Editing 677: Asshole

{{comic
| number    =677
| date      =December 18, 2009
| title     =Asshole
| image     =asshole.png
| titletext =[Shortly thereafter, at a nearby bakery] ::CRASH:: ::RUMBLE:: ::VRRRRRR:: '... I don't know, officer. It just scooped up an entire rack of scones and drove away!'
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|SUV}}s are large personal vehicles with big engines and a huge amount of cargo space, and are notorious gas-guzzlers and therefore emblematic of pollution caused by cars. Stereotypically, SUV owners drive them because they're compensating for failures in other parts of their lives, and as an example of conspicuous consumption. Upon hearing [[Cueball]] call him an asshole for driving an SUV, [[Beret Guy]], not wanting to appear to be such, trades his SUV in at the dealership for a hybrid subcompact.

Hybrid cars are vehicles that are powered by both gasoline and electrical motors, allowing them to consume less fuel and therefore pollute less. But stereotypically, people drive them so that they can feel superior to others about having reduced their emissions, and that's exactly what [[Megan]] says, this time, when Beret Guy happens to drive past them again.

Quite annoyed now, Beret Guy trades in his car again, this time to get an excavator (a large construction vehicle) and smack them with it. After doing this, he actually does appear quite smug and pleased with himself.

In the title text we hear some crashing sounds and then we hear a report by an eyewitness to a police officer. Beret Guy apparently used the excavator to smash into a bakery and steal scones, one of Beret Guy's beloved bakery products - see  [[452: Mission]] and the title text of [[1030: Keyed]].

See also [[434: xkcd Goes to the Airport]] where Beret Guy's obsession with bakeries was first mentioned.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Megan watches Beret Guy drive by in an SUV.]
:Cueball: Look at that asshole in his SUV, thinking he's so badass while he guzzles gas driving around suburbia.
:Beret Guy: Oh no! Am I an asshole? I hope not!

:[Beret Guy trades in his keys at the dealership.]

:[Now he is driving by in a hybrid sedan. Cueball and Megan and still there.]
:Megan: Look at that smug asshole thinking he's better than us because he drives a hybrid.
:Beret Guy: ...

:[He trades in his keys again.]

:[Cueball and Megan is standing.]
:Off-panel: ''RUMBLE''

:[Beret Guy drives a backhoe in and smacks Cueball and Megan out of the panel with the digger.]

:[He drives off, whistling.]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Food]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]