This place [a grocery store] recharges us spiritually, it prepares us,
it's a gateway or pathway. Look how bright. It's full of psychic
data.... Everything is concealed in symbolism, hidden by veils of
mystery and layers of cultural material. But it is psychic data,
absolutely. The large doors slide open, they close unbidden. Energy
waves, incident radiation. All the letters and numbers are here, all
the colors of the spectrum, all the voices and sounds, all the code
words and ceremonial phrases. It is just a question of deciphering,
rearranging, peeling off the layers of unspeakability. Not that we
would want to, not that any useful purpose would be served.... Look
how well-lighted everything is. The place is sealed off,
self-contained. It is timeless.
-- Don DeLillo. White Noise (novel, 1985).