Editing 1346: Career

{{comic
| number    = 1346
| date      = March 24, 2014
| title     = Career
| image     = career.png
| titletext = They'd convince me to come out of retirement for one last job: biting into a giant lump of slightly soft wax a couple of times.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Cueball]] is presumably asked to answer the typical {{w|Career counseling|career counselor}} question: What is your dream job? Rather than going with the more common answers that are designed to increase the chances of landing that particular job, Cueball talks about unrealistic jobs that are whimsical, and so well compensated that a little over one hour on the clock would provide enough wealth for a luxurious retirement; of course, you can have such a job only in your dreams. He makes jobs out of tasks that people do when they are bored, whether the tasks needed to be done or not. Therefore, if he did not get the job he probably would have done them at some point anyway.

Peeling lint off {{w|Clothes dryer#Tumbler dryers|dryer traps}} can relieve boredom, but it gets tedious soon, so Cueball wants to do that only for 5 minutes, followed by an hour of holding the handle of a {{w|lightsaber}} against things and switching it on. The energy emitted by this fictional weapon will probably burn, melt or cut the object it is touching as demonstrated in a scene from {{w|Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace|Star Wars Episode I}}, where Jedi {{w|Qui-Gon Jinn}} uses his lightsaber to cut through a wall. Later, {{w| Star Wars: The Last Jedi}} turned out to demonstrate a lightsaber being placed against something before being switched on-- on the head of a Praetorian Guard. Obviously, it would be impossible to find a job like this, let alone one with a salary allowing one to retire to a life of luxury.{{Citation needed}}

The title text is poking fun at Hollywood films, particularly stories about violent professions (like mobsters, hitmen, detective or spies) where the hero is retired, but some unforeseen circumstance has forced them out of retirement to do "[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/OneLastJob one last job]." Usually in these films, the jobs are overtly, improbably dangerous, often with the suggestion that they may lose their lives doing it, but the reward for doing the job (saving the world, a ton of cash, an unresolved/resolved debt) is just too great to refuse. However, in this comic the joke is that his "one last job" is also a mildly amusing task designed to relieve boredom.

An alternative explanation may be that these activities are very sensationally unique and satisfying for certain types of people, such as those with autism, and that this dream job is simply getting paid absurd amounts of money for something they wanted to do anyway.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball stands facing a desk, behind which another person is sitting in a desk chair.]
:Cueball: It would start with five minutes of peeling lint from dryer traps,
:Cueball: followed by an hour of pressing a lightsaber handle against things and switching it on.
:Cueball: Then I'd retire to a life of luxury.

:When people ask me to describe my dream job, I'm never sure how realistic to be.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Star Wars]]