explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:1013: Wake Up Sheeple

2014-07-19T19:06:57Z

CVictoria:

This one is my favorite comic. That is all, nothing constructive to add here. just praise. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 05:33, 21 August 2012 (UTC)

Waking up of ancient creatures may be a reference to "The Cabin in the Woods", the movie that Randall, a fan of Firefly, is likely to have watched. [[Special:Contributions/62.105.129.252|62.105.129.252]] 10:43, 14 June 2013 (UTC)

::Considering the comic came out a month before the movie, it's somewhat unlikely. [[Special:Contributions/192.138.72.196|192.138.72.196]] 13:08, 28 October 2013 (UTC)

"Oh God Oh God Oh God!" should bring some help!--DrMath 06:46, 1 September 2013 (UTC)

Are you sure that the Sheeple are a race? I thought that it was just one giant monster (using the royal "we" in its speech). --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.97.219|141.101.97.219]] 11:23, 4 May 2014 (UTC)
: I agree - there is no indication that there are more than one Sheeple, but the trees(?) in the background and the loud baaa indicates that the one shown is a giant. Also the zoom in on the mega eye goes that way. I have corrected the explain acordingly.[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 07:25, 13 May 2014 (UTC)

I dissagree. "Ten thousand years '''we''' slumbered..." ~ ~ ~ ~ {{unsigned ip|108.162.216.72}}

Aren't they goats? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.75|173.245.48.75]] 04:31, 19 June 2014 (UTC)

Sheeple is a plural word, if it were just the one you'd have to call is a sheeperson. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.135|173.245.48.135]] 16:08, 15 July 2014 (UTC)

:Both sheep and people have a singular sense so it is not impossible that sheeple has too. [[User:Tharkon|Tharkon]] ([[User talk:Tharkon|talk]]) 01:15, 18 July 2014 (UTC)
::But "people" as a singular is a ''collective'' noun. A people is a group such as a nationality or race, not a single individual member [[User:CVictoria|CVictoria]] ([[User talk:CVictoria|talk]]) 19:06, 19 July 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1003: Adam and Eve

2014-07-19T18:36:30Z

CVictoria:

No problem, the ten commandments didn't exist back then. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 13:18, 18 February 2013 (UTC)

There's a "forbidden fruit" joke somewhere in here. [[User:Alpha|Alpha]] ([[User talk:Alpha|talk]]) 20:35, 23 February 2013 (UTC)

Missing from the explanation here is that Abel logically must have slept with his own mother because, according to the Biblical account, there were in fact no other women in existence. [[Special:Contributions/66.224.70.107|66.224.70.107]] 00:22, 22 March 2013 (UTC)
:Actually, it is generally acknowledged that Adam and Eve had children, including daughters, who were not mentioned in the bible. Remember, God marked the brow of Cain to show all the people he encountered that he was a fratricide; where did all those people come from? [[Special:Contributions/74.213.186.41|74.213.186.41]] 13:56, 1 April 2013 (UTC)
::I'm adamant that it was barbecue leftovers. --[[User:Qwach|Qwach]] ([[User talk:Qwach|talk]]) 03:01, 1 September 2013 (UTC)
:The Bible actually states that there were additional children, Genesis 5:4 "The days of Adam after he became the father of Seth were eight hundred years; and he had other sons and daughters." Also, Abel was killed by Cain before he'd ever had children. Cain and Seth are the only ones whose descendants are listed [[User:CVictoria|CVictoria]] ([[User talk:CVictoria|talk]]) 18:36, 19 July 2014 (UTC)

:Also don't forget Lilith. But I don't think Abel slept with her either. [[User:Tharkon|Tharkon]] ([[User talk:Tharkon|talk]]) 00:50, 18 July 2014 (UTC)

Talk:990: Plastic Bags

2014-07-19T18:09:41Z

CVictoria:

This time the lesson I learned came mostly from alt-text. The high we can experience from helping the world can last for days indeed, way better and healthier then drugs, want to try it? - e-inspired [[Special:Contributions/98.211.199.84|98.211.199.84]] 15:45, 27 February 2013 (UTC)
:You make it sound like it's an either/or choice. [[Special:Contributions/69.207.73.11|69.207.73.11]] 08:02, 26 April 2013 (UTC)

As a former service cashier/bag filler I can confirm that there is a counterpoint, customers with reusable bags who will absolutely refuse to use any plastic bags whatsoever, no matter how ridiculously overful their bags become, and no matter how much of a bad idea it might be ("Yes, sure, lets put your hot chicken in with the ice cream, along with the crusty laundry powder box on top of the soft fruit! I can't see how this could possibly go wrong!").[[User:Pennpenn|Pennpenn]] ([[User talk:Pennpenn|talk]]) 04:11, 14 February 2014 (UTC)

The comic, and to even greater degree its explanation, is really confusing for a non-American like myself. Some "stupid" questions about shopping groceries in the U.S.:
* Don't customers bag their own groceries?
* Are plastic bags for free (for the customer)?
* In that case, what is the incentive for the practice in the comic?
* Do you get a rebate if you bring your own bag(s) instead?
* If so, why don't simply charge for the bags provided by the store?
To put this in perspective: In Sweden, and I think most of the EU, plastic bags are the single most profitable commodity in a store. They sell for around 25 cents and are bought by the store for maybe 5 cents so the margin would be around 400%. The customer gets no help packing them (all cash desks have two compartments so you pack while the next customer's items fill the other compartment). Thus, the salesman wants to sell bags and often asks "Do you need a bag?" (but is polite enough not to try to sell more bags than necessary). The customer, on the other hand, wants to fill the bags maximally, and often brings his own bags.

Could someone with global insights on packing customs improve the explanation, to make it work internationally? [[User:Mumiemonstret|Mumiemonstret]] ([[User talk:Mumiemonstret|talk]]) 15:48, 13 June 2014 (UTC)
:In most stores in the US, the cashier bags your goods. A handful of grocery stores have the customers bag their own items. Bags are free for the customer. Some stores will give a small refund if you bring in reusable bags. It's not really a "practice" in the sense of a formalized policy to use as many bags as possible. But some cashiers do seem to have a tendency to use excess bags. I think it's because it's often easier to get another bag than to rearrange items to fit more into the bag, plus the desire to avoid overloading them. So, it's more laziness than a formal practice [[User:CVictoria|CVictoria]] ([[User talk:CVictoria|talk]]) 18:09, 19 July 2014 (UTC)