What's the joke?

April 26, 2010 12:06 PM

What's the joke? A Non–Sequitir single panel. Please explain

For those that cannot see it: A man and a are woman carrying several shopping bags each (they seem to be emerging from a shop*). They are looking towards a man with a snow shovel on his shoulder {there is no snow around} a wheelbarrow and what looks like a ball of string/rope attached to an adjacent shop/building from which they are exiting.– *I posit this because both the place from which the people are exiting and where the guy with the wheelbarrow is standing have pleated awnings and I think this means they are shops
She is saying to her partner /husband:

posted by tellurian to science & nature (12 answers total)

"Oh, that reminds me… Any word from the bank on our application for a mortgage re-fi?
posted by tellurian at 12:09 PM on April 26, 2010

The guy is walking an animal. He is getting ready to shovel some shit.
posted by phunniemee at 12:10 PM on April 26, 2010 [1 favorite]

Some discussion here.
posted by sageleaf at 12:10 PM on April 26, 2010

It looks like he's got a big bundle of red tape.
posted by IanMorr at 12:23 PM on April 26, 2010

Why a wheelbarrow and snow shovel to haul a little crumbled ball of paper?

Why does the paper or whatever appear to have a rope attached to it?

Does it mean anything that the awning is the same on both sides?

Totally baffling.
posted by A Terrible Llama at 12:28 PM on April 26, 2010

The guy is walking an animal. He is getting ready to shovel some shit.
I ain't going for it, but then I'm dumb so I thought there has to be some other explanation. What do I know. I personally hated it very much and will avoid as much as possible looking at Non Sequitiur (or however you spell it) ever again! In the meantime take a tick for a good answer for now.
posted by tellurian at 12:29 PM on April 26, 2010

From the color version that sageleaf links to, it's pretty clear that he's holding a retractable leash. So, yeah, he's about to shovel shit.
posted by mr_roboto at 12:29 PM on April 26, 2010

What do I know. I personally hated it very much and will avoid as much as possible looking at Non Sequitiur (or however you spell it) ever again!

Wow. Bad day for Wiley, I guess.
posted by mr_roboto at 12:31 PM on April 26, 2010

phunnieme hit it on the head.

The couple are looking at a guy with his presumably huge dog about to take a huge dump. The implication is that the mortgage financier is about to do the same thing to them, either by spouting BS or by rejecting their application; take your pick.
posted by anotherfluke at 12:32 PM on April 26, 2010

phunimee's explanation makes sense. This must be a a case of cartoonist license being taken a little too far, as that bundle of scribbles looks nothing like a retractable leash - even in the color version.
posted by Think_Long at 12:32 PM on April 26, 2010 [1 favorite]

Everybody has an off day, I guess, including Wiley. At any rate, here's the permalink I should have used, in case you want to find it again later to buy it on a t-shirt.
posted by sageleaf at 1:29 PM on April 26, 2010

Assuming it's a banking-related joke, it doesn't seem particularly clever. But I'm not sure whether it should be considered unsubtle, or overly subtle. I'd love to see the confused reactions that'd get on a T-shirt.

I think it'd be funnier to come up with your own caption, though, like, "Oh, that reminds me... Isn't American Idol on tonight?"

When I clicked on the official web site link, it already had Tuesday's comic up, and I'm not sure I get that either. Then I checked Sunday's to see how common this is (I haven't read the comics in a long time), and not only was it lame, it seemed more sexist than anything. What is this, B.C.?
posted by TheSecretDecoderRing at 10:54 PM on April 26, 2010