I wouldn't have remembered that retail.

A love of Jonathan Lethem, a new job involving technology in education, and some mild issues with identity and identity formation lead me back to Philip K. Dick.  It began with a paranoid day caused by reading the prologue to Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other.  In that book, Turkle mentions a book called Love and Sex with Robots.  Long story short: this lead me to think of a conversation with my father-in-law (do NOT make a connection there).  His theory was that my grandparents generation would have an issue with inter-racial marriage, while his generation, okay with inter-racial, has an issue with homosexual marriage, while my generation is okay with both (we're almost to the point).  I, looking into the future, believe that my generation will have an issue with human-technology marriage/relationships.

That lead me to purchase Bladerunner and attempt to re-read Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. My standard inability to finish things I start, lead me to put down Androids... and pick up The Selected Stories of Philip K. Dick.

(I had initially written something like this intro two weeks ago in my head.  I then forgot it, and remembered it today.  I mention this only because it seems reflective of Dick's work itself.)

"We Can Remember That for You Wholesale" was the inspiration for the movies, Total Recall, and it becomes clear fairly early that the writers of the movie put a lot of effort into expanded a basic idea.  "We Can Remember That for You Wholesale" creates the interesting premise that the movies turn into a two hour long action movie.

Similarly to "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind", the story deals with memory and memory alteration, and how memory is less about recall and more about creation, as well as a belief that personality and memory have an unusual connection.  What "Wholesale" posits is that certain personalities will always want certain things; a secret agent who has been to Mars will always want to go to Mars even when those memories have been taken away.  

It has been too long (coincidentally, the same amount of time a ReKal vacation is) since I read the story, and can't seem to say anything of value.  Maybe I'll try coming back to this one someday.