Paradox

Cidu Bill on Feb 22nd 2010

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Filed in Bill Bickel, CIDU, Mark Parisi, Off the Mark, comic strips, comics, humor | 30 responses so far

30 Responses to “Paradox”

  1. Bill Feb 22nd 2010 at 12:26 am 1

    Bananas, rice and cheese are all food that can cause constipation, and thus customers would no longer need the restroom. Which makes this one an Eww in my book.

  2. Charlene Feb 22nd 2010 at 12:37 am 2

    Bananas are supposed to cause constipation?!? Not send you running to the restroom 14 times a day after one bite?

  3. Louis Feb 22nd 2010 at 01:46 am 3

    I was more worried about the fact that it appears to just be a store front - there isn’t a restroom in sight…

  4. Lambie Feb 22nd 2010 at 03:21 am 4

    It seems strange to me that they provide restrooms to customers yet they only sell takeaways.

  5. chuckers Feb 22nd 2010 at 05:07 am 5

    Took me a while to find it again but this one was a LOL for me for quite a while:

    http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1123

    Cheese probably does the same thing.

  6. mitch4 Feb 22nd 2010 at 07:53 am 6

    Traditionally cheese was considered a binder; but then, certainly not for the lactose intolerant.

    Either way, I don’t see any paradox. Customers will have restrooms available, whether needed or not.

  7. Dyfsunctional Feb 22nd 2010 at 08:01 am 7

    I saw that this was a takeout window, so that any customers would never be inside to make use of the bathrooms. Joke over. Then I started thinking about “bananas, rice and cheese” and I wasn’t sure why there would need to be that much detail. As this thread proves, there’s hardly a universal agreement about what those foods represent. Brevity is the soul of wit; the panel would’ve been funnier for me if the big sign were left out.

  8. mitch4 Feb 22nd 2010 at 08:29 am 8

    @Dysfunctional (and others fastening on “inside” vs “takeout”) — Sorry, I don’t see your point — when you buy takeout over the counter you’re still a bona fide customer, no? They’d be obliged to let you in the side door or something.

    Bonus question for those who can picture Hopper’s “Night Hawks” — Where is the customer door to the diner?

  9. Andrea Feb 22nd 2010 at 09:17 am 9

    I didn’t know about cheese, but most parents of young kids may recognize bananas and rice as the first half of the “BRAT” diet - bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast - that you’re supposed to give your kid when he/she’s got a lower GI bug, as they are all “binding” foods.

  10. Andrea Feb 22nd 2010 at 09:20 am 10

    @mitch4 - I always assumed the entrance was out of frame on the near side.

  11. Valerie Feb 22nd 2010 at 09:39 am 11

    I was told in basic training to eat the MREs with cheese packs on the way into the field and MREs with jelly packs on the way out.

  12. Morris Keesan Feb 22nd 2010 at 09:45 am 12

    chuckers and mitch4 (#5 and #6): It depends on the cheese. Soft cheeses like cream cheese, cottage cheese, mozzarella, etc., have about the same effect on us lactose-intolerant folks as milk does. But hard cheeses, such as well-aged cheddars, theoretically have had all of their lactose digested by bacteria before they reach the consumer.

  13. The Bad Seed Feb 22nd 2010 at 09:53 am 13

    It took me a minute to get this because, although I’ve heard that about cheese, the opposite is true for me because I’m allergic to dairy. I think I’ve also heard it about bananas, but it’s hard to believe a single banana could have much effect - and people don’t often eat more than one at a sitting anyway. And as for rice… I can’t imagine it’s any more effective than any other starch, so meh.

    As for the general restroom issue… a lot of places have laws that, if you serve prepared food, you HAVE to have restrooms available for customers. Places like Brusters Ice Cream that are solely take-out windows usually have restrooms around the side, like gas stations. I’m guessing they’re probably locked and you have to ask for a key, but I don’t know for a fact.

  14. mkilby Feb 22nd 2010 at 11:30 am 14

    The typical rule (in the USA) is is that if the restaurant has chairs and tables, then they have to offer a restroom. This usually does not apply to take out joints and snackbars that just have a window or a counter with a cash register.

