In the latter part of his essay, Wallace starts describing the faults and dissatisfactions he now sees in things he previously marveled at. The commonplace vices he now sees in the aggressively loud flush of his toilet, the embarrassing dance routines, the too-small tray holding places under his door were all things he marveled at upon first boarding the cruise ship. Now, however, the initial wow-factor and excitement has worn off and instead he once again sees the decrepitness of the once-extravagant activities but now seem to hold the same place as the rusting ship and the aging participants on board. This use of the commonplace progym is especially effective because it came right after the section in the essay where Wallace described these very same things and their extravagance and how every experience was fully pampered and nothing short of excellence was allowed. A few days later, however, and especially after seeing another cruise ship that seemed bigger, brighter and overall better than his own, he sees all these things in a different light: smaller, less excellent, embarrassing.
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