Piggy Banks

Late on December 26th, we stopped in a store. Bargain hunters had swooped away most of the holiday items. All the desirable games and gizmos had been claimed by teenagers flush with gift cards. But there were lots of piggy banks. Scores, hundreds of them, passed by in spite of their half-off sign. So bright, so tacky---what a challenge it would be to choose just one. There was something weirdly compelling about this neat arrangement of pigs. The even spacing and uniform shapes highlighted the differences in their colors and patterns. I felt sorry for the pigs. Maybe some hip person would buy eight or ten to display in an ironically humorous tableau in the living room. Perhaps they could be rescued en masse, then show up as part of a display in the window of Barney's or Bloomingdale's. They could be the talk of Manhattan for a short while. That would really give those pigs something to smile about.