I’m worried that one of my managers or former managers will see this and think it’s about them. The actual person on whom I based this strip, however, is blissfully unaware of their faults, and would never recognize themselves as the strip’s inspiration. So if I used to work for you, and you’re saying “hey, is that me?” It’s not.
I have, in the past, worked for managers who are skilled programmers, and whose direct assistance on the code has been valuable. I have also been a position of having to keep my own local backup of source control just to be able to quickly undo damage done by my superior, and god help me, I have had to put myself physically between a project manager and a soldering iron.
MRS. SHOEBOX’S ASSESSMENT OF TODAY’S STRIP: Very odd. I see what you’re going for, but…very odd.
In other news, I will be performing as Worm Quartet and doing a real live actual Webcomics panel at I-Con in Long Island in a couple of weeks! Come on out and say hi!
-=ShoEboX=-
We’ve already had this art.
Like!
Compare December 13th 2002, yes you have readers that remember that far back :^) And it’s the first clip repeat that I’m aware of, well done!
Some of these clips really cry out for more than one interpretation. Maybe we can do a sequence with a single clip and see how many dialogues fit it?
I don’t think “subordinant” is a word. And if it were a word, it would probably have some obscure mathematical meaning, and not be a synonym of the noun “subordinate”.
ON THE ART DUPLICATION: Argh! My wife thought it looked familiar too, but I did a search on several terms couldn’t find it. Now that I’m aware of the duplication, I personally like to think that this is the same character, and that the events of this strip happen within five minutes of the earlier strip. I realize this doesn’t necessarily work, since I refer to the year 2007 in this strip and the other was written in 2002, but dammit, I’ve been creating three-panel standalone worlds for a year and three months. Let me have this one little moment of accidental continuity.
ON “SUBORDINANT:” I have no excuse beyond my typical “waiting ’til too late at night to make the strip” thing. It’ll be fixed tonight, thanks for the catch. For now, building on the previously-established continuity, let’s just say the hangover’s making her slur her speech.
-=’Box=-
This is how it is, man. The problem is everyone knows it and nobody does anything about it :C
The expression on her face is amazing.
P.S. I don’t care if the art repeats so long as the dialog doesn’t. It’s funny, therefore my only need is met.
I’m with Hel on this one. As long as it’s a new joke, I’m good.
l’ve been reading this for many years, and I’ll admit I didn’t recognize this was a duplicate image. I definitely remember the original strip though, which was funny too.
I am so thankful I have never had a manager with that particular outlook.
Art, schmart. I think it’s a brilliant strip. What makes it even funnier is that I’ve written about what I call the “thermocline of truth” in IT departments; you’ve just illustrated an alleged (by the unseen manager) “thermocline of knowledge”. Great strip; keep up the good work. ..bruce..
Of all the strips that I’ve seen from you that I identified with, this is by far #1. Not because I am the worker, but because I am the manager. I manage a call center for software customer support. I take hundreds of calls for assistance from my team every day. The expectation is that I am a complete genuis in every aspect of the software, but the reality is that once removed from front line support (which I started in), you don’t utilize that knowledge as much and your skills in the software get rusty as you slip in to more of an administrative role on the team. Making schedules, motivating, hiring, team building, project managing, that’s my main thing now. I have a select few on my team, however, who believe that if I have to research an issue and don’t have the resolution immediately avaialable then I am unfit for my position. Damn. /rant
The first panel alone was a great punchline for me, at least in terms of the “conversation that’s happened at work at least half a dozen times” aspect. I’m sure one of my managers has had the rest of that conversation with an executive at least once, which makes me happy I’m not management.
As a manager your job is to make sure I get my work done, and keep the higher ups out of my cubicle. My managers do that well, so I reward them by getting many, many switches, servers, and gizmos configured & shipped out in good time.
My managers can’t even spell PPPoE 3 times out of 5 even with a good tailwind, but all the HR forms are ready & filled out, and my days tally log are always perfect. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
“That’s not how management works.” “The hell it isn’t!” LMAO….. I am going to be laughing at that one for a week