I think the kids in the final panel are just responding to Dagwood’s question. Having fun in the real world is a ‘daredevil adventure’ for kids these days as they risk missing out on adventures in their virtual reality, like text messages.
The fact that they are going too fast during this activity is just something they’re saying while enjoying the ride. Despite how it looks, going fast and missing messages don’t seem to be connected.
People are normally so bored that a text message ping is an exciting interruption to the dull wasteland of the day, freighted as it is with the promise of images and stories from far-off fabled lands. On this occasion these kids’ nervous systems have been so stimulated by speed and centrifugal forces that in the raw excitement of the joyous physicality of the world they failed even to hear the text pings that normally induce a satisfying emotional spike.
I think they could hear the pings, but couldn’t read the messages because they had to hold on to the sides of the sled. The ride is fun, but missing out on their social media is just too scary.
I wasn’t entirely sure if they missed the messages because they were stimulated by the excitement of it all, or simply being physically unable to check their phones by being forced to hang on with both hands. I don’t think it really matters for the joke.
Either way, I think the plea of “not too fast” only factors into the gag in that it reinforces Dagwood’s notion that this is a “daredevil adventure” for the kids.
This is referring to the trope that millennials will drop everything they’re currently doing to check a text message they’ve just received.
Got a text message while in a meeting at work? Sure, go ahead and check.
Got a text message while shopping? Stop in the aisle, and check the message!
Got a text message while driving? Check your message at the next stop sign!
These kids were so enthralled in their activity, that they not missed the notification bell, but also didn’t think to even check for messages until their “daredevil adventure” was over. Now that’s saying something.
. . . and here he thought he was giving them some fun . . .
They seem to be really enjoying the ride while it is going on, despite the “not too fast” bit. And they seem surprised rather than annoyed to find that the thrill rush of what they agreed was a daredevil adventure caused them to miss some messages.
I think it’s hard to figure out because the “fret” lines are drawn exactly the same when they’re looking at their phones. Are they still in the danger excitement (“Whoa, not too fast Mr. B”) or are those lines related to the missed messages..
Given the history of Blondie, I think they are still in the excitement of the ride.
There are also little lo-halo circles around their heads, no doubt signifying a certain continuing whirling dizziness.
J-L — do… people who AREN’T Millenials NOT do that? I’m straight down the center of GenX, and, unless doing so will block somebody else or interrupt something, I check my messages as soon as I hear the “ding”.
(And, of course, those kids are two generations after Millenials — their parents are either late X’ers or early Millenials; the generation after that is Zoomers, and those are Generation Alpha.)
IanOsmond, I also was wondering about whether that habit could really be attributed mostly to Millennials. Probably as you say, it is anybody nowadays, in the First World anyhow. But it could be that J-L is remarking on a popular view.
If we ask what generations the characters in the cartoon are, we mustn’t peg Dagwood as born long long ago, when the comic first appeared. Instead, by appearance and his job etc, call him in his 40s?
The Silent Generation: Born 1928-1945 (74-91 years old)
Baby Boomers: Born 1946-1964 (55-73 years old)
Generation X: Born 1965-1980 (39-54 years old)
Millennials: Born 1981-1996 (23-38 years old)
Generation Z: Born 1997-2012 (7-22 years old)
So he would indeed be Gen X, and the kids as you say Z.
Since they were going so fast, they missed a lot of text messages due to the effects of time dilation.
I’m the opposite; I’ve had my dumPhone on silent for years now, unless either Hubby or I am out of the house. I check it once or twice a day, then delete all the numbers and texts, as I assume they’re all junk. I much prefer email, when I can decide when and if to read and respond.
OTOH, Hubby is ALWAYS on his smartPhone; that’s his choice.
Then Hubby and I are Boomers – 1948 (moi) and 1952. Maybe because we are both librarians, we had to become aware of and proficient in all technology – from filmstrip viewers thru microfiche – all the way to computers. Hubby became an IT in both PC and Macs; I became a webauthor. We may be exceptions to the rule that Boomers aren’t quite as proficient in technology as those who came after.
Mitch: tempus fugit! Add two years to all the ages you gave 🙂
Thanks, I was in a hurry and sort of knew I was being sloppy in not identifying the source and its date! (Now lost to browser refresh.)
Mitch4: It’s a good thing that nobody was ever born after 2012, or else that chart you provided would now be out of date!
If my cell phone rings with the James Bond theme – it gets answered right away – it is Robert, generally a text message as he has limited minutes on his cell phone.
If it rings with Ode to Joy, it depends on my mood. It is one of our sisters, brothers in law, nieces or nephews- or rarely, my mom
If it rings with a violin playing (a sonata – to me, just can tell it is a violin) it is one of the members of my embroidery chapter, which is a rare thing as they are more likely to call our house.
It is a harpsichord (more specifically the harpsichordist at Colonial Williiamsburg) it is a member of our reenactment unit and how quick I answer depends on if we are (in normal times) on our way to an event or not.
