Even enlarging the pic, i can’t make out what the man’s package says . . . shoe candle?? Is that a thing?
Is it me or are “returns” becoming the new “Grim Reaper” when it comes to heavy comics exposure?
Andréa, it does indeed say “shoe candle.” I imagined an artisan taking an old shoe and filling it with candle wax and wick. Then I googled and found this on Etsy: “Check out our shoe candle selection.” And check it out in Google Images. But that’s a side issue. I thought the idiot crock-pot shopper was absolutely hilarious.
I googled ‘shoe candle’ after I queried the phrase and thought, ‘Are you KIDDIN’ me?’ But I, too, thought the crockpot lady a hoot – especially as I’d rather put a fern in one than cook in one. Of course, I’d know enough to NOT turn on the heat element.
My only question is: WHO thought this’d be a good present for this old guy in the first place??
@Mark M: I think returns jokes are pretty much to be expected right after Christmas. You can probably find examples going back nearly a century.
I don’t get it. Is “something to put plants in” the only definition this woman knows for the word “pot”?
The joke with the old lady and the clerk was just okay, I thought. It just circled around the same way the second time, instead of making a spiral or helix by somehow escalating on the next time around. (If you’ll forgive my failed metaphor.)
The “shoe candle” search result that I thought most promising was from The Stinky Candle Company, but their website didn’t have that particular stench. Not only did I search their lineup for “shoe,” “boot” and “feet,” I also tried a side door approach by searching it for “feta cheese.” They did, however, have “rotting flesh.”
” don’t get it. Is “something to put plants in” the only definition this woman knows for the word “pot”?”
Yes….
” I thought. It just circled around the same way the second time, instead of making a spiral or helix by somehow escalating on the next time around.”
I almost agree. But I find a joke that is hilarious when it occurs in real life but is almost impossible to put in writing (or comics) as when someone has a misconception but is so convinced of the misconception that when even when it is clearly explained the person can’t understand the explanation because it is counter to the misconception that they can’t give up.
This is a good (but not perfect) example. She gets a pot. She assumes its for houseplants. He explains it’s for cooking but she can’t understand that because she *still* assumes its for houseplants and cooking houseplants is absurd. And a comment that no-one cooks house plants only reinforces why it’s absurd that the pot (which *must* be for houseplants) is utterly ridiculous if it’s for cooking.
…….
What I’m not sure about is the guy with the shoe candle having the same kind of circular confirmation? If so what? Does he think you are supposed to wear the shoe candle on your foot? If so what kind of confirmation confusion can come of “who sets their feet on fire”? It doesn’t quite flow as easily or as funny.
“especially as I’d rather put a fern in one than cook in one.”
Disagree. Crockpots are *fantastic*!
…. but refrigerators make *excellent* planters.
Honestly. I never understood why people mob the stores on Decembet 26 to return gifts rather than just waiting a week or so until things calm down.
And by the way when I say “never,” that’s barely hyperbole: I remember asking my mother this when I was six.
What did your mother say? Anyway, what you say makes sense, but it runs into the “if I don’t do it now, the thing will sit there, then all the sudden it’s too late to return it” situation.
I thought the 6-inch heel candle was good, but the baby shoe candle was aww-some.
In the old days didn’t you need a reason to return and you could only exchange for what is in stock?
Anyway even in todays age, I figure it’s a matter that some people like to do plan and organize and do things when the plan them. I don’t get but I know I don’t get it. I can’t see why people like to plan their dinners before they shop. Have their weekends planned before they arrive. Or do dishes before they settle down to watch TV. And I *really* don’t understand why anyone shops on Black Friday. But… I figure some people do.
When I worked in retail part-time, 26 December was a day no one wanted to work. It was pure chaos and pure h*ll for those of us on the service desk. Then someone came up with the idea of making some of the registers ‘return/reverse’ registers, and the pressure on the service desk staff was greatly reduced.
In the old days didn’t you need a reason to return and you could only exchange for what is in stock?
