Let Sonoma in Popeil Melt!*

A recession can do funny things to an economy. Take TGC's Williams-Sonoma. As previously documented, they have a business model based on selling people stuff they do not need at inflated prices. As the keen-eyed cinetrix noted, in these uncertain times, competitors are tweating the W-S model by selling stuff you do not need at low prices -- viz, the taco tee. Also everybody over the age of 8 prefers soft tacos, which obviate the need for this device. But as the philosopher Gloria Estefan once wrote, it cuts both ways. While the W-S ethos percolates down, the Ron Popeil ethos trickles up. In March, I suggested that a certain fictitious hand-operated food dicer/castrator was down with W-S. At the end of May, the wisecrack becomes a reality, in the $49.95 form of the multi-chopper. It is true that iff nobody bought these things, they would not sell them, and it is true that forks were once dismissed as an affectation. The Gurgling Cod does not oppose new kitchen items, per se. But one wonders if selling stuff like this makes serious cooks uneasy about the righteousness of the knives, spatulae, etc.