explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2813: What To Do

2023-08-10T13:09:21Z

Snowgnome:

{{comic
| number = 2813
| date = August 9, 2023
| title = What To Do
| image = what_to_do_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x723px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = FYI: The 'drop, cover, and hold on' advice only applies to earthquakes. If you encounter a mountain lion, you should absolutely not drop to the ground, crawl under it, and hold on to one of its legs.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a MOUNTAIN LIGHTNING ALARM - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Similar to [[1890: What to Bring]] and [[1681: Laser Products]], this comic takes four unrelated dangerous situations (mountain lion sighting, nearby lightning, fire alarm, and bleeding), and tries to mix-and-match the solutions. Predictably,{{citation needed}} mixing up good advice leads to fairly nonsensical behavior, so only the original four matches are marked green as acceptable.

The title-text introduces another disaster, an earthquake, into the mix-and-match. A common safety precaution during an earthquake is to [https://www.shakeout.org/dropcoverholdon/ drop, cover, and hold on], which helps prevent you from being thrown about and/or hit by debris. However, attempting to "drop, cover, and hold on" in response to a mountain lion sighting is more likely to get you into danger than out of it. {{citation needed}}

;Advice

{| class="wikitable"
! (problem) vs (solution)
! scope="col"| stand up straight, speak firmly, and slowly back away
! scope="col"| run toward a building or hard-topped vehicle
! scope="col"| calmly exit the building
! scope="col"| apply firm pressure
|-
! scope="row"| {{w|mountain lion}}
| This is a common recommendation when encountering a mountain lion (puma, cougar, etc) out in nature.
| Running away may cause the animal to chase you, and it may consider you as prey. If you safely make it into a building or vehicle, you may be able to hide or drive away from the animal and may be safer than being outdoors with it; however, it is safer to approach said building or vehicle ''slowly'', so as to not provoke the animal.
| Exiting a building and approaching the animal is not a good idea. {{citation needed}}
| Applying "firm pressure" to the (wild) animal is a terrible idea and may result in injury. Applying light pressure to a domesticated cat may make it less likely to attack, but wild cats do not respond positively to it.
|-
! scope="row"| lightning
| Yelling at lightning is ineffective. {{citation needed}}
| This is the recommended solution when encountering lightning - to go indoors or inside of a hard-topped vehicle to avoid being struck, or to be ''inside'' some form of faraday cage if lightning does strike your location. Staying inside of a metal vehicle may cause other problems, but it's generally better than being directly struck.
| Exiting a building is a poor idea, as the risk of getting struck by lightning is increased.
| There is no safe way to "apply firm pressure" to lightning.
|-
! scope="row"| fire alarm
| Yelling at a fire alarm is ineffective. {{citation needed}}
| When a fire alarm is sounding, it is terrible advice to run ''towards'' the sound of the alarm, unless you are a trained member of the fire department.
| This is the recommended advice when hearing a fire alarm - to calmly exit the building, and move to a safe location.
| Applying firm pressure to a fire alarm will not result in stopping the alarm, unless you are able to manage to suppress the sound, or the fire alarm sensors. Regardless, this will not stop an active fire. Also, there is no safe way to "apply firm pressure" to fire, although applying firm pressure could be interpreted as using a fire blanket.
|-
! scope="row"| bleeding
| Yelling at a bleeding person, or at the bleeding itself, is ineffective. {{citation needed}}
| Running toward a building or vehicle is not a typical solution if someone is bleeding. However, there could be medical supplies inside the building or vehicle, so this idea is not completely incorrect.
| Exiting a building is not helpful if someone is bleeding, if either the exiting one is the injured one, or the non-injured one. Although, if someone/something in the building is the cause of the bleeding, this could be a good idea so that the bleeding or injury does not get worse.
| This is the recommended solution to stop bleeding - apply firm pressure to stop the bleeding.
|}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

:[The comic is laid out like a grid, with situations down the left-hand side (mountain lion / lightning / fire alarm / bleeding) and the solutions across the top (stand up straight, speak firmly, and slowly back away / run toward a building or hard-topped vehicle / calmly exit the building / apply firm pressure ). The grid illustrates the "match-ups", with a green square denoting a "correct" match-up and a red square denoting a bad idea.]

