Editing 2437: Post-Vaccine Party

{{comic
| number    = 2437
| date      = March 15, 2021
| title     = Post-Vaccine Party
| image     = post_vaccine_party.png
| titletext = [Future update] Well, someone accidentally dropped an M&M in their cup of ice water, and we all panicked and scattered.
}}

==Explanation==
This is another comic in a [[:Category:COVID-19|series]] related to the {{w|COVID-19 pandemic}}.

As more and more people are getting [[:Category:COVID-19 vaccine|vaccinated]] against COVID-19, and as the CDC has released guidelines suggesting vaccinated people can start gathering in larger groups, there is increasing excitement about the possibility to resume get-togethers, and have a party. However, being very cautious, [[Randall]] is cutting down the scope for his first "post-pandemic" party from that of a normal party. Some of the choices may make sense from a health and safety standpoint, while others may be just to deliberately make the party boring, thus limiting attendance and making it safer for the few who do come.

* Drinks
Instead of soda and various alcoholic beverages, he's opting for small glasses of water. Alcoholic beverages could encourage a lowering of inhibitions, to the detriment of hygiene and reasonable social distancing. Soda would have less of that problem, though some might argue the sugar or caffeine might have some similar effect. Small cups will also reduce the number of people jockeying to get into the washroom, thus supporting social distancing.

* Food
Instead of traditional party foods like pizza, nachos, and snacks, only three individual pieces of candy ({{w|M&Ms}}) and one cracker will be provided to each person. Pizza could be a health issue as people reach into a common pizza box to grab their slice, and likewise snacks if they are in communal bowls. Another possible motive for such meager offerings is the concern that people may have gained weight due to more sedentary lifestyles while staying home a lot more during the pandemic, so he doesn't want them eating a lot of fattening snacks and drinks at his party.

* Entertainment
Instead of music and {{w|karaoke}} singing and watching sports, the only music allowed will be {{w|ambient music}}, such that it would be hardly noticeable, and the only entertainment being displayed will be {{w|Bob Ross}}, who was famous for his very calm, low-key, painting lessons. (Painting could be followed by watching paint dry, one of the few activities even more boring than this party.){{Citation needed}} Music, singing, and reacting to exciting sports games can cause a lot more movement and airborne particles with the potential of spreading the virus.

* Activities
Board games, video games, {{w|ping pong}}, and good conversation are already relatively low-key activities, but apparently not low-key enough. The only two games allowed will be 3-card pickup (trimmed down from {{w|52-card pickup}}) and a single video game, the ancient {{w|Pong}} game. Also, while conversation will be allowed, it will not be "good conversation". This may be deliberate, to decrease the number of people at the party, or it may be that Randall anticipates the pandemic [[2424|will have worsened peoples' ability to converse normally]], and so is saying that people won't be held to any standards regarding the quality of their conversation.

The title text mentions that in the end, despite Randall's efforts, even the incredibly mild disruption of an M&M's falling into a cup of water caused the party-goers to panic and flee, much as Cueball and Ponytail did in [[2330: Acceptable Risk|a similar situation]].

==Transcript==
:[The comic consists of four underlined headings, two by two grid, with three or four lines of text beneath each. Almost all of the original lines of text have been fully or partially crossed out (marked with &lt;del> below), and five new items have been added (marked with &lt;ins> below), plus some brackets and one arrow. Even one of the added items has been modified.]
:<u>Drinks</u>
:* <del style="text-decoration-color: red">Soda</del>
:* <del style="text-decoration-color: red">Wine</del>
:* <del style="text-decoration-color: red">Beer</del>
:* <del style="text-decoration-color: red">Cocktails</del>
:* <ins style="color: red">Small cups of ice water</ins>

:<u>Food</u>
:* <del style="text-decoration-color: red">Pizza</del>
:* <del style="text-decoration-color: red">Nachos</del>
:* <del style="text-decoration-color: red">Various snacks</del>
:* <ins style="color: red">Three M&Ms and a saltine per person</ins>

:<u>Entertainment</u>
:* Music <ins style="color: red">(ambient)</ins>
:* <del style="text-decoration-color: red">Karaoke</del>
:* <del style="text-decoration-color: red">Big screen</del> TV showing <del style="text-decoration-color: red">sports</del> <ins style="color: red">Bob Ross</ins>

:<u>Activities</u>
:* <del style="text-decoration-color: red">Board games</del> <ins style="color: red"><del>52</del></ins> <ins style="color: red">3-card pickup</ins>
:* Video Games
:* <del style="text-decoration-color: red">Ping</del> <ins style="color: red">(</ins>Pong<ins style="color: red">)</ins> [A red arrow points from "Video Games" to "(Pong)"]
:* <del style="text-decoration-color: red">Good</del> conversation