    As for bananas, some think of it as “causing constipation”, but I have also read that they are a good home remedy for diarrhea.

  15. paperboy Feb 22nd 2010 at 01:15 pm 15

    Is it a paradox, or is it ironic?

  16. mitch4 Feb 22nd 2010 at 07:26 pm 16

    @Andrea — you’re probably right, but I enjoy thinking it’s a “no exit” kind of place. Anyway, to bring it around to the present thread, the door visible in the picture maybe goes to the storeroom (not kitchen — the cooking is done in the area behind the counter), but we might hypothesize a restroom for customers.

    @paperboy — Ha! Think you’re going to provoke a discussion of “ironic”, do ye?

  17. bAT L. Feb 22nd 2010 at 09:29 pm 17

    I’m sure the joke is the constipation one. The customer is talking about the seeming paradox of the two signs he is looking at. The store was probably just meant to be a generic storefront, but I suppose a little more thought should have went into it. I spot grass on the ground, meaning the customer is outside, and I think the rectangles above the server are the menus, meaning the customer is at the spot where people would place their orders. I suppose this could be some sort of concession stand at a public venue, but those places usually have their own public bathrooms.

    Also, my thought was that the food sold there wouldn’t have enough time to block a person up, but I’m reasonably sure the joke is still about constipation.

    And if the joke were that a takeout place doesn’t usually have bathrooms, I’m pretty sure, based on Mark Parisi’s style, it would have been a hot dog cart.

  18. Arthur Feb 22nd 2010 at 09:46 pm 18

    It’s a paradox similar to zen koans:

    “I must use your bathroom.”
    “First, you must eat my food.”
    “But, if I eat your food, I will not be able to use your bathroom.”

    Of course, being a customer merely requires buying the food, not eating it.
    I think it’s close enough for a single-panel comic, though.

  19. waferthinmint Feb 22nd 2010 at 10:16 pm 19

    “harder” banana (greener ‘naner) = harder stool. soft bananas “go with the flow”.
    the vegetable types like plantanas and saba are binders for sure.

  20. Mark in Boston Feb 22nd 2010 at 10:23 pm 20

    A few years ago in Boston, regulations required that bars had to not only have restrooms but had to encourage the patrons to use the restrooms before leaving.

    This was because of something the drunks were in the habit of doing outside.

  21. Jeff S. Feb 22nd 2010 at 11:10 pm 21

    Behold… the power of cheese! Nature’s cork!

  22. Judy Feb 23rd 2010 at 12:04 am 22

    I don’t think the BRAT diet is so much binding as non-irritating. You basically can only eat bland, non-citrus, non-caffeinated food when you have diarrhea, but that food doesn’t cause constipation.

  23. Chuck Feb 23rd 2010 at 03:26 am 23

    From the Fairly Odd Parents

    “Wow, Timmy ate a lot of cheese. No wonder he was constipated through half of fourth grade.”

    Don’t remember the exact wording. It was a long time ago and I only saw it once.

  24. Dan Feb 24th 2010 at 12:28 pm 24

    How can it be a paradox? I don’t even see any water.

  25. paperboy Feb 24th 2010 at 01:52 pm 25

    Bidda-Bam!

  26. Elyrest Feb 24th 2010 at 02:36 pm 26

    It was just a matter of time before the ducks entered the picture.

  27. paperboy Feb 24th 2010 at 03:41 pm 27

    Why a duck?

  28. Elyrest Feb 24th 2010 at 05:13 pm 28

    paperboy - paradox = pair of ducks.

    I thought Dan’s (24) comment on water and paradox was a reference to ducks. I may be wrong.

  29. Dan Feb 24th 2010 at 05:15 pm 29

    I was thinking more of “pair of docks” - but I wish I could have made it work better. From here we can go into the “why a duck” Marx Brothers routine..

  30. paperboy Feb 24th 2010 at 05:49 pm 30

    I got Dan’s docks and Dan got my Marx’ ducks.

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