The reader of today's panel is clearly supposed to be lulled into identifying with Patty. After all, Burl and Joy's cheapness knows no bounds, and their intelligence is none too legendary.
But the peculiar phrasing of the dialog, clearly conjuring images of high school algebra word problems, should give the reader pause.
Can we make a value judgment based on the information at hand? Or are we allowing our internal biases to overwhelm our critical faculties?
In fact, for anyone sniggering at Burl and Joy, it is the latter.
We do not know how many gallons of milk Burl and Joy are capable of consuming. We do not know the distance between Crustwood and Chadsworth. We do not know how many miles per gallon Burl's car gets.
Without this critical information, we cannot calculate whether this trip is economically viable or not. And any judgement we make is the product of our prejudices.
So, for those of you who fell for the artist's clever ruse...shame on you!
Two trains leave marginalia station...
- Look out pinball! The pants are back.
- The bottom of Burl's door is either a painted decoration or some sort of mirror reflecting the background. The only thing I am certain it is not is a drawing of a set of three-dimensional objects.
1 comment:
Gah! They just won't leave me alone, those pants!
I think it would be really interesting to live in TDS-land... all the cars have doors that open way past perpendicular.
Why is there a book labeled "bike trails" down there in the fake-looking-objects pocket? Is Burl inclined to drive on bike trails? Or does he just like thinking about how much exercise he's avoiding by driving?
Post a Comment