Anyone else just rings a normal ringer and I wait for them to leave a message if they are a real person, which chances are they are not.
Thanks – and HOW do you embed the ones that are NOT from GoComics (where you just add a .gif suffix)?
I can only find the three big obvious “secret symbols”. (All near corners of the panel.) Anybody see the 4th?
Andréa, unfortunately it’s not a cool trick, just a flatfooted workaround. You save the image (to your device / computer), then upload it to some place you may have for uploading images — and which will then let you link to it with a direct (non-query) URL. That URL is what you post in your comment.
OK – I can do that, as I have a directory for my 100s of websites. I’d done that before, but didn’t realize that it was the only way to embed non-GC comics.
I hope I’m not being misleading about this. The question of whether an image URL isn’t a matter of just GC vs Non-GC, though often it works out that way. It’s really the form of the URL — it’s no good if it has a question mark, an equal sign, a plus sign.
“. . . it’s no good if it has a question mark, an equal sign, a plus sign.”
Good to know.
Anybody see the 4th?
Always check clothing wrinkles and such for K2 and O2. In this case, the latter is in the water ripples.
Golly, you’re right! And I missed it even after checking her scales.
Meryl A: Nice collection of ringtones. I use a clip from my wife’s favorite singer for her calls, and for library people a clip from Jimmy Durante’s “I’ll never forget the day I read a book.” For general calls, it’s the bari sax phrase from “The Pink Panther.”
Boise Ed – His ringer started back when he was the only who had my cell phone number and I only had the phone so he could reach me if I wasn’t home – out running errands or at a client – as he had needed me once and luckily something made me call him while I was out running errands from a payphone at the P.O.. So the phone was only in case he needed me – his secretary did also have the number in case of emergency on his end, if he could not call himself. Anyone else – my mom, my sisters, my niblings – could call him and he would let me know. I could not hear the ringers on the phone when there was (is) any ambient noise where I am, so we looked for something LOUD, and he is a major James Bond Fan. When I started giving out my cell number to immediate family, our fellow club members and a couple of clients I found other loud ringers for them as groups.
For some time I was the contact for the public for events for our reenactment unit as Robert was the unit commander (president) so we found the CW harpsichord music as I would change my default ringer to same at events as I could not shut the ringer off in case a member of the public called for directions etc,, but at least it was a more appropriate sound at the event.
Comics I Don't Understand 
I think the kids in the final panel are just responding to Dagwood’s question. Having fun in the real world is a ‘daredevil adventure’ for kids these days as they risk missing out on adventures in their virtual reality, like text messages.
The fact that they are going too fast during this activity is just something they’re saying while enjoying the ride. Despite how it looks, going fast and missing messages don’t seem to be connected.
People are normally so bored that a text message ping is an exciting interruption to the dull wasteland of the day, freighted as it is with the promise of images and stories from far-off fabled lands. On this occasion these kids’ nervous systems have been so stimulated by speed and centrifugal forces that in the raw excitement of the joyous physicality of the world they failed even to hear the text pings that normally induce a satisfying emotional spike.
I think they could hear the pings, but couldn’t read the messages because they had to hold on to the sides of the sled. The ride is fun, but missing out on their social media is just too scary.
I wasn’t entirely sure if they missed the messages because they were stimulated by the excitement of it all, or simply being physically unable to check their phones by being forced to hang on with both hands. I don’t think it really matters for the joke.
Either way, I think the plea of “not too fast” only factors into the gag in that it reinforces Dagwood’s notion that this is a “daredevil adventure” for the kids.
This is referring to the trope that millennials will drop everything they’re currently doing to check a text message they’ve just received.
Got a text message while in a meeting at work? Sure, go ahead and check.
Got a text message while shopping? Stop in the aisle, and check the message!
Got a text message while driving? Check your message at the next stop sign!
These kids were so enthralled in their activity, that they not missed the notification bell, but also didn’t think to even check for messages until their “daredevil adventure” was over. Now that’s saying something.
. . . and here he thought he was giving them some fun . . .
They seem to be really enjoying the ride while it is going on, despite the “not too fast” bit. And they seem surprised rather than annoyed to find that the thrill rush of what they agreed was a daredevil adventure caused them to miss some messages.
I think it’s hard to figure out because the “fret” lines are drawn exactly the same when they’re looking at their phones. Are they still in the danger excitement (“Whoa, not too fast Mr. B”) or are those lines related to the missed messages..
Given the history of Blondie, I think they are still in the excitement of the ride.
There are also little lo-halo circles around their heads, no doubt signifying a certain continuing whirling dizziness.
J-L — do… people who AREN’T Millenials NOT do that? I’m straight down the center of GenX, and, unless doing so will block somebody else or interrupt something, I check my messages as soon as I hear the “ding”.
(And, of course, those kids are two generations after Millenials — their parents are either late X’ers or early Millenials; the generation after that is Zoomers, and those are Generation Alpha.)
