Dry Wit

Cidu Bill on Feb 16th 2010

handdryer.png

Filed in Bill Bickel, CIDU, F-Minus, Tony Carrillo, comic strips, comics, humor | 30 responses so far

30 Responses to “Dry Wit”

  1. Arthur Feb 16th 2010 at 12:11 am 1

    I think he’s suggesting that the dryers have enough airflow to
    act as jets if they’re not properly affixed to the walls.
    (This discounts that they’ll have no power if they detach
    themselves, but that’s okay for cartoon physics.)

  2. RyanE Feb 16th 2010 at 12:12 am 2

    I think I get it, it’s come off the wall and is flying around the room, bouncing on walls.

    I think it’s just not funny.

  3. Kit Feb 16th 2010 at 12:33 am 3

    Reversing the airflow can really suck! Remember what happened to the Beatles in “Help!”?

  4. Rusty Feb 16th 2010 at 01:23 am 4

    Ryan’s got it pretty much.

    Hand Dryers always remind me of the whole Push Button, Receive Bacon meme.

  5. mkilby Feb 16th 2010 at 01:32 am 5

    I agree with RyanE’s evaluation: “not funny”. One would think that a good cartoonist could have found at least one object in a public lavatory that’s more dangerous than a disconnected hand dryer. Perhaps that is why this strip is called “F-Minus”?

  6. Chuck Feb 16th 2010 at 02:37 am 6

    The air flow is getting stronger and stronger. The new ones at school actually push my hands back and forth.

  7. mkilby Feb 16th 2010 at 04:17 am 7

    Now that I think of it, there is a high-tech model called “Air Blade” that works like a dryer unit at a car wash. The user inserts both hands into a slot that has a high volume exhaust jet near the opening, which sort of scrapes all the water off as the hands are pulled out. Unfortunately, this has a lot of drawbacks: it sounds like an F-15, there is a fair amount of “spatter”, the air jet feels quite cold, it is difficult to get hands in and out of the slot without touching the sides (thus voiding the “improved hygiene” argument), but most of all, it simply does not dry the hands completely, so this model requires the same “step 3″ that all the others do: “Wipe hands on pants after leaving the lavatory“.

  8. chuckers Feb 16th 2010 at 05:07 am 8

    mkilby,

    You should try these:

    http://www.mitsubishijettowel.com/

    This do sound a bit F-15 like but all the spatter seems to go down into the trough, the air seems reasonably warm and there isn’t any touching of the sides. Some models also have a UV light to catch some of the errant germs (not sure if it is effective.) These things are a HUGE improvement over the simple nozzle ones that do require the “step 3″ instructions.

  9. mister obvious Feb 16th 2010 at 05:21 am 9

    I like the title for this CIDU far more than the actual comic. While I also agree with the prevailing opinion about what this comic is about, I can’t help wondering who the first victim was. Carrillo could’ve just said something about how John nearly became a victim, so I unsuccessfully tried to think of why he (Carrillo) decided to use ‘another victim’ instead.

    I’ve used those air blades before. They aren’t too good because the area between your fingers usually remain pretty wet.

    chuckers- I’m not sure I’d want to expose my hands to UV if it’s strong enough to disinfect, every time I wash my hands. On the other hand, there is a new technology to ‘wash’ your hands by ’soaking’ them in cooled plasma:
    http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/14/business/14novel.html

  10. Carl Feb 16th 2010 at 05:52 am 10

    What I did find funny in this panel was the man’s Matrix-like dodging move.

  11. GP Feb 16th 2010 at 09:24 am 11

    Regarding “step 3,” if your hands aren’t dry, you’re not done yet. If one paper towel doesn’t get your hands dry, don’t you take another? If one dryer cycle doesn’t get your hands dry, you’re free to push the button again. I’ve only resorted to “step 3″ when there was a line of impatient people waiting for the dryer.

  12. mkilby Feb 16th 2010 at 09:46 am 12

    @ chuckers (7) - That Mitsubishi version is not the same model, but it is functionally identical to the one I described (see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyson_Airblade). The “sides” I meant were the forward and back walls of the trough. The problem I experienced was that when the air started, the forces (and the surprise effect) were so great that it was difficult to avoid jerking my hands into one of those walls.

  13. Judge Mental Feb 16th 2010 at 09:55 am 13

    Wait a minute, I always thought step 3 was “eat bacon”

    http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/push-button-receive-bacon

  14. cedric Feb 16th 2010 at 11:29 am 14

    This was instant LOL for me. They have some dryers now call “Xcelerators” I think. They might actually fly off the wall if it weren’t bolted down. Very powerful dryers.

