Editing 3034: Features of Adulthood

{{comic
| number    = 3034
| date      = January 6, 2025
| title     = Features of Adulthood
| image     = features_of_adulthood_2x.png
| imagesize = 704x620px
| noexpand  = true
| titletext = I don't dig pit traps and cover them with sticks and a thin layer of leaves nearly as much as I expected; I find a chance to do it barely once a month.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete| Unexpectedly created by an adult BOT digging pit traps - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
 
This comic is a graph comparing  the (mostly) common ideas of adulthood from a young person's perspective with the sad reality of it. The features that are most expected but don't actually come up (quicksand, grappling hooks, crocodiles, and twins switching places) are common tropes in fiction. At the opposite end, some very mundane activities are common but we don't expect them to be important when we're young: deciding what to eat, dealing with weird noises and smells.

It is clear that many of the things that were imagined more likely than they turned out to be are ''direct'' references to fictional scenarios on film or TV, especially with a number of action movie tropes, throughout the 'lower-right triangle'. In contrast, the complimentary 'upper-left triangle' has situations that mostly (though not entirely!) seem to not be portrayed in many fictional depictions.

==Events==

{| class="wikitable"
! Event
! Expected frequency in adulthood
! Actual frequency in adulthood
! Notes
|-
| {{tvtropes|FormalFullArrayOfCutlery|Which fork you're supposed to use for what}}
| 0%
| 0%
| Different types of {{w|forks}} are used to eat different courses of a meal. Usually, cutlery is arranged in a way that makes it easier to understand which is needed. Learning which fork to use may be a lesson in an {{w|etiquette school}} class, but  dining has generally become less formal in Western society since the mid-20th century; as a result, most people are used to only using a single fork, or at most two, for their meals, hence the confusion when faced with multiple forks (although the perceived judgment from other diners is mostly hyperimagined).
|-
| {{tvtropes|CartoonBomb|Lit fuses}}
| 40%
| 0%
| Explosives with visible lit fuses are commonly seen in movies and TV shows. In reality, explosives are more likely to be remotely detonated or have an {{w|time bomb|unlit}} or concealed fuse (e.g. {{w|grenade}}s). Also, most people don't generally have to deal with explosives anyway.
|-
| {{tvtropes|PalatePropping|Shoving a stick}} in a {{w|crocodile}}'s mouth to wedge it open
| 80%
| 0%
| Placing a vertical stick in a crocodile’s mouth is a popular TV trope to prevent the crocodile from {{w|Crocodile attack|biting down}} (usually on the stick placer).
|-
| {{w|Quicksand}}
| 100%
| 0%
| Quicksand is {{tvtropes|QuicksandSucks|common in adventure fiction}}, but it's quite rare in real life, and an average person is highly unlikely to encounter quicksand in day to day life.
|- 
| {{w|Car chase}}s
| 35%
| 5%
| Car chases are frequently seen in movies and TV shows involving police, including real-life police shows, but unless you're a police officer or criminal trying to evade them, you'll probably never be involved in one. One actual car chase that attracted widespread attention was {{w|O.J.Simpson}}'s white Ford Bronco, which was shown on TV after he was identified as the prime suspect in his wife's murder.
|-
| {{w|Grappling hook}}s
| 100%
| 5%
| A grappling hook is a metal piece that is attached to a rope. If the person is going up a cliff, the “hook” would be thrown or shot at the top of the cliff and would either snag something, or more commonly, would wrap around something like a tree then hook onto itself, thus securing a way up the cliff.
|-
| People offering free drugs
| 30%
| 10%
| Typically refers to illicit drugs. The expectation is that a drug pusher will offer you free samples to get you addicted, then start charging high prices.
|-
| {{w|Parachute}}s
| 80%
| 10%
| A large piece of fabric that is tied to you in order to slow a {{w|Parachuting|very high fall}}.
|-
| {{w|Barrels}}
| 95%
| 10%
| Wooden or {{w|Drum (container)|metal}} storage implements, frequently used as concealment, improvised weapons and (sometimes explosive) obstacles in popular media.
|-
| {{w|Middle name}}s
| 15%
| 20%
