stage magician pulling a roasted turkey out of a top hat. We relish this traditional illusion of a sit down meal with family and friends. Ancient enmities, misgivings, and jealousies made to vanish into thin air for the day.
Uncle Frank, usually so asocial, amuses the children by catching a bullet in his teeth. Prim and proper Aunt Agatha gets sawed in half by half a glass of wine, then put back together again with strong black coffee. Ten-year-old Tim, meanwhile, is upstairs practicing his knife throwing.
But, with the same expert sleight-of-hand, this holiday conjuring trick all too soon turns into Black Friday's black arts. Be amazed as Walmart The Uncanny materializes a million blindfolded consumers outside its stores at midnight in the freezing cold. Now pick a 4K TV, any 4K TV, and hold in front of the cameras with a cretinous grin on your face so everyone can see.
Personally, unless food rationing is imposed by some future American military junta, which is perhaps not as far-fetched as it sounds, I can't imagine myself lining up for anything, never mind a so-called Door Buster Deal.
Oh well, each to his own, I suppose. No doubt that is what we mean by "freedom." Now that, of course, is the most remarkable illusion of all.