What old days? When I was young in the 70s, it wasn’t that way.
woozy, a lot of store have huge sales on Black Friday, so a shopper willing to risk his or her life can possibly save hundreds of dollars.
And I think for a lot of people it’s just something you do for the excitement, like going to Times Square on New Year’s Eve.
But returning gifts on December 26 is just insane.
Bill, I imagine some people want to take advantage of the post-Xmas sales, so they get the most bang for their returned-goods bucks. Personally, I don’t recall ever returning a gift except once to get a different size of the same thing.
My hairdresser in WI closes her salon on the day after Thanksgiving so she and her sisters could start shopping at midnight, have a few drinks, then do some more shopping . . . kind of a sister bonding thing. When she started doing this, there were no stores open on Thanksgiving Day; I don’t know if this is still a thing for them to do. They LIKED the snow, the cold, the crowds, etc. Yeah, like going to Times Square on New Year’s Eve, but throwing in a bit of shopping.
“Yeah, like going to Times Square on New Year’s Eve, but throwing in a bit of shopping.”
Yeah, like going to Times Square on New Year’s Eve, but with restrooms.
@ Bill – “I never understood why people mob the stores on December 26 to return gifts…”
There is a strategic reason: if you need to return something, and you do not have the receipt, stores are more likely to be accommodating on the 27th or 28th than they might be later, when they are not besieged by a zillion customers.
P.S. The only reason that Germans don’t do this on the 26th is that “Boxing Day” is a federal holiday here.
When we were getting married we got a crock pot as a gift. Only thing we ever used it for was keeping (non-alcoholic) apple cider hot at our Thanksgiving dinner and after a few years and ending up with most of the cider left over, we stopped buying it. A few years late my middle sister was thinking about buying one – saved her the cost and passed it along – one of the things we have gotten rid of which we actually did not regret getting rid of.
Comics I Don't Understand 
Even enlarging the pic, i can’t make out what the man’s package says . . . shoe candle?? Is that a thing?
Is it me or are “returns” becoming the new “Grim Reaper” when it comes to heavy comics exposure?
Andréa, it does indeed say “shoe candle.” I imagined an artisan taking an old shoe and filling it with candle wax and wick. Then I googled and found this on Etsy: “Check out our shoe candle selection.” And check it out in Google Images. But that’s a side issue. I thought the idiot crock-pot shopper was absolutely hilarious.
I googled ‘shoe candle’ after I queried the phrase and thought, ‘Are you KIDDIN’ me?’ But I, too, thought the crockpot lady a hoot – especially as I’d rather put a fern in one than cook in one. Of course, I’d know enough to NOT turn on the heat element.
My only question is: WHO thought this’d be a good present for this old guy in the first place??
@Mark M: I think returns jokes are pretty much to be expected right after Christmas. You can probably find examples going back nearly a century.
I don’t get it. Is “something to put plants in” the only definition this woman knows for the word “pot”?
The joke with the old lady and the clerk was just okay, I thought. It just circled around the same way the second time, instead of making a spiral or helix by somehow escalating on the next time around. (If you’ll forgive my failed metaphor.)
The “shoe candle” search result that I thought most promising was from The Stinky Candle Company, but their website didn’t have that particular stench. Not only did I search their lineup for “shoe,” “boot” and “feet,” I also tried a side door approach by searching it for “feta cheese.” They did, however, have “rotting flesh.”
” don’t get it. Is “something to put plants in” the only definition this woman knows for the word “pot”?”
Yes….
” I thought. It just circled around the same way the second time, instead of making a spiral or helix by somehow escalating on the next time around.”
I almost agree. But I find a joke that is hilarious when it occurs in real life but is almost impossible to put in writing (or comics) as when someone has a misconception but is so convinced of the misconception that when even when it is clearly explained the person can’t understand the explanation because it is counter to the misconception that they can’t give up.
