Samantha Schley

Tape dispenser

When I was 19 I read a book call "Plato and a platypus walk into a bar" by Daniel B. Klein. The book itself was trying to understand philosophy through jokes. I was trying to be more worldly. I wasn't in college. I was working in entry level job with a small future in a small town. I knew I didn't want that life, but I didn't know how to escape it. Reading this book helped me look at where I was and see my next step, then the step after that. Then the next step. It has been over a decade since I read this book and sadly, I cannot recall the stories or lessons I learned. But there was a comic that stuck with me. It's a simple black and white, one panel comic, involving two snails and one tape dispenser. The first snail says to the second snail "I don't care if she is a tape dispenser. I love her." To this day that is how I think of true unconditional love. No judgement, but acceptance. Acknowledging that differences are not discrepancies.