2011-01-30
Original: 2011-01-30 on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Panel 1 (header banner): CHILDREN
A boy with flame-like orange hair, freckles, and a buck-toothed nervous expression stands in a school hallway wearing a superhero costume (blue shirt with a yellow lightning bolt and a red cape). Two other children flank him looking unimpressed.
Boy (thought bubble): I WISH I WERE LIKE EVERYONE ELSE.
Panel 2 (header banner): ADULTS
The same orange-haired character, now grown into an adult man in a gray suit, stands between two other adults in business suits, all with flat, glum expressions.
Man (thought bubble): I WISH I WERE SPECIAL.
Votey:
Header banner: IN BETWEEN...
A close-up of the same character (as a young man) with a defeated, sleepy expression.
Thought bubble: WHY WORK AT ANYTHING? SOMEONE ELSE IS GONNA BE BETTER AT IT ANYWAY.
A boy with flame-like orange hair, freckles, and a buck-toothed nervous expression stands in a school hallway wearing a superhero costume (blue shirt with a yellow lightning bolt and a red cape). Two other children flank him looking unimpressed.
Boy (thought bubble): I WISH I WERE LIKE EVERYONE ELSE.
Panel 2 (header banner): ADULTS
The same orange-haired character, now grown into an adult man in a gray suit, stands between two other adults in business suits, all with flat, glum expressions.
Man (thought bubble): I WISH I WERE SPECIAL.
Votey:
Header banner: IN BETWEEN...
A close-up of the same character (as a young man) with a defeated, sleepy expression.
Thought bubble: WHY WORK AT ANYTHING? SOMEONE ELSE IS GONNA BE BETTER AT IT ANYWAY.
Alt text
A two-panel SMBC comic about contradictory desires at different life stages. Panel one is labeled CHILDREN: an orange-haired, freckled, buck-toothed boy stands in a school hallway dressed as a superhero in a blue shirt with a yellow lightning bolt and red cape, flanked by two unimpressed kids. He thinks, 'I wish I were like everyone else.' Panel two is labeled ADULTS: the same character, now a glum adult in a gray business suit, stands between two equally bland-looking adults in suits and thinks, 'I wish I were special.' The joke is that we want the opposite of whatever we have. Votey aftercomic, labeled IN BETWEEN: a close-up of the character as a tired, defeated young man thinking, 'Why work at anything? Someone else is gonna be better at it anyway.'
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.