:[From the top left corner, going from left to right, top to bottom, with each first item being on its own line in the grid, the squares are as follows:]

:[Green square, a mountain lion (drawn as a large cat) sits on the left, on a perch. Cueball and Megan have their arms raised and are speaking to it. Lines in front of them indicate they are backing up.]
:Cueball: ''HEY. STOP.''
:Megan: ''SHOO.''
:*'''stand up straight, speak firmly, and slowly back away''' -> '''mountain lion'''

:[Red square, Cueball and Megan are being chased by a mountain lion, and are running towards a building to their right.]
:*'''run toward a building or hard-topped vehicle''' -> '''mountain lion'''

:[Red square, Cueball and Megan exit a building and approach a mountain lion.]
:Megan: ''Hello.''
:*'''calmly exit the building''' -> '''mountain lion'''

:[Red square, Cueball is putting his hands firmly on a mountain lion.]
:*'''apply firm pressure''' -> '''mountain lion'''

:[Red square, lightning strikes a tree. Cueball is standing outside, with his arms raised, yelling at the lightning. Lines in front of him indicate he is backing up.]
:''BOOM''
:Cueball: ''NO!''
:*'''stand up straight, speak firmly, and slowly back away''' -> '''lightning'''

:[Green square, lightning strikes a tree. Cueball and Megan run toward a building to their right.]
:''BOOM''
:*'''run toward a building or hard-topped vehicle''' -> '''lightning'''

:[Red square, lightning strikes a tree. Cueball and Megan exit a building and approach the lightning-struck tree.]
:''BOOM''
:*''' calmly exit the building''' -> '''lightning'''

:[Red square, lightning strikes a tree. Cueball pushes on the lightning-struck tree.]
:''BOOM''
:*'''apply firm pressure''' -> '''lightning'''

:[Red square, a fire alarm is beeping. Cueball yells at the alarm, with his arms raised. Lines in front of him indicates he is backing up.]
:''BEEP BEEP BEEP''
:Cueball: ''HEY.''
:*'''stand up straight, speak firmly, and slowly back away ''' -> '''fire alarm'''

:[Red square, a fire alarm is beeping next to a building with flames on its roof. Cueball and Megan run toward the burning building.]
:''BEEP BEEP BEEP''
:*'''run toward a building or hard-topped vehicle''' -> '''fire alarm'''

:[Green square, a fire alarm is beeping next to a house with flames on its roof. Cueball and Megan are exiting the burning building.]
:''BEEP BEEP BEEP''
:*'''calmly exit the building''' -> '''fire alarm'''

:[Red square, a fire alarm is beeping, and Cueball is trying to "suppress" the beeping sound. Behind him are flames.]
:''BEEP BEEP BE-eep eep eep''
:*'''apply firm pressure''' -> '''fire alarm'''

:[Red square, Cueball is bleeding from his right arm, and holds it. Megan to his right yells at him with her arms raised. Lines in front of her indicates she is backing up.]
:Megan: ''HEY!''
:Megan: ''STOP IT!''
:*'''stand up straight, speak firmly, and slowly back away''' -> '''bleeding'''

:[Red square, Megan, holding a first aid kit in one hand and a bandage in the other, runs with a bleeding Cueball towards a building to their right.]
:*'''run toward a building or hard-topped vehicle''' -> '''bleeding'''

:[Red square, Megan holds a bandage, and to the ground in front of her is a first aid kit. Cueball is walking to the right of the panel, with an injured and bloody left arm raised.]
:Cueball: Bye!
:*'''calmly exit the building''' -> '''bleeding'''

:[Green square, Cueball sits in a chair and Megan is treating him by putting her hands on his injured limb. Behind her on the ground is a first aid kit.]
:*'''apply firm pressure''' -> '''bleeding'''

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Animals]]
[[Category:Weather]]

