2010-04-08
Original: 2010-04-08 on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Title (above the comic): WHAT KEEPS YOU UP AT NIGHT
Panel 1 — labeled "DOCTOR":
A man lies awake in bed, frowning. Thought bubble: "Could I have saved his life if I were a better doctor? If someone else would've done better... does that make his death my fault?"
Panel 2 — labeled "LAWYER":
A woman lies awake in bed, frowning. Thought bubble: "Am I being ethical? Justice depends on a vigorous debate, but... what if my client is just guilty?"
Panel 3 — labeled "ENGINEER":
A man with glasses lies in bed grinning, holding up a tablet/handheld game device with both hands. Thought bubble: "High score!"
Votey:
Panel — labeled "ECONOMIST":
A wide-eyed, manic-looking man hunches in bed with a frantic expression, hands clutched in front of him. Thought bubble: "FLESHHHHHH..."
Panel 1 — labeled "DOCTOR":
A man lies awake in bed, frowning. Thought bubble: "Could I have saved his life if I were a better doctor? If someone else would've done better... does that make his death my fault?"
Panel 2 — labeled "LAWYER":
A woman lies awake in bed, frowning. Thought bubble: "Am I being ethical? Justice depends on a vigorous debate, but... what if my client is just guilty?"
Panel 3 — labeled "ENGINEER":
A man with glasses lies in bed grinning, holding up a tablet/handheld game device with both hands. Thought bubble: "High score!"
Votey:
Panel — labeled "ECONOMIST":
A wide-eyed, manic-looking man hunches in bed with a frantic expression, hands clutched in front of him. Thought bubble: "FLESHHHHHH..."
Alt text
A three-panel SMBC comic titled "What keeps you up at night," each panel showing a different professional lying awake in bed. The DOCTOR frowns, thinking: "Could I have saved his life if I were a better doctor? If someone else would've done better... does that make his death my fault?" The LAWYER, a woman, frowns, thinking: "Am I being ethical? Justice depends on a vigorous debate, but... what if my client is just guilty?" The ENGINEER, a man in glasses, grins happily while playing a handheld game device, thinking only: "High score!" The joke: where others are tormented by moral weight, the engineer is kept up purely by a fun game. Votey (bonus panel): the ECONOMIST, drawn in a crude, manic style with wide eyes and a deranged grimace, hunches in bed thinking: "FLESHHHHHH..." — implying the economist is up at night craving human flesh, zombie-like.
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.