I Believe in Duct Tape

Essay

My brother once told me that duct tape is like the force: it has a light side and a dark side, and it holds the universe together. Of course, my brother had a daily duct tape calendar in high school, so that may not have been an original quote. Nevertheless, it has continued to stick with me as both a clever and humorous quip, and as an unassumingly poignant observation. In a literal sense, duct tape has a seemingly endless number of practical and durable uses. In a more abstract sense, everyone needs their own emotional duct tape – their way of holding things together.

Every year, when my sister and her husband come to visit with their three boys for Christmas, I use duct tape and cardboard to construct a world of imagination for my nephews. Using no less than one hundred feet of tape and at least half a dozen medium to large boxes, we build spaceships. The four of us spend an afternoon collaborating on designs, and more than a day building them. The first time, it was one large space ship. The next year, it was two. This year, we’ll probably set out to assemble an entire fleet. As they get older, the scope of my nephews’ imaginations continues to increase. Without duct tape, we wouldn’t be able to explore even half of their ideas. That magic silver stuff is relatively cheap, and it’s more durable than any car I’ve ever owned. Duct tape doesn’t even need a warranty. Actually, it might be wittier if I said that duct tape is a warranty. Yep, duct tape is a silver, sticky warranty rolled up into a $3.99 roll. When we build those space ships, we cover every joint and every corner with tape. We make those things so durable that the ships lose their shape far sooner than they ever lose their structural integrity. Duct tape is the only connector I know of capable of handling the adventures of a band of brothers like my nephews.

If it’s not obvious by the amount of money I spend on duct tape, then I will simply state it: there is nothing more important to me than my family. My wife and I have been married for nearly a year now. I know we have a lot of learning and growing ahead of us, but I am already amazed at how completely I love and need her. She has become my duct tape. She holds my universe together. When you put duct tape on something, you just figure it’s going to hold forever. That’s what my wife is to my heart and my passion for life: she will hold me forever. Every time I’m pushing myself towards another goal, she is there, doing whatever she can to help me along. When I stay up half the night to finish a paper, she gets my clothes together for me and turns on the shower so I can sleep ten minutes longer; when my back hurts because I didn’t get enough sleep, she rubs it with her tender hands so that I can keep going; and when I start to fall apart because I’ve given almost everything I’ve got, she simply holds me together. In fact, now that I think about it, my wife is better than duct tape. If I’m “running on fumes,” she helps me to keep going. Duct tape won’t do you any good if your car runs out of gas.

Realizing that my wife is superior to duct tape probably shouldn’t be a proud discovery, and, just for the record, I never had any doubt as to my wife’s adhesive superiority. That said, I cannot deny the versatility and limitless value of a roll of duct tape. There are a lot of things around us that could benefit from a bit more of it: education, government, credit, the film industry… If I go too far down that road of possibility, I may never make it back, so I’ll stop there. Suffice it to say that I believe there are many benefits found in a bit more adhesiveness in our lives. I believe in duct tape.