:[Caption below the panel:]
:We're planning our first post-vaccine party, but we want to start slow.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:COVID-19]]
[[Category:COVID-19 vaccine]]
[[Category:Social interactions]]
[[Category:Food]]
[[Category:Sport]]
[[Category:Music]]
[[Category:Video games]]
@@ Line 10: / Line 10: @@
 This is another comic in a [[:Category:COVID-19|series]] related to the {{w|COVID-19 pandemic}}.
-As more and more people are getting [[:Category:COVID-19 vaccine|vaccinated]] against COVID-19, and as the CDC has released guidelines suggesting vaccinated people can start gathering in larger groups, there is increasing excitement about the possibility to resume get-togethers, and have a party. However, being very cautious, [[Randall]] is cutting down the scope for his first "post-pandemic" party from that of a normal party. Not all of the scope reductions make sense. {{Citation needed}}
+As more and more people are getting [[:Category:COVID-19 vaccine|vaccinated]] against COVID-19, and as the CDC has released guidelines suggesting vaccinated people can start gathering in larger groups, there is increasing excitement about the possibility to resume get-togethers, and have a party. However, being very cautious, [[Randall]] is cutting down the scope for his first "post-pandemic" party from that of a normal party. Some of the choices may make sense from a health and safety standpoint, while others may be just to deliberately make the party boring, thus limiting attendance and making it safer for the few who do come.
-===Drinks===
+* Drinks
-* Instead of interesting alcoholic and sugary beverages, he's reducing scope by serving plain ice water.
+Instead of soda and various alcoholic beverages, he's opting for small glasses of water. Alcoholic beverages could encourage a lowering of inhibitions, to the detriment of hygiene and reasonable social distancing. Soda would have less of that problem, though some might argue the sugar or caffeine might have some similar effect. Small cups will also reduce the number of people jockeying to get into the washroom, thus supporting social distancing.
-* Instead of serving the ice water in ordinary-sized cups, he's further reducing scope by serving it in small cups.
-===Food===
+* Food
-* A person holding an ordinary party might provide large quantities of foods of various sorts. Randall is reducing scope by serving only two types of food, {{w|M&M's}} and {{w|saltine cracker}}s.
+Instead of traditional party foods like pizza, nachos, and snacks, only three individual pieces of candy ({{w|M&Ms}}) and one cracker will be provided to each person. Pizza could be a health issue as people reach into a common pizza box to grab their slice, and likewise snacks if they are in communal bowls. Another possible motive for such meager offerings is the concern that people may have gained weight due to more sedentary lifestyles while staying home a lot more during the pandemic, so he doesn't want them eating a lot of fattening snacks and drinks at his party.
-* He is further reducing scope by limiting the quantities: each guest will be provided with three individual pieces of candy and one single cracker.
-===Entertainment===
+* Entertainment
-* Instead of regular music, Randall's party has less-exciting {{w|ambient music}}.
+Instead of music and {{w|karaoke}} singing and watching sports, the only music allowed will be {{w|ambient music}}, such that it would be hardly noticeable, and the only entertainment being displayed will be {{w|Bob Ross}}, who was famous for his very calm, low-key, painting lessons. (Painting could be followed by watching paint dry, one of the few activities even more boring than this party.){{Citation needed}} Music, singing, and reacting to exciting sports games can cause a lot more movement and airborne particles with the potential of spreading the virus.
-* {{w|Karaoke}} has been eliminated completely.
-* The big-screen TV has been reduced to a standard TV, and instead of showing active and exciting sports games, it will show mellow painting lessons by {{w|Bob Ross}}.
-===Activities===
+* Activities
-* Board games require strategy and could be exciting, so Randall has replaced them with {{w|52 pickup}}, a game with neither quality. Having already downsized to a single game, he further reduces the scope by reducing the number of cards involved from 52 to 3.
+Board games, video games, {{w|ping pong}}, and good conversation are already relatively low-key activities, but apparently not low-key enough. The only two games allowed will be 3-card pickup (trimmed down from {{w|52-card pickup}}) and a single video game, the ancient {{w|Pong}} game. Also, while conversation will be allowed, it will not be "good conversation". This may be deliberate, to decrease the number of people at the party, or it may be that Randall anticipates the pandemic [[2424|will have worsened peoples' ability to converse normally]], and so is saying that people won't be held to any standards regarding the quality of their conversation.
-* His original notes indicate that the party might include both video games and ping pong, but he has reduced scope here as well by merging these activities and offering only a single video game, the ancient {{w|Pong}} game.
-* Finally, while conversation will be allowed, Randall is reducing scope by reducing quality. This element of the party plan is qualitatively different from the others because it's generally the guests themselves that provide the majority of the conversation at a party, so it's possible that Randall is simply acknowledging [[2424|the effect]] that the pandemic has had on peoples' ability to converse normally.
 The title text mentions that in the end, despite Randall's efforts, even the incredibly mild disruption of an M&M's falling into a cup of water caused the party-goers to panic and flee, much as Cueball and Ponytail did in [[2330: Acceptable Risk|a similar situation]].