2011-09-14
Original: 2011-09-14 on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Panel 1:
Young boy: Daddy, can you help me with this puzzle?
Panel 2:
(The father holds up a puzzle book. The boy points at it. The page reads:)
Puzzle book: SPOT THE DIFFERENCE
Panel 3:
(Close-up of the father, an engineer, wearing glasses, looking intently.)
Panel 4:
(The puzzle book again, with a caption near a small screen/device.)
Device: SCANNING...
Panel 5:
(The two side-by-side puzzle pictures are shown; one is overlaid with a green grid/highlight. A monitor is also visible.)
Panel 6:
Father: THE DISSIMILAR AREAS ARE NOW HIGHLIGHTED IN GREEN. PUZZLE COMPLETE.
(He holds up the device showing the result.)
Panel 7:
Father: YOU KNOW, FATHERS WHO AREN'T ENGINEERS SPEND MORE TIME WITH THEIR KIDS.
(The boy looks up at him, uneasy.)
Panel 8:
Father: WELL, DO YOU WANT A GOOD PARENT, OR AN EFFICIENT PARENT?
Panel 9:
Boy: OBVIOUSLY A GOOD PARENT.
Panel 10:
(Close-up of the father, displeased.)
Panel 11:
(Close-up of the boy, shrugging, palms up.)
Panel 12:
(Scene shifts: the boy, now grown up, stands beside a woman.)
Grown-up boy: AND THAT WAS THE LAST TIME HE EVER SPOKE TO ME.
Votey:
Woman (off-panel speaker): SO HE KICKED YOU OUT?
Man: NO... HE JUST FLOW-CHARTED EVERY CONVERSATION WE COULD EVER HAVE IN ADVANCE.
Young boy: Daddy, can you help me with this puzzle?
Panel 2:
(The father holds up a puzzle book. The boy points at it. The page reads:)
Puzzle book: SPOT THE DIFFERENCE
Panel 3:
(Close-up of the father, an engineer, wearing glasses, looking intently.)
Panel 4:
(The puzzle book again, with a caption near a small screen/device.)
Device: SCANNING...
Panel 5:
(The two side-by-side puzzle pictures are shown; one is overlaid with a green grid/highlight. A monitor is also visible.)
Panel 6:
Father: THE DISSIMILAR AREAS ARE NOW HIGHLIGHTED IN GREEN. PUZZLE COMPLETE.
(He holds up the device showing the result.)
Panel 7:
Father: YOU KNOW, FATHERS WHO AREN'T ENGINEERS SPEND MORE TIME WITH THEIR KIDS.
(The boy looks up at him, uneasy.)
Panel 8:
Father: WELL, DO YOU WANT A GOOD PARENT, OR AN EFFICIENT PARENT?
Panel 9:
Boy: OBVIOUSLY A GOOD PARENT.
Panel 10:
(Close-up of the father, displeased.)
Panel 11:
(Close-up of the boy, shrugging, palms up.)
Panel 12:
(Scene shifts: the boy, now grown up, stands beside a woman.)
Grown-up boy: AND THAT WAS THE LAST TIME HE EVER SPOKE TO ME.
Votey:
Woman (off-panel speaker): SO HE KICKED YOU OUT?
Man: NO... HE JUST FLOW-CHARTED EVERY CONVERSATION WE COULD EVER HAVE IN ADVANCE.
Alt text
A 12-panel comic. A young boy asks his bespectacled engineer father to help with a "Spot the Difference" puzzle. Instead of playing along, the father uses a scanning device that announces "SCANNING..." then overlays the puzzle's differing areas in a green grid and declares, "The dissimilar areas are now highlighted in green. Puzzle complete." He tells the boy, "You know, fathers who aren't engineers spend more time with their kids," then asks, "Well, do you want a good parent, or an efficient parent?" The boy answers, "Obviously a good parent," and shrugs. The father looks displeased. The scene jumps forward: the boy, now a grown man standing beside a woman, says, "And that was the last time he ever spoke to me." Votey (black-and-white aftercomic): The woman asks, "So he kicked you out?" The man replies, "No... he just flow-charted every conversation we could ever have in advance."
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.