The Whole World on a Plate

The Las Vegas buffet! Even if you’re losing, it’s there for the taking—a limitless bounty. The atmosphere textured with mouth-watering carbs and succulent oils, the aromas laced with sugar and spice, the sounds of quiet conversation, cutlery, and chewing—yes! This is capitalism’s dream of unimpeded consumption. And I’m ready to dig in—foot long papaya strips, crab legs that all but walk onto my plate; every pan brimming, begging me to scoop. Too bad my stomach doesn’t have a storage annex, something like a basement or attic, or one of those PODs that people park in their driveways to handle the overflow from their houses. As the epitome of a society built on disposable commodity consumption, the allyou-can-eat Las Vegas buffet bundles the abundance of magically produced goods with the dilemma of over-supply.