Turd

Eight-frame cartoon. Two editors are sitting at one end of a table at a café. A ponytailed stranger works on a laptop at the end of the computer. Frame 1: Bespectacled editor says, “How did the manuscript you were working on turn out?” Curly-haired editor says, “Well, you know what they say: you can’t polish a turd.” Frame 2: The stranger says, “If I may interject...I’d like to show you something.” She turns her computer around so that the editors can see her screen. Frame 2: The screen shows a gleaming turd. Curly-haired editor says, “Whoa! It’s so shiny!” Bespectacled editor says, “It’s beautiful! But…how?” Frame 4: The stranger says, “It’s a coprolite fossilized dung from a prehistoric animal.” Frame 5: She continues, “So, you see, you CAN polish a turd.” Frame 6: Curly-haired editor says, “But only after you bury it and apply relentless pressure over time scales that would certainly kill both you and the turd’s creator?” Frame 7: The stranger says, “Well I… I guess so.” Frame 8: Curly-haired editor turns her head and says, “As I was saying…”

Shoutout to the many editors who have put in the time, effort, and skill needed to turn shapeless, smelly turds into coprolites and then polish them to a mirror finish. Too often your dedication goes unnoticed.

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