Difference between revisions of "3130: Predicament"
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TheErgster (talk | contribs) (Added input as I have use stilts before (its not as hard as it looks) |
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==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
| − | {{incomplete| | + | {{incomplete|Further input from someone who's actually ridden stilts welcomed. Don't remove this notice too soon.}} |
| − | + | This comic describes a person with stilts asking cueball to use his phone. Before he can say what he wants him to do with the phone, Cueball immediately knows that he wants to know how to get off stilts. | |
| − | + | For someone who has never worn stilts before, the method to get down from them safely is not obvious. We can't see the stilt user's feet or legs in the pictures, and the way to get off them will vary depending on whether they are the type of stilt that is braced by a strap around the lower leg or the type where the stilt pole extends upwards and is held in the hand. Based on [https://www.google.com/search?q=how+to+get+down+from+stilts Googling how to get down from stilts], it seems that one method for the latter is to use the steps that are built into the stilts themselves, commonly called 'pegs'. These act like a very wobbly ladder and allow you to climb up and down the stilts. Other methods include leaning against a wall, bracing the stilts at the bottom of the wall, and carefully stepping (or, as in the case with the image when there appear to be no pegs, sliding) down the stilts. Another technique is to climb onto (and off) the stilts from a platform at roughly the same height as the (top) stilt pegs, such as a balcony or deck. | |
| − | The title text explains that this person dropped their phone and tried to unlock it with the stilts, but ended up breaking their phone in the process. (Presumably, other unlocking options such as voice, fingerprint, or facial recognition were not enabled or infeasible under the circumstances.) When someone is on stilts, it is actually very hard to stand still because the point of the stilt does not provide the forward-backward length that we are used to our feet having. Beginners generally have a much easier time walking forward, because the momentum helps with balance, and risk falling over if they stop. Unlocking a phone with the stilt would require not only staying still near the phone long enough to do so, but doing so on a single stilt, while lifting the full weight of the other and making those precise motions with an awkward blunt tool that has both considerable {{w|mass}} and considerable {{w|moment of inertia}} on a tiny object a stilt-length away. It is no wonder that instead the person ended up putting too much weight on the stilt while it was above the phone, resulting in considerable force being distributed over a very small area of the phone's fragile screen. All things considered the attempt went much better than it could have, since the person did not fall over. | + | For someone who has worn stilts before, the method for getting down from stilts is simply finding a place to sit where your stilts can touch the floor. Then, all that is required to do is to take the stilts off and climb down. There are more complex methods that tend to vary based on the type of stilts used and how one is secured into them. |
| + | |||
| + | It is somewhat surprising that someone has sufficient mastery to walk and stand still on such high stilts, without also having learnt how to dismount from them, as practicing more than once requires getting off the stilts. One might also expect that someone in this situation might seek rather more direct assistance than looking things up on the internet. [[Randall]] may be lampooning the widespread tendency in today's world to automatically resort to Google for every query that crops up. | ||
| + | |||
| + | The title text explains that this person dropped their phone and tried to unlock it with the stilts, but ended up breaking their phone in the process. ([[530: I'm An Idiot|Presumably]], other unlocking options such as voice, fingerprint, or facial recognition were not enabled or infeasible under the circumstances.) When someone is on stilts, it is actually very hard to stand still because the point of the stilt does not provide the forward-backward length that we are used to our feet having. Beginners generally have a much easier time walking forward, because the momentum helps with balance, and risk falling over if they stop. Unlocking a phone with the stilt would require not only staying still near the phone long enough to do so, but doing so on a single stilt, while lifting the full weight of the other and making those precise motions with an awkward blunt tool that has both considerable {{w|mass}} and considerable {{w|moment of inertia}} on a tiny object a stilt-length away. It is no wonder that instead the person ended up putting too much weight on the stilt while it was above the phone, resulting in considerable force being distributed over a very small area of the phone's fragile screen. All things considered the attempt went much better than it could have, since the person did not fall over. | ||