This is a good (but not perfect) example. She gets a pot. She assumes its for houseplants. He explains it’s for cooking but she can’t understand that because she *still* assumes its for houseplants and cooking houseplants is absurd. And a comment that no-one cooks house plants only reinforces why it’s absurd that the pot (which *must* be for houseplants) is utterly ridiculous if it’s for cooking.
…….
What I’m not sure about is the guy with the shoe candle having the same kind of circular confirmation? If so what? Does he think you are supposed to wear the shoe candle on your foot? If so what kind of confirmation confusion can come of “who sets their feet on fire”? It doesn’t quite flow as easily or as funny.
Unfortunately (Fortunately!) the following is a hoax: https://dailysnark.com/man-burns-his-nike-shoes-while-wearing-them-in-protest-of-companys-kaepernick-ad/
“especially as I’d rather put a fern in one than cook in one.”
Disagree. Crockpots are *fantastic*!
…. but refrigerators make *excellent* planters.
Honestly. I never understood why people mob the stores on Decembet 26 to return gifts rather than just waiting a week or so until things calm down.
And by the way when I say “never,” that’s barely hyperbole: I remember asking my mother this when I was six.
What did your mother say? Anyway, what you say makes sense, but it runs into the “if I don’t do it now, the thing will sit there, then all the sudden it’s too late to return it” situation.
I thought the 6-inch heel candle was good, but the baby shoe candle was aww-some.
In the old days didn’t you need a reason to return and you could only exchange for what is in stock?
Anyway even in todays age, I figure it’s a matter that some people like to do plan and organize and do things when the plan them. I don’t get but I know I don’t get it. I can’t see why people like to plan their dinners before they shop. Have their weekends planned before they arrive. Or do dishes before they settle down to watch TV. And I *really* don’t understand why anyone shops on Black Friday. But… I figure some people do.
When I worked in retail part-time, 26 December was a day no one wanted to work. It was pure chaos and pure h*ll for those of us on the service desk. Then someone came up with the idea of making some of the registers ‘return/reverse’ registers, and the pressure on the service desk staff was greatly reduced.
In the old days didn’t you need a reason to return and you could only exchange for what is in stock?
What old days? When I was young in the 70s, it wasn’t that way.
woozy, a lot of store have huge sales on Black Friday, so a shopper willing to risk his or her life can possibly save hundreds of dollars.
And I think for a lot of people it’s just something you do for the excitement, like going to Times Square on New Year’s Eve.
But returning gifts on December 26 is just insane.
Bill, I imagine some people want to take advantage of the post-Xmas sales, so they get the most bang for their returned-goods bucks. Personally, I don’t recall ever returning a gift except once to get a different size of the same thing.
My hairdresser in WI closes her salon on the day after Thanksgiving so she and her sisters could start shopping at midnight, have a few drinks, then do some more shopping . . . kind of a sister bonding thing. When she started doing this, there were no stores open on Thanksgiving Day; I don’t know if this is still a thing for them to do. They LIKED the snow, the cold, the crowds, etc. Yeah, like going to Times Square on New Year’s Eve, but throwing in a bit of shopping.
“Yeah, like going to Times Square on New Year’s Eve, but throwing in a bit of shopping.”
Yeah, like going to Times Square on New Year’s Eve, but with restrooms.
@ Bill – “I never understood why people mob the stores on December 26 to return gifts…”
There is a strategic reason: if you need to return something, and you do not have the receipt, stores are more likely to be accommodating on the 27th or 28th than they might be later, when they are not besieged by a zillion customers.
P.S. The only reason that Germans don’t do this on the 26th is that “Boxing Day” is a federal holiday here.
When we were getting married we got a crock pot as a gift. Only thing we ever used it for was keeping (non-alcoholic) apple cider hot at our Thanksgiving dinner and after a few years and ending up with most of the cider left over, we stopped buying it. A few years late my middle sister was thinking about buying one – saved her the cost and passed it along – one of the things we have gotten rid of which we actually did not regret getting rid of.