Thursday, January 15, 2009

What If He Doesn't Show Up?

I've been as big a fan of the Poe Toaster as anyone, but reading reading this news story as well as seeing headlines from Google News Alerts about the Toaster, I have to think that there is a lot of presumption that the Toaster will make his annual appearance. This year is the bicentennial of Edgar Allan Poe's birth, and numerous events are planned in Baltimore as well as other cities. The crowd at the cemetery where Poe is buried and the Toaster makes his annual visit is likely to be far larger than it has ever been, making an inadvertent (or even intentional) unmasking of the Toaster a very real possibility.

I'm a bit worried. I love the tradition that the Poe Toaster represents, but if too many people become enthusiastic about him, the crowds could become a mob, and the IQ level of a mob can be measured in the low two digit range.

No comments: