I mean of course it wasn’t. It was likely supposed to be subversive anti-drug propaganda, a product of its time no less than Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) and Fantastic Voyage (1966).
Ed Rhodes
Actually, it was the other way around. The virus made you happy and content. Happy people don’t got to therapy, don’t take tranquilizers, or but a lot of alcohol. The government has to find, and irraicate it to get people back onto their socially acceptable substances!
well, she did say’ forcing’ herself, that said , ppl being ‘pleasant’ towards ruth would probably have the opposite effect considering how “Well” she “got along” with billie/jen lol
Maybe in Canada. But Sarah is American, the strip is currently set in America, and I’m American (and also fat, particularly from a love of poultry), so I’m holding on for Thanksgiving to get it’s due.
jflb96
Canada is also in America, so I’m not sure what the distinction is
people in the United States majorly use “America” as shorthand for “United States of America” mainly because it’s usually of no consequence to them.
pretty much everywhere else in the English speaking world where the distinction is necessary to operate on the international scene and get stuff done, “Americans” are known more accurately as “staters”.
Morleuca
and we in the States are lazy and like to abbreviate as much as possible, or more so. And we are also very self centered and like to forget that there is more North America above and below us, let alone that whole other America
cbwroses
It’s weird.
I was always under the impression that when speaking about a country, people preferred referring to the individual countries as individuals, instead of lumping an area under the name of their continent.
Like it was frowned upon to refer to Egypt, or Mozambique, or Madagascar as simply Africa.
And after mentioning Canada, as well as the strip’s setting, I thought it would be pretty clear that I was speaking about the country of the United States of America and not one of the several countries on the continent of North America or even the countries on the continent of South America.
I also had no idea that Canadians referred to themselves, or were referred to by everywhere else in the English speaking world, as American, so that my comment could be so unclear (I always thought Canadians were referred to as Canadians).
I guess this is what I get from using our own media as the source for how the US of A and its people are referred to by other countries.
But I am a lazy, self centered, and forgetful American after all (and I guess context clues don’t matter).
Taffy
You said it fine, jflb96 just thinks they’re being clever.
The consequences I am speaking of are those which are of most practical importance to people from all over the world who have to import goods and services made from all over the North American continent.
Suppose I live in the Philippines and wanted some Canadian candy, if only because I think it has better flavor. If I just referred to it as “American candy” under the assumption that import services use it to mean “Canada”, I’d obviously be disappointed to get candy from the United States, hence why I’d want to specify.
The terminology and even arguably whole language of English that can actually WORK on the international market and cultural scene is it’s own trade-language distinct from the English used by the majority of people in the United States. The latter usually don’t need to use International English if only because the vast majority of goods and services and culture they could ever want or need are that which they can get without ever having to look outside their own country.
The United States being so VAST in size means that producers therein just about never need to worry about not having a market for their product, because of the high probability that someone, somewhere here will want what they can produce. Not so much in other parts of the globe such as Europe. Despite being about as big as the United States, Europe are a collection of sovereign countries with their own legal, linguistic and other barriers to trade itself happening like it does in the US and thus do not really have that same luxury. Hence why the European Union was established — it was to facilitate economic and internal development via framework and central currency (Euro) which could allow trade to happen at a rate where they could actually compete with the United States.
Xtifr
Canada is in North America, which is part of The Americas (plural). There is no place officially called just “America” (singular) in English; but unofficially, the term usually refers to the US in most English-speaking countries. (It’s different in Spanish.)
If you the reader feel less than comfortable visiting your relatives for whatever reason, know that Popeyes around this time sells a Thanksgiving dinner with turkey and potatoes and stuff.
Same nostalgic taste, MINUS having to put up with bigoted relatives.
Now back to our regularly scheduled de-programming.
Drew Hargrave
Is this real?
Michael Steamweed
Definitely. Full-sized “cajun”-style turkey, delivered, any of their usual sides. Several others have it, but delivery can be dang helpful.
Laura
Also, opportunities to celebrate Native American Heritage Month locally and virtually:
I think ruth might be about to do her RA job. Like this is probably a good reaction. A mix of “Good for you!” and “Remember that this is probably unhealthy or at least unsustainable”, or maybe it actually isn’t, because she isn’t changing what she says but only how she says it, so.
