ratio
Original: ratio on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Panel 1:
Woman with red/auburn hair: At what age were you happiest?
Woman with dark curly hair and round glasses: 36%
Panel 2:
Woman with red hair: That's not an age, that's a ratio.
Woman with glasses: Exactly.
Panel 3 (narration / dialogue over a grassy outdoor scene):
Woman with glasses: Good memories are retroactively constructed. It takes a certain amount of distance to imagine a previous time in my life was carefree - as if I always knew in advance things would be okay.
Panel 4 (the red-haired woman lies on a blanket; the glasses woman sits beside her on the grass):
Woman with glasses: If I live long enough, today will be the best day in my life!
Panel 5:
Woman with red hair: You spent half of this morning telling me about your financial distress.
Woman with glasses: Ahh, we were poor but we had everything back then!
Votey:
Woman with glasses: Yes, we were hungry, but it was a hunger for the truth, and also for food.
(The woman with glasses is shown grinning.)
Woman with red/auburn hair: At what age were you happiest?
Woman with dark curly hair and round glasses: 36%
Panel 2:
Woman with red hair: That's not an age, that's a ratio.
Woman with glasses: Exactly.
Panel 3 (narration / dialogue over a grassy outdoor scene):
Woman with glasses: Good memories are retroactively constructed. It takes a certain amount of distance to imagine a previous time in my life was carefree - as if I always knew in advance things would be okay.
Panel 4 (the red-haired woman lies on a blanket; the glasses woman sits beside her on the grass):
Woman with glasses: If I live long enough, today will be the best day in my life!
Panel 5:
Woman with red hair: You spent half of this morning telling me about your financial distress.
Woman with glasses: Ahh, we were poor but we had everything back then!
Votey:
Woman with glasses: Yes, we were hungry, but it was a hunger for the truth, and also for food.
(The woman with glasses is shown grinning.)
Alt text
A five-panel SMBC comic. Two women talk: one with red/auburn hair, one with dark curly hair and round glasses wearing an orange top. Panel 1: Red-haired woman asks 'At what age were you happiest?' Glasses woman answers '36%.' Panel 2: 'That's not an age, that's a ratio.' 'Exactly.' Panel 3, over a grassy field: the glasses woman explains 'Good memories are retroactively constructed. It takes a certain amount of distance to imagine a previous time in my life was carefree - as if I always knew in advance things would be okay.' Panel 4: the two lie/sit outdoors on a blanket; glasses woman beams, 'If I live long enough, today will be the best day in my life!' Panel 5: red-haired woman replies 'You spent half of this morning telling me about your financial distress,' and the glasses woman, walking off cheerfully, says 'Ahh, we were poor but we had everything back then!' Votey (aftercomic): a close-up of the grinning glasses woman saying 'Yes, we were hungry, but it was a hunger for the truth, and also for food.' The joke: nostalgia retroactively gilds even the present and recent hardship into idyllic memory.
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.