Vacation Time

VS: So, where are you guys going?

TS: What’s that?

VS: For your vacation…where are you guys going for vacation?

TS: Oh. Caramool. 

VS: Caramool? 

TS: What you don’t like Caramool?

VS: No. Well, yeah… no… it’s just so… sterile.

TS: Yeah, I guess I could see how you see it.

VS: What’s that mean?

TS: Naw, I just could see you seeing it the way you see it that’s all.

VS: Hmmm. I see. Well it just seems like it is just sort of fictional.

TS: Fictional? Like as in false?

VS: Well, yeah. Made up. I mean, shit. People talk all about going to Caramool. OMG! Caramool. Can you imagine?

TS: So you’ve been?

VS: Oh, of course I’ve been to Caramool. Everyone goes to Caramool. Caramool is all everyone talks about. Of course I’ve been. But after going I can honestly say I am not really feeling… it?

TS: Not really feeling it? What’s that mean?

VS: Well… it’s made up. It is isn’t real.

TS: Isn’t real, of course it’s real. You yourself have said you have been there.

VS: Well, yeah, I’ve been to Caramool, but it really is just this made up place. You know it didn’t even exist ten years ago. 

TS: Lots of things didn’t exist ten years ago. That doesn’t make them unreal.

VS: I’m not talking physically not real. I mean, yes, that place physically exists. It occupies space. All the little perfectly muted grey buildings with clean white accents. The minimalist architecture. The stark lines. The modernist inspired furniture. Everything has its place. It is orderly. The fact that the place was designed to acoustically direct the sound of the hustle and bustle of the place to accentuate only the most pleasing and comforting tones. The carefully curated vegetation that is neither too little or too much. All curated to what is seemingly the most perfect variations of green. The curated smells that are precisely measured to produce a seemingly ever changing buffet of pleasing aromas. Scents that linger just enough to grab the senses, yet impermanent enough so as to not dull to the point they fade away. To be sure, Caramool overflows with ambiance.

TS: Boy if that is your idea of hell, then let me in.

VS: I’m not saying it was hell. I am saying that it is not real.

TS: I’m still not clear what you are talking about.

VS: It isn’t real. It isn’t a reflection of day to day life. At least not for most people. Sure there are some very few number of people who live in Caramool and never leave that gated place. But we are talking about only the elite of the elite who actually live that lifestyle and exclusively reside there. The overwhelming majority of us are simply tourists. Caramool is a sensationalized grift based on the aspirations very few will ever really be able to attain. And that is by design. It is but a thin veneer.

TS: Is that so bad? I mean, isn’t that why one goes on vacation? To live free of your normal life for a week or so? Live differently? Be something different for a bit?

VS: Sure, that is why one can go on vacation. But Caramool is an ironic con that seeks you to actually reward the people that prevent others from having a taste of what they have a daily experience. It is sold as such an opulent experience so that, ironically, people will visit and spend all of their discretionary earnings in Caramel. Their slogan blithely demands such. “Behave Carefree in Caramel!” In return, those high flying elites that profit from that grift take all that money and further pad their bank accounts. The tourists effectively subsidize Caramool for those residents. And all at the expense of those who indirectly support this tragedy, all of those who for whom a visit to Caramool will never be possible.

Anyhow, when are you going?

TS: Friday. Though after all this talk, I’m not sure I’m going to have the Caramool experience I had anticipated.