Do RAs really give emotional therapy/advice like this versus just helping them get in touch with a counselor if someone does reach out to a staff member about it
In theory, I think a lot of colleges say RAs are there for emotional support (not therapy), among other duties. In reality, I think it varies a lot.
anon
I think they’d be someone you’d bother with like “hey some student left like a pile of their clothes in the hallway and disappeared” versus something like trying to befriend them and opening up
Depending on the university, yes. In the USA alone, freshman-reported rates of anxiety and depression have been rising every year (even discounting the huge spike post-pandemic shutdowns). Few places have the budget to increase their counseling / therapy staff sustainably. (Most secondary school districts are having challenges keeping the extra counselors they hired during the pandemic). So, yeah. 🙁
fake it til you make it they say although i half expect something to happen where it’s like “I am extremely pissed at this” but she’d still be smiling b/c her face is ‘stuck’ that way lol
honestly in my experience, this is just the actual advice that mental health professionals give you. just act really fucking happy. eventually you’ll be happy.
well i can imagine it being a psychology thing, forcing it is to obad but in the opposite direction of just wallowing in self pity probably isn’t good either like isolating yourself or so even if you have bad executive dysfunction but i’d also expect them to just assign you pills just so there’s a profit
1. Ruth decides to emulate Sarah because why not.
2. Both of them walk around pleasant, smiling, and sociable.
3. Every other resident becomes wigged out. Rumors about pod people or contagious smiling disease start circulating.
173 thoughts on “Forcing”
NGPZ
XD
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cargo_cult_programming
cain
great choice of metaphor AND i have been introduced to a new wikipedia page. excellent day in the comments for me
NGPZ
Theory is when ya basically know everything but nothin works.
Practice is when ya don’t know nothin but yet everything just works.
As
programmersautistic people socializing, we combine Theory AND Practice, nothing works, and nobody knows WHY.Aquila
+++ Divide By Cucumber Error. Please Reinstall Universe And Reboot +++
Michael Steamweed
99 autism bugs on the brain
99 autism bugs
Medicate one and beat it down
137 autism bugs on the brain
Doctor_Who
Is it working…or is it contagious?!
LaGrosseLegume
It could be cool Halloween special
NGPZ
It seems as so Sarah is not smiling,
but the Smile itself is this entity wearing her as a face
Michael Steamweed
You mean like McPedro the Mustache? :O
(ref. Girls with Slingshots)
Deanatay
In Soviet Russia, Smile wears you
Ed Rhodes
You mean like this? https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063799/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_8_nm_0_in_0_q_What%27s%2520So%2520Ba It’s not a very GOOD movie!
NGPZ
I mean of course it wasn’t. It was likely supposed to be subversive anti-drug propaganda, a product of its time no less than Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) and Fantastic Voyage (1966).
Ed Rhodes
Actually, it was the other way around. The virus made you happy and content. Happy people don’t got to therapy, don’t take tranquilizers, or but a lot of alcohol. The government has to find, and irraicate it to get people back onto their socially acceptable substances!
anon
i guess it’s good she’s laughing at it versus thinking sarah’s like secretly on drugs or doing something criminal/sinister lol
Bobcat
“Smile, and the world will… smile with you?”
cbwroses
“Sneeze and it’s goodbye Seattle.”
TGS
“Fourteen, chief.”
Needfuldoer
I don’t remember that episode of Frasier…
Michael Steamweed
“We haven’t had any irony here since about, uh, ’83, when I was the only practitioner of it. And I stopped because I was tired of being stared at.”
Roborat
I think this is the first time I have ever seen a Roxanne reference.
BarerMender
Don’t lesnerize!
BarerMender
This was supposed to be a reply to cbwroses’s post
Sirksome
Ruth’s entire existence is an antithesis to Sarah’s new philosophy.
anon
well, she did say’ forcing’ herself, that said , ppl being ‘pleasant’ towards ruth would probably have the opposite effect considering how “Well” she “got along” with billie/jen lol
Sirksome
Also Sarah is sporting a pretty cool top today. Ruth is clearly jealous. Dab on the haters Sarah. Just keep doing you.
