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| date      = September 21, 2011
 
| date      = September 21, 2011
 
| title    = Chin-Up Bar
 
| title    = Chin-Up Bar
−
| image    = chin up bar.png
+
| image    = chin_up_bar.png
 
| titletext = Those few who escaped found the emergency cutoff box disabled. The stampede lasted two hours and reached the bottom three times.
 
| titletext = Those few who escaped found the emergency cutoff box disabled. The stampede lasted two hours and reached the bottom three times.
 
}}
 
}}
  
 
==Explanation==
 
==Explanation==
−
[[Black Hat]] has once again showed everyone that he is a [[classhole]], with a plan to block traffic on presumably the {{w|Escalator#Longest individual escalators|longest single-tier escalator}} in the Western hemisphere. At the time of the comic's publishing, that placed the comic in the {{w|Wheaton station (Washington Metro)|Wheaton station}} in {{w|Washington D.C.}}'s {{w|Washington Metro}} subway system, where the 70-meter (230-foot) escalator is. It's clear that Black Hat knows it is the longest and that this is the reason he has chosen this exact escalator for his plan. However, this comic’s depiction of the escalator has several inaccuracies, landing it in XKCD-land instead of real-life:
+
[[Black Hat]] is blocking traffic on the {{w|Escalator#Escalators: superlatives|longest escalator}} in the {{w|western hemisphere}}, the escalator in the {{w|Wheaton (WMATA station)|Wheaton station}} in {{w|Washington D.C.}}'s {{w|Washington Metro}}.
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* The Wheaton station has three escalators.
 
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* There are no vertical and perpendicular lines on the side of the escalators. Instead, they are perpendicular to the guard rail.
 
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* In panel 9, there are two raised disks between the up and down escalators. While this is true in some escalators, the ones for Wheaton are very close together and there is only one column of raised disks.
 
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* The up escalator leads to a fare gate where there are employees staffed near an elevator control kiosk who will help the elevator people.{{cn}}
 
  
−
Black Hat uses sly conversing methods to avoid saying his true motives for carrying a {{w|chin-up bar}}. Black Hat continues deflecting [[Cueball]]’s questions by stating that he's ''not a psychologist'', although he clearly is aware of his own motives and intentions. (One could argue that it would take a psychology degree to explain those motives and intentions.) After this they reach the top and once they get off Black Hat quickly turns around and locks the bar in place at about waist height (i.e. as high up as possible on an escalator), just before the moving part of the escalator ends.
+
An {{w|escalator}} is a motorized stairway. Black Hat installs a {{w|chin-up bar}} at waist height. Chin-up bars are typically capable of holding up a 300 pound (130 kg) person without moving. Being at waist height makes it hard to duck under, and hard to hurdle. Either way, on a crowded escalator during a high traffic period, avoiding the bar will be extremely difficult. The first people would probably stumble backward to avoid it, which would collide them into the passengers behind them, creating a {{w|domino effect}} all the way down. Of course, as the escalator continues to move people forward, but the wave of falling people is moving backward, its {{w|Theory of special relativity|apparent speed}} will be slower than it actually is.
  
−
Chin-up bars are typically capable of holding up a 300 pound (130 kg) person without moving, and a bar like Black Hat has brought with him can be [https://www.amazon.com/Sunny-Health-Fitness-Door-Chin/dp/B0016BNDXI/ref=sr_1_6?s=sports-and-fitness&ie=UTF8&qid=1470541509&sr=1-6&keywords=chin+up+bar installed easily in a doorway], or in the opening of an escalator…
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That is the joke in the title text, that over two hours the wave can reach the bottom only three times, whereas if this were a simple staircase the event would only last once and be over as quickly as people can fall down.
 +
The people that actually made it to the bottom were unable tue the emergency shutdown because Black Hat disabled it.
  
−
The unexpected appearance of a solidly attached bar at the top of a crowded escalator could be disastrous. The first people would probably stumble backward to avoid it or hit it and topple backwards, and collide with the passengers immediately behind them, knocking them off their feet and likely creating a {{w|domino effect}} all the way down. Indeed, this is exactly what happens and is depicted in the last panel. Black Hat and Cueball are seen on the descending escalator in the background, Cueball has turned around looking at the scene and displaying worry about what Black Hat has done, but Black Hat isn't even looking at the chaos he has caused, completely ignoring all the falling bodies. Although it might be possible, the two are fairly lucky to be unscathed, as they could have been hit by someone in the pileup falling all the way over in their side of the escalator. Since they are most likely on the way down to a subway, the traffic should make it easy for them to get away on the next train, before anyone has a chance to try and find the perpetrator, so Black Hat gets away with his schemes once again.
+
==Trivia==
−
 
