Xtras as excess

Spearcarriers &; Supernumeraries Anonymous by J.B. Pravda

"Did you see me? I was Flavius, the first among Claudius's attendants"
Quentin Forgun blurted.

"Alright, now Quentin, why don't we wait for the group to get here,
shall we?" was the refrain from Dr. Cartoff; "We don't want anyone to
feel left out, you know" was the 'prerecorded message'.

She had counseled in many support systems over the years, but these
'Extras' had deep-seated issues she had only begun to plumb. One theory
she had recently published in the peer journals was that of
'superinvisibility syndrome' spawned, she proffered, by the disastrous
failure of their attempt to unionize years ago; it seems that their
inability to handle proactive activities such as speaking, initiative
and the like, compounded by their irregular ability to remit dues
spelled doom to this undertaking.

Her latest possible breakthrough, actually rather desperate, consisted
in allowing them to attend sessions in full costume along with reading
select lines from the appropriate script for each member in order to
engage their passions.

All her hard work had paid off, she rationalized, in unexpected ways:
aside from feeling especially well-protected by heavily armed
centurion-types in the parking lot, Dr. Cartoff enjoyed her own
increasingly fantastic lifestyle, having sold her car in favor of a
gilded litter.