It’s Time to Put Fantasy to Work

They were recruiting me for work even though I already have a job. The ad in the mail said the work is temporary, with no guarantee of further employment. It involves hard physical labor, 14-hour days and primitive living conditions. The money isn’t bad--$100 a day plus a 15% gratuity. The only catch? I pay them .

Guess what’s all the rage? Not the Simpsons, not ‘60s jewelry, not fried polenta with sun-dried tomatoes. It’s fantasy! How do I know?

I made it up.

But it’s also true. Surely you’ve noticed that fantasy has been creeping into the otherwise carefully programmed, increasingly predictable fabric of modern life. There are fantasy sports camps where men get to be jocks. There are fantasy rock camps where poor schleps get to be hip jerks. There are fantasy indulgence camps where long-suffering moms get to be spoiled brats.

Some sports arenas even have booths where you can call the game (fantasy play-by-play) and realize your wildest dream--to be Brent Musburger.

The ad I got in the mail was for a fantasy cowboy experience. Oh, it was at a real ranch, all right, where “guest riders can participate in a wide variety of authentic ranch activities,” from cattle drives to branding. I guess being a writer puts me in a unique position because fantasy is a job requirement. I have no need to go branding on my days off.

But clearly, fantasy is a growth industry. Recently, a whole brave new world of computer-created fantasy--virtual reality--has opened up. There is a museum in Chicago where you can play in virtual space using specially developed goggles and gloves to create the illusion of real space. It’s $14-a-pop, adults-only, in-your-face Nintendo. Workers who spend 40 hours a week obeying computer commands can now seize control on their days off.

And, of course, there is recreational phone fantasy--a whole subculture of dial-a-dreams to counter the doldrums of voice mail.

This is not just an American obsession. In Japan, the only country rich enough to be weirder than the United States, there are elaborate fantasy businesses. One is the status wedding industry, which will supply your celebration with numerous (and even prominent) rented guests. Fantasy friends! Another is the chain of cross-dressing salons that include the works--outlandish clothes, makeup, wigs--for business execs. What better way for a guy to unwind than to be Cher for a night?

There are fantasy cowboy camps in the United States that cater only to the Japanese. You got the yen, we’ve got the boots.

Fantasy is fine--in its place. What I find disturbing about this trend toward fantasy in modern industrialized society is that the place is never the workplace. All fantasy seems to be geared toward recreation. Why do we see using the imagination as strictly a leisure-time activity?

The ad from the cowboy ranch advises dudes: “If you’re a person who likes rich, spiritually powerful experiences and a person who doesn’t mind taking some risks with your life--call now. “

So what we’ve got here is a risk-taking vacation for people who’ve suffered through 50 weeks of spiritually nauseating experiences. And you get to do it on horses.

Why should we have to fantasize someone else’s job? What would happen if we had fantasies of doing our own jobs? What if, at a desk in a cubicle in a tall rectangular building, we could ride off into the sunset of our own minds?

At present, there’s little chance for an outbreak of do-your-own-job fantasies. Imagination is extremely disruptive to the work process. It’s counterproductive. On-site risk-taking seems too dangerous: Use your imagination, lose your job.

But for two weeks a year, my desperate buckaroo, it’s yours for the buying.