Gulliver’s next journey takes him to the moon of Pipbob, Astrobob. He is on vacation to tour the famous moon and to experience the rumored splendor of the rainforests and beautiful countrysides. Even the inhabitants of Pipbob, the Pipbobians, known for their beautiful purple skin and miniscule size of only two feet five inches, attract attention from across the universe. Every Pipbobian is athletic, artistic, or musically talented. Their little known flaw is they are very conscious of their appearance.
Their superficial nature places focus on ess salient issues like fashion, and makes them more dependent on the opinions of others to gauge their own self worth. Every Pipbobian follows the latest trends and is quick to judge the appearance of those who do not. When Gulliver arrives he proceeds to the rental jet booth. He expects to find a decent Zipbob, but instead he is informed by the receptionist that all that is left are the old clunker Zipbobs. Grudgingly, he compromises as he really wants to see as much of Pipbob as possible. As he is traveling, his Zipbob2100XX sputters and nearly dies on the jetway.
Gulliver manages to guide his Zipbob to the nearest available docking bay, which happens to be the dock for the oldest and most privileged Zipbobs. Unaware of the penalty for such an offense, Gulliver leaves his Zipbob and begins to make his way for help. Not five meters down the jetpath, Gulliver is stopped by Billbob, the second in command to the almighty Bob. Bob is the leader of all Astrobob, and he truly epitomizes the Pipbobians. He is very nicely dressed and cares only about the opinions of others. He lacks any real individuality. Billbob reports Gulliver to
Bob for a landing violation and leaves Gulliver’s fate in Bob’s hands, as he wouldn’t dare think of a punishment without the consent of others. Gulliver is livid with the Pipbobian’s treatment of a tourist, and is disappointed with the reputation that follows the famous moon. Bob explains sheepishly that docking in the wrong bay is bad, but that he doesn’t know what to do about it. He would normally seek the approval of the masses in such a case, but he felt that such a display of insecurity may cause the people to see him as being weak and unable to govern.
Gulliver, now furious, lashes out at the cowardly leader and directly addresses his problem of dependency on others for everything. He explains how all of the people of his nation have also become dependent and fill their insecurities with cheap fashion and trendy ideas that fade as quickly as they come. They buy flashy cars and wear certain clothes to impress all the tourists, but they lack any real substance. In a final act of disgust, Gulliver storms out of the office and catches the next rocket home. Bob, struck with a revelation, awakens to the real problem that Gulliver ighlighted.
He ponders day and night to find a solution that will make his people more hospitable to tourist like Gulliver. He consults many other moons to see how they have solved similar problems and discovers the concept of uniforms. All the dominate species of other planets are adopting uniform clothing patterns that eliminate competition and ensure individualism through a collective voice. Almost too good to be true, Bob leaps in rejoice over the solution. He mandates a uniform for all the Pipbobians, and thus, the problem is solved!
