It looks like that’s not her drink. She seems to have picked it up from the shelf with the messy clothes and it’s been left behind by a customer. The ice has melted, it’s warm and it tastes like crap, resulting in her reaction.
Or by the look of surprise/realisation on her face in the sixth panel, perhaps she’s realised she didn’t bring a drink with her and she’s slurping up someone else’s backwash and bacteria.
hmmm…I suppose “someone else’s backwash” has more than one meaning, then.
Stan has it. Secondary joke is that she just spewed whatever it was over her painstakingly-folded wares.
Agree with Stan (and Arthur), but I think the reaction is “this isn’t my drink.” Whether the ice has melted is not as big a deal.
Agree with Stan (and Arthur), but I think the reaction is “this isn’t my drink.” Whether the ice has melted is not as big a deal.
I think probably the warm drink clued her in that it wasn’t hers.
I could think of many reasons one might spit out what one drinks from a randomly-left cup. I have managed not to because I will be much happier *not* exploring those possibilities.
If she makes a habit of picking up random drinks, I’d venture to say she’s lucky to still be alive.
Still not sure what the joke is, though (other than, as Arthur said she just ruined all the clothing with a vaudeville spit-take)
Arthur has the joke aspect of this comic, I believe. Although I’m confused by billybob’s comment:
“hmmm…I suppose “someone else’s backwash” has more than one meaning, then.”
What other meaning is there apart from the literal one? I’m not very hip to trending phrases these days. What have I missed?
I don’t think she makes a habit of picking up random drinks. As Stan pointed out, it seems to have been left by a customer and she’s cleaning up. She gets busy and distracted drinks without thinking. Maybe she’d been on break just before she started this and had a drink in a similar cup.
Yes, of course she got distracted and forgot that wasn’t her drink. I admit I had to read the strip twice, but only because I didn’t notice the cup on my first read-through.
“someone else’s backwash” would be the soapy, scummy water left over when someone washes his back.
Santorum!
@CIDU Bill. I think when you ask “What is the joke?” you really mean “That lame joke isn’t it, is it?” I think you need to trust your instincts. Indeed, that she is drinking somebody else’s drink and spitting it out all over the clothes she just straightened up IS the joke.
It’s physical comedy which might be a bit hard to come across in comic form I guess.
You physically are working and moving things around. You get confused with you hands and do things out of habit. So she, out of habit, takes a sip of her drink. Then she realizes …. it wasn’t her drink.
It’s basically a less elaborate but more gross version of the following joke (which I *always* found hilarious).
But woozy, forgetting where you put down your drink is a far cry from picking up and drinking somebody else’s.
I do the former on close to a daily basis, and have never done the latter.
“I do the former on close to a daily basis, and have never done the latter.”
Really?
I’ve done the latter many times and even if I hadn’t I can easily imagine it. I think most people have done that a few times. Have you seriously never picked something up in a cluttered house or bar or somewhere and start to lift it and realized “Hey, this isn’t mine”? If you truly haven’t ever done that you must be in the minority.
When you do oil painting you dip your brushes in turpentine to clean them. My art teacher always hated it when he dipped his brushes into his coffee. It was almost as bad as taking a sip of turpentine. Both of which he did frequently.
Picked up, perhaps, but I don’t think I ever ATE OR DRANK something that wasn’t mine.
Well, usually there are cues to alert you are about to make a *really* big mistake.
Eventually Tintin would have to realize he grasped and clung to the bone instead of the magnifying glass. Sometimes it happens when you look down at your hand and ask yourself “why that heck am I carrying this bone?”. Or it could be when you lift it up and think “hmm, there’s something wrong with the heft”. Or it might be a moment when you try to look through and “hey, the image isn’t any larger… wait, there’s no *glass* in this magnifying glass… hey, wait. This is a bone! Why the #### am I carrying a bone?!?”
So often there is that the drink doesn’t weight the right amount or that that the glass has a different temperature. But occasionally, it doesn’t register until the liquid is in your mouth. Then it’s pure gag “oh, my god! get it out!!!!”
I suspect Stan has been there. I certainly have. (It’s…. really gross…..)
