After several lectures on the nature of the cosmos and humanity's place therein, we find Ndbag has returned to his original topic; the nature of friendship. While it may seem that the intervening lectures were a diversion, we realise on reading this strip that there was a cunning plan afoot; the discursion served not only to show us our place in the cosmos but, as we shall see, to give us some context for this and, one assumes, later commentary.
The first thing we notice is that the hamper is visible, and that no closet is in sight. Has the hamper been moved? Are the socks no longer stored permanently therein? This is a disturbing thought, and one must admire the author for daring to broach such an idea. However, as we read on we realise that as far as the hamper is concerned, the closet doesn't matter; what's important is that it's not on the bed.
As we've seen previously, by sitting on the bed beside Pandaman, Ndbag is embracing the laws of physics. The hamper, though, is some distance from the bed. When we see Ndbag moving to the hamper, he's reminding us that although the laws of physics rule us all, some things -- particularly friendship -- are independent of those laws. One can arrange to meet a friend, for example, to go to the cinema. Ndbag is showing us Heisenberg's uncertainty principle in action; we can arrange to meet an electron somewhere, or arrange with it to go to the cinema. We can't do both.
Most philosophers would be content with providing this much insight, but Ndbag goes further. As he travels to the hamper he's not just speaking of the independence of friendship from physical laws, he's showing us that friendship is something we must strive for. In order to achieve true friendship, one must travel to the hamper. Knowledge of the socks -- knowledge of oneself and others -- can only come about through interactions with many socks. And in order for this to happen, the boogeyman has to come to the hamper.
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