nacirema should be mandatory school reading
I'm somewhat embarrassed to say that 13-year-old me was wondering why he’d never heard of the Nacirema before. Until we discussed in class the next day, I didn't realize it was "American" spelled backwards.
Edit: Actually, I think the particular article we read in school was "The Mysterious Fall of the Nacirema". Thank you to UncleSlacky for posting it elsewhere in this thread, I didn't realize there was more than one.
> No matter how ill the supplicant or how grave the emergency, the guardians of many temples will not admit a client if he cannot give a rich gift to the custodian. Even after one has gained and survived the ceremonies, the guardians will not permit the neophyte to leave until he makes still another gift.
Ouch.