Cholma
Ruth..? La…Laughing?! It’s a Christmas Miracle!
cbwroses
A Thanksgiving Miracle, thank you. Don’t let the Mariah Carey in the air fool you.
foamy
Thanksgiving was a month ago :v
cbwroses
Maybe in Canada. But Sarah is American, the strip is currently set in America, and I’m American (and also fat, particularly from a love of poultry), so I’m holding on for Thanksgiving to get it’s due.
jflb96
Canada is also in America, so I’m not sure what the distinction is
NGPZ
people in the United States majorly use “America” as shorthand for “United States of America” mainly because it’s usually of no consequence to them.
pretty much everywhere else in the English speaking world where the distinction is necessary to operate on the international scene and get stuff done, “Americans” are known more accurately as “staters”.
Morleuca
and we in the States are lazy and like to abbreviate as much as possible, or more so. And we are also very self centered and like to forget that there is more North America above and below us, let alone that whole other America
cbwroses
It’s weird.
I was always under the impression that when speaking about a country, people preferred referring to the individual countries as individuals, instead of lumping an area under the name of their continent.
Like it was frowned upon to refer to Egypt, or Mozambique, or Madagascar as simply Africa.
And after mentioning Canada, as well as the strip’s setting, I thought it would be pretty clear that I was speaking about the country of the United States of America and not one of the several countries on the continent of North America or even the countries on the continent of South America.
I also had no idea that Canadians referred to themselves, or were referred to by everywhere else in the English speaking world, as American, so that my comment could be so unclear (I always thought Canadians were referred to as Canadians).
I guess this is what I get from using our own media as the source for how the US of A and its people are referred to by other countries.
But I am a lazy, self centered, and forgetful American after all (and I guess context clues don’t matter).
Taffy
You said it fine, jflb96 just thinks they’re being clever.
NGPZ
The consequences I am speaking of are those which are of most practical importance to people from all over the world who have to import goods and services made from all over the North American continent.
Suppose I live in the Philippines and wanted some Canadian candy, if only because I think it has better flavor. If I just referred to it as “American candy” under the assumption that import services use it to mean “Canada”, I’d obviously be disappointed to get candy from the United States, hence why I’d want to specify.
The terminology and even arguably whole language of English that can actually WORK on the international market and cultural scene is it’s own trade-language distinct from the English used by the majority of people in the United States. The latter usually don’t need to use International English if only because the vast majority of goods and services and culture they could ever want or need are that which they can get without ever having to look outside their own country.
The United States being so VAST in size means that producers therein just about never need to worry about not having a market for their product, because of the high probability that someone, somewhere here will want what they can produce. Not so much in other parts of the globe such as Europe. Despite being about as big as the United States, Europe are a collection of sovereign countries with their own legal, linguistic and other barriers to trade itself happening like it does in the US and thus do not really have that same luxury. Hence why the European Union was established — it was to facilitate economic and internal development via framework and central currency (Euro) which could allow trade to happen at a rate where they could actually compete with the United States.
Xtifr
Canada is in North America, which is part of The Americas (plural). There is no place officially called just “America” (singular) in English; but unofficially, the term usually refers to the US in most English-speaking countries. (It’s different in Spanish.)
NGPZ
PSA for United States Thanksgiving this year:
If you the reader feel less than comfortable visiting your relatives for whatever reason, know that Popeyes around this time sells a Thanksgiving dinner with turkey and potatoes and stuff.
Same nostalgic taste, MINUS having to put up with bigoted relatives.
Now back to our regularly scheduled de-programming.
Drew Hargrave
Is this real?
Michael Steamweed
Definitely. Full-sized “cajun”-style turkey, delivered, any of their usual sides. Several others have it, but delivery can be dang helpful.