| A second (or occasionally also third or more) {{w|given name}}, common in some traditions. Sometimes used specifically to honor someone (perhaps the same first name of a grandparent or loved one, occasionally such a person's surname). It can be used as further identification, if one has a common first and last name. In some families, the first name may be traditionally shared with the appropriate parent (and the grandparent, their parent) and reference by the middle name(s), alone, may be more useful to distinguish the person being addressed from within a family situation. In later life, a person may drop the use of middle names (or, conversely, adopt ''only'' them as the name they are known by) and the unwieldy complete set of names becomes less common. A common trope is that of the embarrassing middle name that the owner wants to keep hidden, while their acquaintances try various ruses to get them to reveal it. 
Authors and politicians may most obviously buck this trend, as they have to develop an identity far beyond their immediate personal and professional circles, and perhaps need to be more unambiguously individual and free of confusion from others of similar named as "Firstname Surname", but this might also just reflect that the practice of more formally complete names is a tradition that is being dropped from those of [[Randall]] (Patrick) Munroe's generation, leaving only the generations before (most represented, in the public eye, by elder statesmen and well-read writers) still using them in the way they always did.
|-
| {{w|Food fight}}s
| 50%
| 20%
| 
|-
| {{tvtropes|TwinSwitch|Twins switching places}}
| 90%
| 20%
| <!-- Wait, twins switching places is a thing in Randall´s life? --> Actual frequency of more than 0% might be a joke, or maybe due to having twins as friends, colleagues or relatives.
|-
| {{w|Flat tire}}s
| 10%
| 25%
| 
|-
| {{w|Briefcase}}s
| 70%
| 25%
| Frequently used to carry documents and other small office equipment. Often portrayed as {{tvtropes|BriefcaseFullOfMoney|a means to carry a large amount of cash}} or {{tvtropes|BriefcaseBlaster|conceal a firearm}}. The popularity of briefcases has been declining after the 1980s so it's possible that Randall observed grown-ups using briefcases when he was a kid and assumed he would too, only for them to go out of fashion. 
|-
| {{w|Martial arts}}
| 95%
| 25%
| 
|-
| {{w|Water damage}}
| 0%
| 25%
| 
|-
| {{w|Backpack}}s
| 
| 
| Backpacks of various sizes are a versatile means to carry items. They are almost as popular in real life as in fiction, though the contents may be somewhat different.
|-
| My {{w|Transcript (education)|academic record}}
| 95%
| 30%
| A child's life revolves around school: it's where they spend a large fraction of their waking hours, classmates make up most of their social circle, class schedules dictate when and how they spend their free time, and parental figures often punish/reward children based on their academic performance. The child may assume that school will continue to be an ever-present all-ecompassing feature of their future life, with their grades constituting a "permanent record" that will follow them into adulthood.
In reality, academic records aren't anywhere near that important. Some entry-level jobs may consider a candidate's past grades, but they're a tertiary concern after job interviews and professional references. By the time a person reaches their late 20s, academic records become irrelevant and are supplanted by the person's professional résumé.
|-
| {{w|Adhesive}}s
| 15%
| 50%
| Adhesives such as {{w|glue}}, {{w|adhesive tape|tape}} and {{w|epoxy resin}} are used to bond items together, typically for use in arts and crafts. They also have widespread industrial applications.
|-
| {{w|Board game}}s
| 
| 
| Board games of various kinds (such as {{w|chess}}, {{w|checkers}}/draughts, {{w|Monopoly (game)|Monopoly}}, {{w|Parcheesi}}/{{w|Ludo}}, {{w|Risk (game)|Risk}}, {{w|Snakes & Ladders}}, Clue/{{w|Cluedo}}, {{w|Trivial Pursuit}} or [https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/3149/lost-valley-of-the-dinosaurs Lost Valley of the Dinosaurs]) were often a staple for family home entertainment, in the past. Although they still may exist, possibly at the back of a cupboard, the ubiquitous nature of video games and other entertainments may have suppressed the opportunity for the adults and/or children to unbox them to while away the hours during a rainy afternoon or provide fireside entertainment for the family and its guests  between the evening meal and supper.
Ironically, many classic boardgames have often been converted to video games, either as faithful reproductions (that may even enable online play and remote participation) or just as a nostalgic/premade thematic flavor as applied to a largely solo screenbound distraction.
|-
| Tying {{w|knot}}s
| 
| 
| There are many knots to tie, each with distinct purposes. May also refer to "tying the knot", an expression for {{w|marriage}}.
|-
| {{w|Cable management}}
| 0%
| 50%
