Ollie

I run an eCommerce project in which students have to choose a local retailer with a less-than-ideal website. We see a lot of oddities during this project, but none as enigmatic and ominous as the mascot of Ollie’s. Maybe it’s the piercing, beady eyes; the lifeless shuffle of the employee forced to wear his life-size skinsuit, the fact that their customer’s saving club the “Ollie Army” implies he runs a para-military organization . . . but Ollie’s presence in the class lasted way longer than the intended two-week sprint. For weeks images of him showed up in Retros, slack channels, and slidedecks until I was forced to ban his image from all future class materials. Three weeks after the class ends, end I recieve an non-descript package on my porch bearing – this. Assumed cursed.