u/GDGameplayer

They were out of Allen wrenches, gerbil feeders, toilet seats, electric heaters, trash compactors, juice extractors, shower rods and water meters, walkie-talkies, copper wires, safety goggles, radial tires, BB pellets, rubber mallets, fans and dehumidifiers, picture hangers, paper cutters, waffle irons, window shutters, paint removers, window louvers, masking tape and plastic gutters, kitchen faucets, folding tables, weather stripping, jumper cables, hooks and tackle, grout and spackle, power foggers, spoons and ladles, pesticides for fumigation, high-performance lubrication, metal roofing, waterproofing, multi-purpose insulation, air compressors, brass connectors, wrecking chisels, smoke detectors, tire gauges, hamster cages, thermostats and bug deflectors, trailer hitch demagnetizers, automatic circumcisers, tennis rackets, angle brackets, Duracells and Energizers, Soffit panels, circuit breakers, vacuum cleaners, coffee makers, calculators, generators, and matching salt and pepper shakers.

This semester, I took a class in Anthropology. In this class, we had to answer a question on the board at the beginning of each class. One day, there was a question about the essay “Baseball Magic” which I hadn’t read. The question was something like “In Baseball Magic, it talks about rituals, taboos, and fetishes. What is a ritual, taboo, or fetish that you have?” For a second, I was taken aback at the idea that I was being asked if I had any sexual fetishes. It didn’t help that one week before she had asked what religion or worldview we belonged to. Eventually, I thought to look up if fetish had another definition I didn’t know about. It turns out that a fetish can also be “an object believed to be a good luck charm” and that’s what she was asking about.