2813: What To Do

2023-08-10T13:08:05Z

Snowgnome:

{{comic
| number = 2813
| date = August 9, 2023
| title = What To Do
| image = what_to_do_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x723px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = FYI: The 'drop, cover, and hold on' advice only applies to earthquakes. If you encounter a mountain lion, you should absolutely not drop to the ground, crawl under it, and hold on to one of its legs.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a MOUNTAIN LIGHTNING ALARM - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Similar to [[1890: What to Bring]] and [[1681: Laser Products]], this comic takes four unrelated dangerous situations (mountain lion sighting, nearby lightning, fire alarm, and bleeding), and tries to mix-and-match the solutions. Predictably,{{citation needed}} mixing up good advice leads to fairly nonsensical behavior, so only the original four matches are marked green as acceptable.

The title-text introduces another disaster, an earthquake, into the mix-and-match. A common safety precaution during an earthquake is to [https://www.shakeout.org/dropcoverholdon/ drop, cover, and hold on], which helps prevent you from being thrown about and/or hit by debris. However, attempting to "drop, cover, and hold on" in response to a mountain lion sighting is more likely to get you into danger than out of it. {{citation needed}}

;Advice

{| class="wikitable"
! (problem) vs (solution)
! scope="col"| stand up straight, speak firmly, and slowly back away
! scope="col"| run toward a building or hard-topped vehicle
! scope="col"| calmly exit the building
! scope="col"| apply firm pressure
|-
! scope="row"| {{w|mountain lion}}
| This is a common recommendation when encountering a mountain lion (puma, cougar, etc) out in nature.
| Running away may cause the animal to chase you, and it may consider you as prey. If you safely make it into a building or vehicle, you may be able to hide or drive away from the animal and may be safer than being outdoors with it; however, it is safer to approach said building or vehicle ''slowly'', so as to not provoke the animal.
| Exiting a building and approaching the animal is not a good idea. {{citation needed}}
| Applying "firm pressure" to the (wild) animal is a terrible idea and may result in injury. Applying light pressure to a domesticated cat may make it less likely to attack, but wild cats do not respond positively to it.
|-
! scope="row"| lightning
| Yelling at lightning is ineffective. {{citation needed}}
| This is the recommended solution when encountering lightning - to go indoors or inside of a hard-topped vehicle to avoid being struck, or to be ''inside'' some form of faraday cage if lightning does strike your location. Staying inside of a metal vehicle may cause other problems, but it's generally better than being directly struck.
| Exiting a building is a poor idea, as the risk of getting struck by lightning is increased.
| There is no safe way to "apply firm pressure" to lightning.
|-
! scope="row"| fire alarm
| Yelling at a fire alarm is ineffective. {{citation needed}}
| When a fire alarm is sounding, it is terrible advice to run ''towards'' the sound of the alarm, unless you are a trained member of the fire department.
| This is the recommended advice when hearing a fire alarm - to calmly exit the building, and move to a safe location.
| Applying firm pressure to a fire alarm will not result in stopping the alarm, unless you are able to manage to suppress the sound, or the fire alarm sensors. Regardless, this will not stop an active fire. Also, there is no safe way to "apply firm pressure" to fire, although the use of a fire blanket could be a interpretation of "apply firm pressure".
|-
! scope="row"| bleeding
| Yelling at a bleeding person, or at the bleeding itself, is ineffective. {{citation needed}}
| Running toward a building or vehicle is not a typical solution if someone is bleeding. However, there could be medical supplies inside the building or vehicle, so this idea is not completely incorrect.
| Exiting a building is not helpful if someone is bleeding, if either the exiting one is the injured one, or the non-injured one. Although, if someone/something in the building is the cause of the bleeding, this could be a good idea so that the bleeding or injury does not get worse.
| This is the recommended solution to stop bleeding - apply firm pressure to stop the bleeding.
|}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

:[The comic is laid out like a grid, with situations down the left-hand side (mountain lion / lightning / fire alarm / bleeding) and the solutions across the top (stand up straight, speak firmly, and slowly back away / run toward a building or hard-topped vehicle / calmly exit the building / apply firm pressure ). The grid illustrates the "match-ups", with a green square denoting a "correct" match-up and a red square denoting a bad idea.]

