I hear songs from the eighties, songs that millions of people have heard before. It might not be playing on the radio but it sure is playing only in the minds of those that want to hear it. “It’s the eye of the tiger”, that’s right “the eye of the tiger”.
Less than a week to go… Everyone is on the lookout for everyone else’s action. People slowly walk down the aisles of different electronic and clothing stores, smiling and nodding their heads to others while greeting them, as if they hail from an era not like the one we live in today. They register items and prices in their heads, yet walking out the stores empty handed, again … as if nothing was good enough for them. That’s how civilized they are … all year-round.
Another day or two go by… Those same people start to lose some sleep. You can see the dark circles under their eyes, but they will deny any accusation of sleep deprivation. That’s a normal behavior. Another one would be their inquisitive nature that pops out of nowhere. They try to suck out every bit of detail you might have, about anything that you may have shown interest in over the past couple of weeks.
The song gets louder and louder, the nights get longer and longer. A cup of coffee is no longer helping. They start resorting to double espresso shots as the time starts closing in on them.
It is almost midnight. Those same people that hailed from the 1900’s era have begun their fast transformation yet backward evolution, an era that many of us were made familiar with, by simply watching movies like ”The Planet of the Apes”.
At midnight precisely, right outside the doors of several stores, you see people in masses running into the stores they were previously visiting in a very civilized manner. This time however the smiles have disappeared, the only eye contact is that established with an item on a shelf or could be in someone else’s cart. No need to get into details: “it’s the purchase of the fittest”.
Life will only return back to normal after checkout has been completed.
The bad news… it is almost the end of civilization. The good news… it is black Friday. Happy shopping!
Raghid Khalil
Cognitive Dimension 