| Cable management is an annoying but often required task for most adults. Cable management is the act of tidying up the cables in and around a computer or other device.
|-
| {{w|Laser}}s
| 90%
| 50%
|Lasers are common in sci-fi and spy stories, but are much less commonly interacted with in real life. However, in real life, they are a very interesting technology and equipment, and something Randall is interested in, so he is likely to interact with lasers much more than the average person. For a time, many people interacted with lasers on a regular basis (albeit without necessarily being aware of it), as they are used to read data from optical media such as DVDs and Blu-ray. As these media have fallen out of favour, the amount of these interactions will have reduced.
|-
| Dangerous driving situations
| 
| 
| 
|-
| {{w|Pizza}}
| 
| 
| Often thought of as takeout or delivery food. A favorite of {{w|Spider-Man}} and the {{w|Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles}}.
|-
| {{w|Star Wars}}
|
|
|
|-
| Cool toys
|
| 
| 
|-
| {{w|Weather forecast}}s
| 
| 
| 
|-
| {{w|Batteries}}
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|Power tools}}
| 
| 
| 
|-
| {{w|Video game}}s
| 
| 
| Generally thought of as a childish pastime in earlier times, it has become increasingly normalised for adults to play video games.
|-
| Figuring out what to have for dinner
| 
| 
| For many children, dinner is something that just 'arrives', having been decided by the relevant responsible carer. They may therefore not appreciate the thought that needs to go into that decision. Additionally, the range of foodstuffs available to affluent people in Western societies has significantly increased since Randall's childhood, which may induce choice paralysis when confronted with them.
|-
| {{w|Heating, ventilation and air conditioning|HVAC}} issues
| 20%
| 80%
| HVAC is an acronym that stands for 'heating, ventilation and air conditioning.'  If one owns a home, problems with the heater or air conditioner can quickly make your home very uncomfortable (too cold in the winter or too hot in the summer) and becomes something you have to deal with right away.  Thus HVAC issues become a much more frequent part of an adult's life than a child may assume.
|-
| {{w|Cooking}}
| 
| 
|
|-
| Secret {{w|password}}s
| 
| 
| Traditionally, in fiction, secret passwords have been portrayed as used for purposes such as espionage and admission to secret clubs. Nowadays many people do use secret passwords on a daily basis, but for more mundane purposes such as accessing websites and voicemail.
|-
| Laundry
| 
| 
| 
|-
| {{w|Tax}}es
| 100%
| 85%
| One of two inevitable things in life, {{w|Death and taxes (idiom)|the other being death}}{{cn}}
|-
| Customer service
| 
| 
| 
|-
| Shopping
| 100%
| 90%
| 
|-
| Unexplained smells or noises
| 
| 100%
| 
|-
| Pocket radio communicators
| 
| 100%
| Examples include {{w|cell phone}}s, {{w|pager}}s and {{w|walkie-talkie}}s.
|-
| Bills
| 90%
| 100%
| Most households have to contend with electricity, water and telecommunication service bills.
|-
| Digging {{w|pit trap}}s (title text)
| 
| 
| Inside the Star Destroyer in [[1608: Hoverboard]] we see [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/f/fd/1608_1055x1090y_Trap_covered_with_leaves_and_flying_Ponytail_at_bottom_of_hull.png Cueball cover a pit trap with leaves], so this is something Randall actually thinks about sometimes!
|}

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

:[Shown is a scatter plot, with arrowed labels on the axes:]
:Y axis label: How often it comes up in my adult life
:X axis label: How often I expected it to come up in my adult life

:[First row of items (comes up very often, from least to most expected):]
:Unexplained smells or noises; customer service; pocket radio communicators; bills; shopping
:[Items row by row from the second row onwards:]
:Figuring out what to have for dinner; HVAC issues; secret passwords; laundry; cooking; taxes
:Weather forecasts; batteries; video games; power tools
:Cable management; dangerous driving situations; pizza; Star Wars; lasers; cool toys
:Adhesives; board games; tying knots
:Water damage; backpacks; my academic record
:Flat tires; briefcases; martial arts
:Middle names; people offering free drugs; food fights; parachutes; twins switching places; barrels
:[Last row (comes up very rarely, from least to most expected):]
:Which fork you're supposed to use for what; car chases; lit fuses; shoving a stick in a crocodile's mouth to wedge it open; grappling hooks; quicksand

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Scatter plots]]
[[Category:Food]]
[[Category:Weather]]
[[Category:Star Wars]]
[[Category:Video games]]
[[Category:Board games]]
[[Category:Animals]]