This is part of the display at the cash register in a local
“hypermarket.” So what is the item in the middle of the upper row of small merchandise?
It’s some food for the soul – an icon. No, not an “icon,”
but a “real” image of a Bulgarian Orthodox saint. It sells for the price of two
AA-size Sony-branded batteries, and half the price of a car deodorizer. To
reassure customers who might be ticked by the apparent profanization of a once
sacred object, the price tag says the icon does have a wooden back.
