The Glory of Ippling

"The Glory of Ippling" by Helen M. Urban is a science fiction story from the early 1960s that looks at what happens when different cultures meet, and how humans deal with really advanced technology and social rules. The story is about an Ipplinger named Boswellister, who is in charge of introducing his planet's amazing culture to Earth, but he thinks his advanced ideas and inventions will easily win the people over. Get ready for some funny and annoying situations as Boswellister tries all sorts of things to get Earthlings to notice the greatness of Ippling, from using a wrestler called the Blond Terror to trying to connect with people one-on-one, but it always seems like Earth's everyday life gets in the way. This shows how different his dreams of a super-advanced galaxy are from what Earth is actually like, where people care more about silly stuff like burlesque shows and product ads. In the end, Boswellister has to rethink what he's doing and what these cultures really mean, which goes to show that you shouldn't underestimate how complicated people and their values can be