  15. The Bad Seed Feb 16th 2010 at 12:16 pm 15

    I didn’t ROFL but, despite the employment of cartoon physics, this did make me smile. And I did think of it the next time I used a wall hand drier, which was one of those powerful ones that does actually make a big dent in your skin where the air hits.

  16. Paperboy Feb 16th 2010 at 01:15 pm 16

    Anything that happens in the bathroom is funny.

  17. Keera Feb 16th 2010 at 02:39 pm 17

    I loved Bill’s title for this. Excellent! Also, when using hand driers, you’re supposed to rub your hands under the air. Dries them faster.

    Whadyamean there was a joke to comment on?

  18. J-L Feb 16th 2010 at 03:54 pm 18

    This cartoon is making fun of two common tropes found in comics:

    1. Anything depicted with a stream of air after it is usually travelling at high speeds (or will be very soon).

    2. When a high-speed object is unleashed indoors, it will rapidly bounce around the room, destroying most things it comes in contact with (but usually narrowly missing whoever happens to be nearby).

    The artist just wanted to combine the two, as well as offer a humorous explanation as to why hand-dryers are bolted to walls.

  19. GP Feb 16th 2010 at 04:56 pm 19

    I thought it was at least mildly funny to imply that dryers aren’t bolted to the wall in order to prevent falling, but in order to prevent uncontrolled flight.

  20. Lihtox Feb 16th 2010 at 07:09 pm 20

    I think it’s mildly funny too. And I LOVE the powerful new hand dryers; they work, and they feel great. I just wish I had one built into my shower….

  21. Chuck Feb 16th 2010 at 07:30 pm 21

    Air Blade. That’s the one we have. It doesn’t leave the space between your fingers wet if you spread them.

  22. turquoise cow Feb 16th 2010 at 08:14 pm 22

    The hand dryers at my job are the super high-powered ones. If you stick your hand underneath you can actually see your skin move around. I find it creepy. It’s also so insanely loud that you can hear it from quite far away. Thankfully there are no actual desks or offices near enough to the bathroom for people to be disturbed. I have to admit that they do work better than the older models, though.

  23. Eric Feb 17th 2010 at 02:19 pm 23

    This was a LOL for me! I’m going to think about this every time I use one now.

    Hmm, is it “an LOL” or “a LOL”?

  24. Dan Feb 17th 2010 at 03:44 pm 24

    Depends on whether you pronounce LOL as a word, Eric (in which case it’d be a LOL), or as an acronym (an el oh el).

    I also like how our cartoon friend looks like he’s about to thumb his nose at the flying dryer.

  25. Vroshnak Feb 18th 2010 at 10:08 am 25

    I think it implies that if hand dryers were not secured, they home in on and attack wet hands.

  26. Pinny Feb 18th 2010 at 07:10 pm 26

    1. How is the blower still blowing once it is disconnected from the wall?

    2. Observation: I think that the cartoonist used the term “another” on purpose.

    Look at the wall over the sink. There is a place on the wall at the right where a previous hand dryer had already blown off the wall.

    Think of the scenario, someone out for revenge sets up this bathroom with unattached hand blowers. He then arranges a meeting with them (one at a time). After waiting a while for him to show up, they figure, why not use the facilities? All but one of his enemies are taken out this way; the lone exception being the one who did not wash his hands. That saved his life.

  27. Morris Keesan Feb 22nd 2010 at 08:47 am 27

    GP #11:
    The problem with this analogy is that each paper towel seems to remove about the same amount of water from the hands, so if one towel gets half or more of the water, the next one gets what’s remaining.

    Air blowers seem to remove about the same *percentage* of the water each time, so if you get about half of the water off with one cycle, pushing the button again feels like it removes about half of what’s left. Zeno’s paradox and the law of diminishing returns take over from here, and using the two-legged cloth towel with pockets feels like the most efficient step 3.

  28. Todd Feb 22nd 2010 at 04:47 pm 28

    The problem with air dryers is what do you use to turn the door knob when you’re leaving the bathroom? I’ve just washed my hands; I don’t want to get the residue left by the person before me who didn’t wash.

    (I rarely use urinals anymore, because the shield thingy causes splatter. And it’s easier to flush a toilet with my foot.)

  29. Todd Feb 22nd 2010 at 04:50 pm 29

    Oh, and the spot on the wall is where that dryer used to be located before it launched itself. You can see the dryer’s motion trail.

  30. Araxie Aug 11th 2010 at 04:07 am 30

    My first thought was that this was referring to the newer hand driers you’ll see in bathrooms these days- or rather, hear, as these new ones are more powerful and, supposedly, more environmental this way. I thought maybe he found them so loud that they were rocket-ship loud.

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