preference-2
Original: preference-2 on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Panel 1:
Girl (red hair): Mom, how do I get a boy to like me when he doesn't even know I exist?
Mom: Money.
Panel 2:
Mom: Evaluate your relative social status. Survey him for the strength of his preference for someone of equal social status. Do a little math and you arrive the minimum cost he'd be willing to accept in exchange for dating you.
Panel 3:
Girl (off-panel, in silhouette/shadow): I'm just as good as he is! He should want me because of who I am!
Panel 4:
Mom (in doorway): Grow up and accept the importance of allocative efficiency, kid!
Votey:
A man (off-panel speaker, smiling): I actually have a fetish for 4s.
Girl (red hair): Mom, how do I get a boy to like me when he doesn't even know I exist?
Mom: Money.
Panel 2:
Mom: Evaluate your relative social status. Survey him for the strength of his preference for someone of equal social status. Do a little math and you arrive the minimum cost he'd be willing to accept in exchange for dating you.
Panel 3:
Girl (off-panel, in silhouette/shadow): I'm just as good as he is! He should want me because of who I am!
Panel 4:
Mom (in doorway): Grow up and accept the importance of allocative efficiency, kid!
Votey:
A man (off-panel speaker, smiling): I actually have a fetish for 4s.
Alt text
A four-panel SMBC comic about dating and economics. Panel 1: A red-haired girl asks her mother, "Mom, how do I get a boy to like me when he doesn't even know I exist?" The mom replies flatly, "Money." Panel 2: The bespectacled mom explains, "Evaluate your relative social status. Survey him for the strength of his preference for someone of equal social status. Do a little math and you arrive the minimum cost he'd be willing to accept in exchange for dating you." Panel 3: The girl, shown in silhouette against a dark room, protests, "I'm just as good as he is! He should want me because of who I am!" Panel 4: The mom stands in a doorway and snaps back, "Grow up and accept the importance of allocative efficiency, kid!" Votey aftercomic: A grinning man (the love interest, seen close up) says reassuringly, "I actually have a fetish for 4s"—implying he's attracted to people of low social rank, a backhanded punchline.
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.