IanOsmond, I also was wondering about whether that habit could really be attributed mostly to Millennials. Probably as you say, it is anybody nowadays, in the First World anyhow. But it could be that J-L is remarking on a popular view.
If we ask what generations the characters in the cartoon are, we mustn’t peg Dagwood as born long long ago, when the comic first appeared. Instead, by appearance and his job etc, call him in his 40s?
The Silent Generation: Born 1928-1945 (74-91 years old)
Baby Boomers: Born 1946-1964 (55-73 years old)
Generation X: Born 1965-1980 (39-54 years old)
Millennials: Born 1981-1996 (23-38 years old)
Generation Z: Born 1997-2012 (7-22 years old)
So he would indeed be Gen X, and the kids as you say Z.
Since they were going so fast, they missed a lot of text messages due to the effects of time dilation.
I’m the opposite; I’ve had my dumPhone on silent for years now, unless either Hubby or I am out of the house. I check it once or twice a day, then delete all the numbers and texts, as I assume they’re all junk. I much prefer email, when I can decide when and if to read and respond.
OTOH, Hubby is ALWAYS on his smartPhone; that’s his choice.
Then Hubby and I are Boomers – 1948 (moi) and 1952. Maybe because we are both librarians, we had to become aware of and proficient in all technology – from filmstrip viewers thru microfiche – all the way to computers. Hubby became an IT in both PC and Macs; I became a webauthor. We may be exceptions to the rule that Boomers aren’t quite as proficient in technology as those who came after.
Mitch: tempus fugit! Add two years to all the ages you gave 🙂
Thanks, I was in a hurry and sort of knew I was being sloppy in not identifying the source and its date! (Now lost to browser refresh.)
Mitch4: It’s a good thing that nobody was ever born after 2012, or else that chart you provided would now be out of date!
If my cell phone rings with the James Bond theme – it gets answered right away – it is Robert, generally a text message as he has limited minutes on his cell phone.
If it rings with Ode to Joy, it depends on my mood. It is one of our sisters, brothers in law, nieces or nephews- or rarely, my mom
If it rings with a violin playing (a sonata – to me, just can tell it is a violin) it is one of the members of my embroidery chapter, which is a rare thing as they are more likely to call our house.
It is a harpsichord (more specifically the harpsichordist at Colonial Williiamsburg) it is a member of our reenactment unit and how quick I answer depends on if we are (in normal times) on our way to an event or not.
Anyone else just rings a normal ringer and I wait for them to leave a message if they are a real person, which chances are they are not.
SOME folks can’t use a landline . . .
https://safr.kingfeatures.com/api/img.php?e=png&s=c&file=Qml6YXJyby8yMDIxLzA0L0JpemFycm9fcC4yMDIxMDQxM182NTcucG5n
And here is Andréa’s linked Bizarro embedded:
Thanks – and HOW do you embed the ones that are NOT from GoComics (where you just add a .gif suffix)?
I can only find the three big obvious “secret symbols”. (All near corners of the panel.) Anybody see the 4th?
Andréa, unfortunately it’s not a cool trick, just a flatfooted workaround. You save the image (to your device / computer), then upload it to some place you may have for uploading images — and which will then let you link to it with a direct (non-query) URL. That URL is what you post in your comment.
OK – I can do that, as I have a directory for my 100s of websites. I’d done that before, but didn’t realize that it was the only way to embed non-GC comics.
I hope I’m not being misleading about this. The question of whether an image URL isn’t a matter of just GC vs Non-GC, though often it works out that way. It’s really the form of the URL — it’s no good if it has a question mark, an equal sign, a plus sign.
“. . . it’s no good if it has a question mark, an equal sign, a plus sign.”
Good to know.
Anybody see the 4th?
Always check clothing wrinkles and such for K2 and O2. In this case, the latter is in the water ripples.
Golly, you’re right! And I missed it even after checking her scales.
Meryl A: Nice collection of ringtones. I use a clip from my wife’s favorite singer for her calls, and for library people a clip from Jimmy Durante’s “I’ll never forget the day I read a book.” For general calls, it’s the bari sax phrase from “The Pink Panther.”
Boise Ed – His ringer started back when he was the only who had my cell phone number and I only had the phone so he could reach me if I wasn’t home – out running errands or at a client – as he had needed me once and luckily something made me call him while I was out running errands from a payphone at the P.O.. So the phone was only in case he needed me – his secretary did also have the number in case of emergency on his end, if he could not call himself. Anyone else – my mom, my sisters, my niblings – could call him and he would let me know. I could not hear the ringers on the phone when there was (is) any ambient noise where I am, so we looked for something LOUD, and he is a major James Bond Fan. When I started giving out my cell number to immediate family, our fellow club members and a couple of clients I found other loud ringers for them as groups.
For some time I was the contact for the public for events for our reenactment unit as Robert was the unit commander (president) so we found the CW harpsichord music as I would change my default ringer to same at events as I could not shut the ringer off in case a member of the public called for directions etc,, but at least it was a more appropriate sound at the event.