+
*It would appear that the goatee'd man behind Cueball has been seen before as the psychologist from [[435: Purity]]. It would also seem that the person he is with might be the sociologist from that same comic.
−
In the title text it is made clear that the few people that actually escaped the moving stairs were unable to use the emergency shutdown because Black Hat had disabled the system, presumably before ascending in the first place. This is stated to have caused the {{w|stampede}} to last for two hours and waves of falling people would end up reaching the bottom three times, before ascending with the stairs again. The reason for this extended mayhem could be that only the very first people at the top of this domino effect who actually hit the chin-up-bar know what caused the problem to begin with. Since they are likely among those people too hurt to explain anything in time, the next group of people trying to get out after the first wave of falling people might just proceed to run into the same problem at the top once again. The problem is exacerbated by the disabled shutoff, so even if someone sees the chin-up-bar and knows how to escape, they would either be pulled back into the crowd of traffic or be free but unable to help. This helps to explain why the cycle of crowd collapse happened three times, and the use of the word "stampede" connotes the panicked, unorganized behavior of the trapped people that serves to make the problem worse.
 
  
 
==Transcript==
 
==Transcript==
−
:[Black Hat is in the middle of on an escalator with five other people as it ascends. He carries something like a pole.]
+
:[Black Hat is standing on an escalator as it ascends. He is carrying a pole with what looks like a bracket on each end, resting on his shoulder. In front of him is Ponytail, and in front of her is a punk with spiked hair and pimples. Behind Black Hat is Cueball. Behind Cueball is a man wearing glasses with a goatee standing next to someone with short hair.]
  
−
:[Zoom in on Black Hat and Cueball.]
+
:[The view closes on Black Hat and Cueball. In the background a girl can be seen standing on the descending escalator.]
 
:Cueball: This is a long escalator.
 
:Cueball: This is a long escalator.
 
:Black Hat: 70 meters. Longest in the country.
 
:Black Hat: 70 meters. Longest in the country.
  
−
:[Black Hat goes upwards holding his pole.]
+
:[In the background the girl from the last panel has now passed the group and a few other people can be seen descending.]
  
−
:[Cueball is still behind Black Hat.]
 
 
:Cueball: Why're you carrying a chin-up bar?
 
:Cueball: Why're you carrying a chin-up bar?
 
:Black Hat: Why aren't you wearing a hat?
 
:Black Hat: Why aren't you wearing a hat?
  
−
:[The view returns to the original view only showing the six people ascending, only shifted so they are all a bit longer to the right.]
+
:[The view opens up a bit more to show the two riders ahead, and the two behind.]
 
:Cueball: I'm not really a hat person.
 
:Cueball: I'm not really a hat person.
−
:Black Hat: And I'm not really a not-carrying-a-chin-up-bar person.
+
:Black Hat: And I'm not really a Not-carrying-a-chin-up-bar person.
  
−
:[Close up on Cueball on the escalator.]
+
:[Close up on Cueball]
  
−
:[Zoom out. Black Hat still has the pole in his hands.]
+
:[The view opens up to show the same people in the first panel. They're near the top of the escalator now and Ponytail is beginning to step off.]
 
:Cueball: Seriously, why did you bring it?
 
:Cueball: Seriously, why did you bring it?
 
:Black Hat: How should I know? I'm not a psychologist.
 
:Black Hat: How should I know? I'm not a psychologist.
  
−
:[Zoom in on the top of the escalator where Black Hat steps off and installs the chin-up bar on the exit of the escalator.]
+
:[As Black Hat steps off the escalator he turns and installs the chin-up bar such that it blocks people from leaving the escalator, about waist height. Cueball turns to observe what Black Hat is doing.]
−
:''Twist'' ''Click'' ''Click''
+
:''Twist''
−
 
+
:''Click click''
−
:[View from above towards both ascending and descending escalators. Black Hat and Cueball are on the descending escalator.]
 
−
 
 
−
:[The final panel takes up two entire rows and shows all people falling down.]
 
  
−
==Trivia==
+
:[They get onto the descending escalator. The man with glasses and a goatee and his companion are blocked from leaving the escalator by the chin-up bar.]
−
It would appear that the man behind Cueball with glasses and a goatee is the psychologist from [[435: Purity]], and then Megan next to him could be the sociologist from the same comic. This gives new meaning to Black Hat's line about not being a psychologist.
 
  
−
Escalators were also the subject of the earlier comic [[252: Escalators]], a rather more funny take on these dangerous devices.
+
:[The next panel is large.]
 +
:[The view shows an extended section of the escalator, the top right has become a pile of people all squished together and on top of each other. One person has grabbed another by the hair and is standing on a third person in an attempt to not fall. Someone is falling off the pile and another person is running down the escalator to avoid them. People closer to the bottom of the escalator are looking horrified at the scene ahead of them. In the background hat man and his companion are visible. Black Hat is looking toward the bottom of the escalator, not caring or noticing the chaos unfolding. Cueball looks back pensively.]
  
 
{{comic discussion}}
 
{{comic discussion}}
−
 
+
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
 
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
 
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
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[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
 
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[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
 
 
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
 
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
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[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
 
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[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
 
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[[Category:Psychology]]
 
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[[Category:Sabotage]]
 

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