:[From the top left corner, going from left to right, top to bottom, with each first item being on its own line in the grid, the squares are as follows:]

:[Green square, a mountain lion (drawn as a large cat) sits on the left, on a perch. Cueball and Megan have their arms raised and are speaking to it. Lines in front of them indicate they are backing up.]
:Cueball: ''HEY. STOP.''
:Megan: ''SHOO.''
:*'''stand up straight, speak firmly, and slowly back away''' -> '''mountain lion'''

:[Red square, Cueball and Megan are being chased by a mountain lion, and are running towards a building to their right.]
:*'''run toward a building or hard-topped vehicle''' -> '''mountain lion'''

:[Red square, Cueball and Megan exit a building and approach a mountain lion.]
:Megan: ''Hello.''
:*'''calmly exit the building''' -> '''mountain lion'''

:[Red square, Cueball is putting his hands firmly on a mountain lion.]
:*'''apply firm pressure''' -> '''mountain lion'''

:[Red square, lightning strikes a tree. Cueball is standing outside, with his arms raised, yelling at the lightning. Lines in front of him indicate he is backing up.]
:''BOOM''
:Cueball: ''NO!''
:*'''stand up straight, speak firmly, and slowly back away''' -> '''lightning'''

:[Green square, lightning strikes a tree. Cueball and Megan run toward a building to their right.]
:''BOOM''
:*'''run toward a building or hard-topped vehicle''' -> '''lightning'''

:[Red square, lightning strikes a tree. Cueball and Megan exit a building and approach the lightning-struck tree.]
:''BOOM''
:*''' calmly exit the building''' -> '''lightning'''

:[Red square, lightning strikes a tree. Cueball pushes on the lightning-struck tree.]
:''BOOM''
:*'''apply firm pressure''' -> '''lightning'''

:[Red square, a fire alarm is beeping. Cueball yells at the alarm, with his arms raised. Lines in front of him indicates he is backing up.]
:''BEEP BEEP BEEP''
:Cueball: ''HEY.''
:*'''stand up straight, speak firmly, and slowly back away ''' -> '''fire alarm'''

:[Red square, a fire alarm is beeping next to a building with flames on its roof. Cueball and Megan run toward the burning building.]
:''BEEP BEEP BEEP''
:*'''run toward a building or hard-topped vehicle''' -> '''fire alarm'''

:[Green square, a fire alarm is beeping next to a house with flames on its roof. Cueball and Megan are exiting the burning building.]
:''BEEP BEEP BEEP''
:*'''calmly exit the building''' -> '''fire alarm'''

:[Red square, a fire alarm is beeping, and Cueball is trying to "suppress" the beeping sound. Behind him are flames.]
:''BEEP BEEP BE-eep eep eep''
:*'''apply firm pressure''' -> '''fire alarm'''

:[Red square, Cueball is bleeding from his right arm, and holds it. Megan to his right yells at him with her arms raised. Lines in front of her indicates she is backing up.]
:Megan: ''HEY!''
:Megan: ''STOP IT!''
:*'''stand up straight, speak firmly, and slowly back away''' -> '''bleeding'''

:[Red square, Megan, holding a first aid kit in one hand and a bandage in the other, runs with a bleeding Cueball towards a building to their right.]
:*'''run toward a building or hard-topped vehicle''' -> '''bleeding'''

:[Red square, Megan holds a bandage, and to the ground in front of her is a first aid kit. Cueball is walking to the right of the panel, with an injured and bloody left arm raised.]
:Cueball: Bye!
:*'''calmly exit the building''' -> '''bleeding'''

:[Green square, Cueball sits in a chair and Megan is treating him by putting her hands on his injured limb. Behind her on the ground is a first aid kit.]
:*'''apply firm pressure''' -> '''bleeding'''

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Animals]]
[[Category:Weather]]