In America
to be a recognized minority
you must be numerous enough
to provide a market share
for a limited edition ethnic Barbie
to celebrate her income earning power
for El Segundo California’s
Mattel Incorporated
multinational toy manufacturing
to take production capacity
away from Match Box toy cars,
American Girl doll collections,
the Polly Pocket line,
Ever After High dolls,
Monster High dolls,
Hot Wheels toy cars,
Thomas & Friends line,
and the entire Barbie
figurehead fashion doll
from its brand inception
back in nineteen-fifty-nine.
copyright © 2019 Kenneth P. Gurney
postscript
A little more than a month ago local TV news had a segment on Dia De Muertos Barbie and that a limited edition was coming out. Since Albuquerque is majority Hispanic this went over well. Actually it went over well with everyone I talked to since Day of the Dead celebrations are popular in New Mexico.
Dia De Muertos (Day of the Dead) Wikipedia entry.
I like having a day set aside for remembering those who have passed. I find it much more satisfying than Halloween. This could be because I have passed the age of being able to eat sinful amounts of sweets without ill effects.
I think in modern times we forget that Halloween was called All Halo’s Eve. There was All Halo’s Eve, All Halo’s Day and All Saints Day. I do not remember whose tradition had it that the souls of the dead collected on earth and around All Halo’s day left this world for the next world. I will leave it to religious scholars to debate just what the next world is.
So, as the leaves fall, I remember friends and family who have passed during the year and over the years. It is not the only time I think about them, but I consciously bring up their faces from my memory and replay old encounters with them that make me smile.
Love & Light
Kenneth
Umflop 