Comics I Don't Understand 
It looks like that’s not her drink. She seems to have picked it up from the shelf with the messy clothes and it’s been left behind by a customer. The ice has melted, it’s warm and it tastes like crap, resulting in her reaction.
Or by the look of surprise/realisation on her face in the sixth panel, perhaps she’s realised she didn’t bring a drink with her and she’s slurping up someone else’s backwash and bacteria.
hmmm…I suppose “someone else’s backwash” has more than one meaning, then.
Stan has it. Secondary joke is that she just spewed whatever it was over her painstakingly-folded wares.
Agree with Stan (and Arthur), but I think the reaction is “this isn’t my drink.” Whether the ice has melted is not as big a deal.
Agree with Stan (and Arthur), but I think the reaction is “this isn’t my drink.” Whether the ice has melted is not as big a deal.
I think probably the warm drink clued her in that it wasn’t hers.
I could think of many reasons one might spit out what one drinks from a randomly-left cup. I have managed not to because I will be much happier *not* exploring those possibilities.
If she makes a habit of picking up random drinks, I’d venture to say she’s lucky to still be alive.
Still not sure what the joke is, though (other than, as Arthur said she just ruined all the clothing with a vaudeville spit-take)
Arthur has the joke aspect of this comic, I believe. Although I’m confused by billybob’s comment:
“hmmm…I suppose “someone else’s backwash” has more than one meaning, then.”
What other meaning is there apart from the literal one? I’m not very hip to trending phrases these days. What have I missed?
I don’t think she makes a habit of picking up random drinks. As Stan pointed out, it seems to have been left by a customer and she’s cleaning up. She gets busy and distracted drinks without thinking. Maybe she’d been on break just before she started this and had a drink in a similar cup.
Yes, of course she got distracted and forgot that wasn’t her drink. I admit I had to read the strip twice, but only because I didn’t notice the cup on my first read-through.
“someone else’s backwash” would be the soapy, scummy water left over when someone washes his back.
Santorum!
@CIDU Bill. I think when you ask “What is the joke?” you really mean “That lame joke isn’t it, is it?” I think you need to trust your instincts. Indeed, that she is drinking somebody else’s drink and spitting it out all over the clothes she just straightened up IS the joke.
It’s physical comedy which might be a bit hard to come across in comic form I guess.
You physically are working and moving things around. You get confused with you hands and do things out of habit. So she, out of habit, takes a sip of her drink. Then she realizes …. it wasn’t her drink.
It’s basically a less elaborate but more gross version of the following joke (which I *always* found hilarious).
But woozy, forgetting where you put down your drink is a far cry from picking up and drinking somebody else’s.
I do the former on close to a daily basis, and have never done the latter.
“I do the former on close to a daily basis, and have never done the latter.”
Really?
I’ve done the latter many times and even if I hadn’t I can easily imagine it. I think most people have done that a few times. Have you seriously never picked something up in a cluttered house or bar or somewhere and start to lift it and realized “Hey, this isn’t mine”? If you truly haven’t ever done that you must be in the minority.
When you do oil painting you dip your brushes in turpentine to clean them. My art teacher always hated it when he dipped his brushes into his coffee. It was almost as bad as taking a sip of turpentine. Both of which he did frequently.
Picked up, perhaps, but I don’t think I ever ATE OR DRANK something that wasn’t mine.
Well, usually there are cues to alert you are about to make a *really* big mistake.
Eventually Tintin would have to realize he grasped and clung to the bone instead of the magnifying glass. Sometimes it happens when you look down at your hand and ask yourself “why that heck am I carrying this bone?”. Or it could be when you lift it up and think “hmm, there’s something wrong with the heft”. Or it might be a moment when you try to look through and “hey, the image isn’t any larger… wait, there’s no *glass* in this magnifying glass… hey, wait. This is a bone! Why the #### am I carrying a bone?!?”
So often there is that the drink doesn’t weight the right amount or that that the glass has a different temperature. But occasionally, it doesn’t register until the liquid is in your mouth. Then it’s pure gag “oh, my god! get it out!!!!”
I suspect Stan has been there. I certainly have. (It’s…. really gross…..)