Editing Talk:2490: Pre-Pandemic Ketchup

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is this cueball or randall? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.235|173.245.54.235]] 15:47, 16 July 2021 (UTC)Bumpf
:It's Randall writing pandemic comics (which aren't nearly as funny or quirky as some of his earlier work).  I wouldn't mind it so much if he somehow included the more nerdy/geeky aspects (like maybe something to do with the genome, or with computer science, etc.).  [[Special:Contributions/127.0.0.1|127.0.0.1]] 16:34, 16 July 2021 (UTC)

i don't get it. ketchup keeps basically forever. i'd consider a bottle from early 2020 practically fresh. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.92.182|162.158.92.182]] 19:58, 16 July 2021 (UTC)
: I don' think the issue is "freshness", but that Cueball panic bought a "new" or "strange" brand, that they no longer are interested in trying or eating. Compare to the title text "discard the last weird food item". [[Special:Contributions/172.70.98.2|172.70.98.2]] 20:53, 16 July 2021 (UTC)
: Ketchup keeps basically forever when refrigerated. Not everybody does that (though I do). [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.222|108.162.245.222]] 07:31, 17 July 2021 (UTC)
: A bottle of ketchup costs what – maybe two dollars, three dollars tops?  For that sort of money, it ain't worth taking the chance.  Pitch it out and replace it. [[User:RAGBRAIvet|RAGBRAIvet]] ([[User talk:RAGBRAIvet|talk]]) 05:53, 18 July 2021 (UTC)
:: Good ketchup costs four, plus a trip to the store or shipping, and stays better than average ketchup for over a decade if kept cool. A mere 1.5 years? Only worth it if the power went out so long that your fridge warmed up. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.106.4|162.158.106.4]] 16:34, 18 July 2021 (UTC)
:::I would agree that it should be tossed if, and only if, (1) they had opened the bottle pre-pandemic, and (2) it had been left unrefrigerated this entire time (plausible since he appears to be standing in front of a cabinet instead of a fridge.) Otherwise yeah, there's enough vinegar in ketchup that it's probably fine; mustard and hot sauce don't even need refrigeration. (Though I do prefer cold mustard.) --mezimm [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.78|108.162.221.78]] 15:37, 19 July 2021 (UTC)
: "ketchup keeps basically forever" not according to my ketchup bottle. Bought it a month ago, and it says it's ready to expire in 11 more. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.132.157|172.68.132.157]] 07:37, 23 July 2021 (UTC)
:: The relationship between a product's unrefrigerated shelf life and the claim on the product's label is not straightforward. For many products, it is extremely common to claim product lifetimes that are far shorter than the actual lifetimes, both to be conservative (safety) and for more insidious reasons (planned obsolescence leads to more sales). In the specific case of ketchup, the anecdotal experience of many is that it lasts a very long time, even unrefrigerated. [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 08:54, 23 July 2021 (UTC)

I even have pre-apprenticeship sugar sprinkles. And I'm currently in my third job. [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 21:48, 16 July 2021 (UTC)

My reading of it is that they ''once'' might have bought that brand (maybe regularly, maybe as a 'try it and see'),  and yet for some reason (perhaps through a combination of other people panic buying in the early days, later on just rushing in and out of stores with what is truly wanted, any online/curb-pickup options being more limited or just less compulsive buying without lingering by those oh-so-attractive "end of shelf" consumer-trap displays) it was not bought again as various degrees of lockdowns hit. (It also seems not to have suffered the fate of "we haven't had a proper shop in days, how about if we combine our last tin of soup with those cornflakes and further drench it with whatever random sauces we can find?" first-world-problem desparation. Maybe it was just ''too'' far back in the cupboard, crushed behind the tons of panic-bought toiletroll/etc?). Whatever the full implications of its existence, there's clearly no nostalgia for it. Or a new favourite has been adopted after discovering it as a promoted item by the online shopping site, and this older and less exciting ketchup just aint gonna cut the mustard any more?  ...but there's a lot of "if"s and "or"s and "maybe"s in my interpretation, and I have no confidence I'm consistently, or even partially, interpretting it as it was intended to be. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.152|141.101.98.152]] 22:03, 16 July 2021 (UTC)

Is it worth mentioning that this appears to be the very kitchen from 2178: Expiration Date High Score? [[User:Nitpicking|Nitpicking]] ([[User talk:Nitpicking|talk]]) 02:18, 17 July 2021 (UTC)
:Not the same kitchen - upper cabinet has shelves here (vs. door there). Lower cabinet has door and drawer that stick out (vs. just a drawer pull in High Score). [[Special:Contributions/172.69.63.139|172.69.63.139]] 19:02, 17 July 2021 (UTC) 

Covid-19 post-desease side affect is change of taste. Certainly things with Sauer taste like pickles and ketchup will teste totally different than before covid-19 illnesses. Typical before you liked them a lot, and now they taste totally different and awful. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.54.225|172.69.54.225]] 11:36, 17 July 2021 (UTC)
: Your taste is [[326: Effect an Effect|affect]]<nowiki>ed</nowiki> post-Covid? I didn't know taste had the ability to display emotions. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.107.233|162.158.107.233]] 19:35, 17 July 2021 (UTC)
:: Yeah you can make fun of people that have a hard time write perfect. But you could also look at the thing he is trying to say, and help people understand the impact. It's very simple, some people that had the Corona illness have as a result changed perception of gasses and flavors coming into their senors. For example they can taste different ingredients in Pepsi Max separate, and pickles and milk chocolate that they loved before now appear to them as aweful tasting products. I think this should be part of this XKCD explained. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.105.124|141.101.105.124]] 18:56, 18 July 2021 (UTC)
::: "...a hard time ''to'' write perfect''ly''." (Good points, that I might have expressed myself, but if the lack of the "-ly" wasn't satire then it deserves a good-natured ribbing for. Consider this it.) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.94|141.101.99.94]] 08:45, 19 July 2021 (UTC)
:There is bias in reporting changes in taste.  People who didn't like pickles before probably won't try them after so we may never find out if there are shifts in the other direction.  Time to encourage people to eat pickles, for science. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.63.58|172.69.63.58]] 18:09, 19 July 2021 (UTC)

I wonder if this cartoon is also a play on catch up?  There are many things which have been postponed or slowed down by the pandemic response.  For instance, medical procedures (elective surgeries, cancer screening, routine immunizations, dental cleanings) delayed because providers were busy or from fear of exposure, also large gatherings (e.g., weddings).  [[Special:Contributions/172.69.62.9|172.69.62.9]] 19:13, 17 July 2021 (UTC)