2277: Business Greetings

2020-03-12T12:19:00Z

Roxy:

{{comic
| number = 2277
| date = March 6, 2020
| title = Business Greetings
| image = business_greetings.png
| titletext = We have email and social media now, so we probably don't need to keep exchanging business cards by pressing them gently against each others' faces with an open palm and smearing them around.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an EYEBALL LICKER. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic is the third comic in a [[:Category:COVID-19|series of comics]] (with at least five in a row) about the {{w|2019–20 coronavirus outbreak|2020 pandemic}} of the {{w|coronavirus}} - {{w|SARS-CoV-2}}. With this comic also on that topic, all comics of that week was about the virus outbreak.

As a reaction to the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak, people are refraining from personal contact. This leads to changes with customs in the workplace - e.g. {{w|handshake|shaking hands}} at the beginning of a meeting, etc.

The comic shows [[Beret Guy]] addressing his employees at [[:Category:Beret Guy's Business|his eccentric company]] ([[Ponytail]], [[Hairy]] and [[Hairbun]], see also [[1997: Business Update]]). He states that they should not overreact to the coronavirus. But at least they should now quit their usual startup procedure at meetings where everyone is "licking each others eyeballs". Virus or not, it is not common for humans to lick anyone's eyeballs at meetings {{Citation needed}}, but it could be an extreme stretch of intimate behavior to make an analogy to some cultures' norm of kissing acquaintances in greeting.

Humorously, his employees state that they will miss this human contact, but that they at least understand.

Contact between saliva and eyes are a very common way to get the virus spread. But usually this occurs from one infected person sneezing and airborne particles randomly coming in contact with an uninfected bystander's eye or people touching their own faces and eyes after having touched an infected surface, not by applying the saliva directly to a person's eyeball by means of another person's tongue.

The title text refers to an actual business custom (exchanging {{w|business card}}s), but one which is absurdly altered to promote the spread of disease by touching cards and hands to faces. It is not clear whether this is safer or more dangerous than Beret Guy's previous practice of eating business cards, see [[1032: Networking]].

==Transcript==
:[Beret Guy is standing to the left addressing Ponytail, Hairy and Hairbun sitting in office chairs at a table. Hairbun is at the end of the table. All three have one arm on the table.]
:Beret Guy: I don't think we should overreact to the coronavirus,
:Beret Guy: But it might be time to put an end to the custom of starting business meetings by everyone licking each others' eyeballs.
:Hairy: I'll miss the human contact, but that's fair.
:Hairbun: Gotta change with the times.

==Trivia==
*When the comic was first published, it did not have a title-text; it was added later during the day of release.
**This has almost exclusively occurred previously with special interactive or dynamic comics.
***Absence of title-text is so unusual that it broke at least one xkcd client ([https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.floern.xkcd Browser for xkcd by Floern]).
*The phrase "each other" is actually singular. It should be "each other's eyeballs" (the eyeballs of each other person) and "each other's face" (the face of each other person).

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]
[[Category:Beret Guy's Business]]
[[Category:Social interactions]]

[[Category:COVID-19]]

2279: Symptoms

2020-03-12T12:18:19Z

Roxy:

{{comic
| number = 2279
| date = March 11, 2020
| title = Symptoms
| image = symptoms.png
| titletext = This medicine says it may cause lightheadedness, dry mouth, and blurred vision, but my head feels incredibly heavy, water is pouring from my mouth, and I can see individual hummingbird wingbeats, so I think I'm fine.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a PERSON WITH ICY SKIN. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic is the fifth comic in a [[:Category:COVID-19|series of comics]] (with at least five in a row) about the {{w|2019–20 coronavirus outbreak|2020 pandemic}} of the {{w|coronavirus}} - {{w|SARS-CoV-2}}.

The comic states that the symptoms of a disease are shortness of breath, fever, fatigue and dry cough. These are the top 3 and 5th most {{w|Coronavirus_disease_2019#Signs_and_symptoms|common symptoms}} reported for {{w|COVID-19}}, the disease caused by the new coronavirus. This is thus the fifth comic in a row about this disease, released on the day that the {{w|World Health Organization}} declared the outbreak a {{w|pandemic}}.

[[Cueball]] reads these symptoms up from his phone to [[Megan]] who acts as if reassured that she doesn't have it, since her symptoms are the opposite. She has powerful lungs, thus no shortness of breath. This is a good thing. She also has icy skin, normally not a fever symptom, although heavy sweating caused by fever can lower temperature. She describes her self as having frenzied energy, the opposite of fatigue. These two symptoms could be a bit weird, but maybe she just works her self up so she sweats alot, and if running around sweating your skin can become really cold.

But her last symptoms is an incredibly wet cough, and although that is the opposite of a dry cough it sounds quite bad, compared with her other two strange symptoms. So while she might not have COVID-19, she might wish to see a doctor never the less. (There are still other diseases out there although most of the world only talks about Corona virus these days, see the first of this row of comics: [[2275: Coronavirus Name]].)

An alternative is that Megan is being sarcastic, considering that these could be symptoms of a whole host of medical situations, specifically any kind of flu, many of which are not concerning at all.

The title text expands on this joke. Cueball reads up from the note on some medicine about the side effects. Here [[Megan]] again doesn't have the common side effects of the medicine but the exact opposite so she thinks she is fine. In such a situation they should see a doctor as soon as possible, because they obviously have some rare side effects that could be serious.

It also reflects on the whole concept of symptom/side effect warnings themselves as often people have no good frame of reference for when a particular symptom is actually abnormal. It is often easy for one to believe they match some or all of a list of symptoms because for someone to be absolutely sure they do not have the a specific symptom, they would need an almost comic level of "normality".

The medicine is supposed to make the user:
#Lightheaded, but Megan's head feels heavy.
#Have a dry mouth, but water is pouring out of Megan's mouth.
#Have blurred vision, but Megan sees so clearly that she can spot individual {{w|hummingbird}} wingbeats.

Having a heavy head, is not a good sign, even though the opposite is also not good. Dry mouth can be anoying but her condition sounds dangerous. And although blurred vision is a bad thing, it is impossible for a human eye to follow the 12-80 beats a second of a hummingbird. {{Citation needed}}

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Megan stand facing each other, with Cueball looking down at his smartphone held up in one hand.]
:Cueball: It says here common symptoms include shortness of breath, fever, fatigue, and a dry cough.
:Megan: That's reassuring to me, a person with powerful lungs, icy skin, frenzied energy, and an '''''incredibly''''' wet cough.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:COVID-19]]

explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2277: Business Greetings

2279: Symptoms