punch
Original: punch on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Panel 1:
Young man: Grandpa, I don't get it. How is it that we are so much richer and more knowledgeable than people 100 years ago, and yet all the time we're busy and anxious and sad.
Old man (grandfather): You can't punch stuff anymore.
Panel 2:
Grandfather: Two things used to be true. One, people generally knew how their devices worked. Two, most of the devices in life were large and stupid hand-tools, carts, chairs, stoves.
Panel 3:
Grandfather: The result was that, when a machine wasn't working, the solution was to beat it like it'd slept with your wife. Bash it with a hammer, jam a knife into it, pry it apart with an ax or a crowbar.
Panel 4:
Grandfather: Today when your computer suddenly loses all your work, what do you do? Internalize the anger. Eat it if you do beat something, it's an old technology like the table or wall, but you have to treat the actual source of the problem like royalty.
Panel 5 (silhouettes on a hillside at night):
Grandfather: Surround yourself with shit that you can punch, my boy, and you will know peace.
Young man: Truly you are wise, grandfather.
Votey:
Off-panel speech bubble (the young man, to the grandfather): Can I punch you?
Young man: Grandpa, I don't get it. How is it that we are so much richer and more knowledgeable than people 100 years ago, and yet all the time we're busy and anxious and sad.
Old man (grandfather): You can't punch stuff anymore.
Panel 2:
Grandfather: Two things used to be true. One, people generally knew how their devices worked. Two, most of the devices in life were large and stupid hand-tools, carts, chairs, stoves.
Panel 3:
Grandfather: The result was that, when a machine wasn't working, the solution was to beat it like it'd slept with your wife. Bash it with a hammer, jam a knife into it, pry it apart with an ax or a crowbar.
Panel 4:
Grandfather: Today when your computer suddenly loses all your work, what do you do? Internalize the anger. Eat it if you do beat something, it's an old technology like the table or wall, but you have to treat the actual source of the problem like royalty.
Panel 5 (silhouettes on a hillside at night):
Grandfather: Surround yourself with shit that you can punch, my boy, and you will know peace.
Young man: Truly you are wise, grandfather.
Votey:
Off-panel speech bubble (the young man, to the grandfather): Can I punch you?
Alt text
A five-panel black-and-white SMBC comic. A young man asks his bearded grandfather why people today are so much richer and more knowledgeable than 100 years ago yet are constantly busy, anxious, and sad. The grandfather replies, "You can't punch stuff anymore." He explains that people used to understand their devices, which were large, stupid hand-tools, carts, chairs, and stoves, so when a machine broke you could just beat it with a hammer, knife, ax, or crowbar. Today when your computer loses all your work you have to internalize the anger and treat the actual source of the problem like royalty. In the final panel, the two stand as silhouettes on a hillside at night; the grandfather says, "Surround yourself with shit that you can punch, my boy, and you will know peace," and the young man replies, "Truly you are wise, grandfather." Votey aftercomic: a single panel showing the young man's hand-drawn face beside a speech bubble reading, "Can I punch you?"
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.