Laura
Also, opportunities to celebrate Native American Heritage Month locally and virtually:
calendar.powwows.com/all-pow-wows
http://www.powwows.com/main/watch-pow-wows-live-powwows-com
americanindian.si.edu/explore/exhibitions/online
nps.gov/subjects/npscelebrates/native-american-heritage-month.htm
xcancel.com/search?q=%23NativeAmericanHeritageMonth
xcancel.com/search?q=%23RockYourMocs
Clif
And here I thought that Popeye was a sailor man.
Deanatay
Waitaminit… so it’s the CANADIAN’S fault Christmas keeps starting up just after Halloween? Keep your Holiday Creep on YOUR side of the border!!
RassilonTDavros
10/10 strip no notes.
shadowcell
Sarah shall spread cheer as one spreads a plague
Clif
One genetically engineered virus at a time?
Nono
Maybe Sarah really is Mariah Carey after all
Davus
I think ruth might be about to do her RA job. Like this is probably a good reaction. A mix of “Good for you!” and “Remember that this is probably unhealthy or at least unsustainable”, or maybe it actually isn’t, because she isn’t changing what she says but only how she says it, so.
anon
Do RAs really give emotional therapy/advice like this versus just helping them get in touch with a counselor if someone does reach out to a staff member about it
Yumi
In theory, I think a lot of colleges say RAs are there for emotional support (not therapy), among other duties. In reality, I think it varies a lot.
anon
I think they’d be someone you’d bother with like “hey some student left like a pile of their clothes in the hallway and disappeared” versus something like trying to befriend them and opening up
Michael Steamweed
Depending on the university, yes. In the USA alone, freshman-reported rates of anxiety and depression have been rising every year (even discounting the huge spike post-pandemic shutdowns). Few places have the budget to increase their counseling / therapy staff sustainably. (Most secondary school districts are having challenges keeping the extra counselors they hired during the pandemic). So, yeah. 🙁
Wraithy2773
this seems healthy
Clif
Mmm.
anon
fake it til you make it they say although i half expect something to happen where it’s like “I am extremely pissed at this” but she’d still be smiling b/c her face is ‘stuck’ that way lol
Amelie Wikström
Trying to change an attitude you know is unhealthy and gets in the way of building the future you want and forming any personal relationships? Yes.
Throwatron
honestly in my experience, this is just the actual advice that mental health professionals give you. just act really fucking happy. eventually you’ll be happy.
anon
well i can imagine it being a psychology thing, forcing it is to obad but in the opposite direction of just wallowing in self pity probably isn’t good either like isolating yourself or so even if you have bad executive dysfunction but i’d also expect them to just assign you pills just so there’s a profit
Jeremiah
Thanks you Sarah, this is the happiest she been in months.
Mark
First smiling, now laughing out loud…what is happening to Ruth?
I will admit that it looks well on her.
Michael Steamweed
1. Ruth decides to emulate Sarah because why not.
2. Both of them walk around pleasant, smiling, and sociable.
3. Every other resident becomes wigged out. Rumors about pod people or contagious smiling disease start circulating.
Bogeywoman
Don’t mind me. Just casually squeezing my boobs while I lose my shit
NGPZ
“HERE HERE HERE, SEE EM?!!?!?” XD
Ray Radlein
Have to squeeze the laughter out somehow. It might not remember where the exit is without a little bit of help
Mr. Random
I have this strange feeling that Ruth tried the “Smile until you trick yourself into being happy” WAY too much when she was younger.
Francoinblanco
Yep i think this laugh is more about “been there done that” than “you foolish samuhraii”
NGPZ
“long ago in a distant land, I
Aku, shape-shifting master of darkness, unleashed an UNSPEAKABLE EVIL”“but then a FOOLISH student wielding an UNSPEAKABLE EVIL, stepped forth to oppose me”
“before she could blow me, I tore open a portal in time, and FLUNG her into the future, where UNSPEAKABLE EVIL is Law”
“now the fool seeks to turn into an ASS, and undo the future that is RUTH.”
XD
Mr. Random
*Ruthless, needs two syllables to match the meter.
Armadillo
Sarah rocking a sweater like Rorschach from Watchmen, those squiggles keep changing from panel to panel, lol.
Michael Steamweed
Good catch! I didn’t notice until you mentioned it.
Jamie
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahah
BBCC