909: Worst-Case Shopping
| Worst-Case Shopping |
 Title text: Wait a minute. If I'm escaping from a submarine at 50 meters, then I'll *definitely* need a flashlight to find air pockets for gradual decompression on the way up. Time to start shopping professional dive lights. |
Explanation
In this comic, Cueball is dreaming up reasons he should get a flashlight that is water resistant up to 40 meters instead of 10 meters.
In the dream sequence over the first 2 and a half frames, Cueball appears to be diving to find a key underwater, which he spots using his flashlight when he is at 8 meters. His flashlight goes out at 10 meters because he bought the "Hi-Brite" model. The dream sequence also references a "radio shed", which were only really used in the past for ham radios or some other military style bases/compounds—which would align with his "warn the President" line.
The title text takes Cueball's thought process to the next level(worse-case), because if he is getting a flashlight that works to 40 meters, he should probably be prepared for even deeper waters as well(even worse-case).
Transcript
- [Cueball is diving in very deep, dark blue water. He shines a flashlight at the sea floor.]
- Cueball: (thinks) Eight meters. There's the wreckage... Yes! I see the key!
- [As he swims further toward it, his flashlight starts to cut out.]
- Cueball: (thinks) Gotta grab it, surface, get in to the radio shed, and warn the President! Just a few more...
- Flashlight: BZZT FIZZ
- ((This panel has no border like the others, and is divided in half diagonally by a thought bubble.))
- [The left half of it is a dark blue thought bubble with the diver inside it. On the right hand side are packaged flashlights hanging on a shelf. The one called Hi-Brite is $24.95 and is labeled "water resistant to 10 meters." The one called "FenStar G6" is $49.95 and says "water resistant to 40 meters."]
- Cueball: (thinks) Oh no.
- [Cueball and a friend stand in front of a flashlight display in a store. Cueball looks down at the packages with his hand on his chin in thought. The thought bubble from the previous panel leads from his head. The friend stands behind him.]
- Cueball: ...maybe I should spring for the deeper water resistance.
- Friend: Why on earth would you care about that?
- Cueball: Look, you never know.
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refresh comments!Discussion
Pretty much the mentality of any multi-tool buyer. I probably only need a knife and file in most cases, but I'll *never* need anything else if I buy a leatherman! 01:41, 17 April 2013 (UTC)
- Of course the real reason to buy the higher water resistance is that the standatd "water resistant" figures are highly optimistic being based on static pressure only. -- plugwash 141.101.98.51 16:45, 18 March 2014 (UTC)
- Spot on :) -- The Cat Lady (talk) 12:37, 22 August 2021 (UTC)
