Editing 150: Grownups

{{comic
| number    = 150
| date      = August 30, 2006
| title     = Grownups
| image     = grownups.png
| titletext = I've looked into this, and I can't figure out a way to do it cheaply. And I guess it wouldn't be sanitary.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Randall]] is again playing with the child/grownup mental setup. During childhood, adults ("grownups") make most of the decisions and put constraints on what their children do. As children age and eventually become grownups, there are some things that they do not do anymore, as they see them as childish. 

[[Megan]] has taken these thoughts seriously, and realizes that with her newfound freedom as a grownup, she gets to define what her adulthood means. Free from constraints, she goes ahead and creates a {{w|ball pit}} in her apartment of colored plastic balls. [[Cueball]] admires this spirit and enters the ball pit. It is difficult to decipher Randall's true intent behind this somewhat cryptic comic, but it seems from the heart that the two are having sex in the pit.

The trend with adults participating in children's activities is continued in [[219: Blanket Fort]], and with adults who feel like children while doing adult things as in [[616: Lease]], which references this comic in the title text.

The title text reveals that [[Randall]] also would like to make his own ball pit, but he finds it [http://playpenballs.com/index.php?route=product/category&path=60 expensive to buy] and also  [http://www.reddit.com/r/mildlyinteresting/comments/1q6bru/this_is_how_they_clean_the_plastic_balls_from_the/ hard to keep clean]. Both of these are true - see links. Most public ball pits can easily become very dirty, as many children and toddlers play in them.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is talking to Megan who is behind a waist-high screen across a doorway with colorful playpen balls behind her.]
:Cueball: Hey, I was wondering if you had plans for-- holy crap, what happened to your apartment?
:Megan: I filled it with playpen balls!
:Cueball: I... what? Why?

:[Megan is seen from the front through the door with the colored balls behind her.]
:Megan: Because we're grown-ups now, and it's our turn to decide what that means.

:[Cueball is seen from the side standing next to the open door. Megan cannot be seen, except her hands on the screen, but some of the colored balls can be seen through the door. A beat panel.]

:[Same view but both have entered into the apartment, with colored balls spilling out into the corridor so the screen is no longer shown. A big pink love heart drifts out the door.]

==Trivia==
* This is one of the six [[Footer comics|footer comics]] featured in the bottom segment of [https://xkcd.com xkcd.com].
* Randall actually built a ball pit in his apartment, which he talks about and shows pictures of in [http://blog.xkcd.com/2007/11/19/growing-up/ these] [http://blog.xkcd.com/2008/02/27/ballpit-phase-ii/ two] posts on his blog.
* Inspired by this comic, the website [http://www.chiliahedron.com/ballroom/ chiliahedron.com] provides a calculator for how much it would cost to make your own ball pit.
* This comic used to be [https://web.archive.org/web/20220125023401/https://store.xkcd.com/products/signed-prints available as a signed print] in the xkcd store before it was [[Store|shut down]].

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Footer comics]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Romance]]
[[Category:Sex]]
[[Category:Playpen balls]]
[[Category:Comics with xkcd store products]]