Expensive Junk and Free Treasure

[376 words] The zeal with which people will pursue the toy that their kid wants most for Christmas is astounding. Every year seems to have a new fad—a new massively hard-to-purchase toy. A few years ago it was “Shopkins” (tiny collectable rubber toys). When stores sold out parents flocked to eBay and spent thousands of dollars to get them. Normal retail price? Four dollars! Anyone who went to a store on Black Friday may very well have experienced the same kind of passion. And for what? I suspect in most cases those little Shopkins dolls got eaten by the dog or ended up in the trash.  What is interesting to me is trying to figure out where this fiery passion really comes from. My guess is that something in people’s lives feels empty and the goal becomes to fill that void with stuff. People are thirsty and hungry without really…