It is also unlikely that a phone touchscreen could even be operated by a stilt. Most work through {{w|capacitive sensing}}, and are unlikely to work with the stilt-ends unless specifically equipped with a cap of material with electrical properties similar to those of human fingers. | It is also unlikely that a phone touchscreen could even be operated by a stilt. Most work through {{w|capacitive sensing}}, and are unlikely to work with the stilt-ends unless specifically equipped with a cap of material with electrical properties similar to those of human fingers. | ||
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==Transcript== | ==Transcript== | ||
| − | |||
:[On the left a long stick enters the panel from near the top left. There are "tap tap" sounds where the stick hits the ground. Cueball is on the right, looking left towards the stick.] | :[On the left a long stick enters the panel from near the top left. There are "tap tap" sounds where the stick hits the ground. Cueball is on the right, looking left towards the stick.] | ||
| + | :Tap Tap | ||
| − | :[There are now two long sticks closer to the middle of the panel. They cross near the top, and the stick makes | + | :[There are now two long sticks closer to the middle of the panel. They cross near the top, and the stick makes three taps near the bottom. Cueball is still looking at them and looking down.] |
| + | :Tap Tap Tap | ||
| − | :[The two sticks are almost parallel now, a little further apart at the ground. Cueball is still looking at them | + | :[The two sticks are almost parallel now, a little further apart at the ground. Cueball is still looking at them, but now not bending his head] |
:Voice from above: Do you have your phone? | :Voice from above: Do you have your phone? | ||
:Cueball: Yeah. | :Cueball: Yeah. | ||
Latest revision as of 14:52, 13 November 2025
| Predicament |
 Title text: I dropped my phone while trying to search, and I tried to unlock it from up here, so can you also search for screen repair places? |
Explanation[edit]
|
This is one of 52 incomplete explanations: Further input from someone who's actually ridden stilts welcomed. Don't remove this notice too soon. If you can fix this issue, edit the page! |
This comic describes a person with stilts asking cueball to use his phone. Before he can say what he wants him to do with the phone, Cueball immediately knows that he wants to know how to get off stilts.
For someone who has never worn stilts before, the method to get down from them safely is not obvious. We can't see the stilt user's feet or legs in the pictures, and the way to get off them will vary depending on whether they are the type of stilt that is braced by a strap around the lower leg or the type where the stilt pole extends upwards and is held in the hand. Based on Googling how to get down from stilts, it seems that one method for the latter is to use the steps that are built into the stilts themselves, commonly called 'pegs'. These act like a very wobbly ladder and allow you to climb up and down the stilts. Other methods include leaning against a wall, bracing the stilts at the bottom of the wall, and carefully stepping (or, as in the case with the image when there appear to be no pegs, sliding) down the stilts. Another technique is to climb onto (and off) the stilts from a platform at roughly the same height as the (top) stilt pegs, such as a balcony or deck.
For someone who has worn stilts before, the method for getting down from stilts is simply finding a place to sit where your stilts can touch the floor. Then, all that is required to do is to take the stilts off and climb down. There are more complex methods that tend to vary based on the type of stilts used and how one is secured into them.
It is somewhat surprising that someone has sufficient mastery to walk and stand still on such high stilts, without also having learnt how to dismount from them, as practicing more than once requires getting off the stilts. One might also expect that someone in this situation might seek rather more direct assistance than looking things up on the internet. Randall may be lampooning the widespread tendency in today's world to automatically resort to Google for every query that crops up.
The title text explains that this person dropped their phone and tried to unlock it with the stilts, but ended up breaking their phone in the process. (Presumably, other unlocking options such as voice, fingerprint, or facial recognition were not enabled or infeasible under the circumstances.) When someone is on stilts, it is actually very hard to stand still because the point of the stilt does not provide the forward-backward length that we are used to our feet having. Beginners generally have a much easier time walking forward, because the momentum helps with balance, and risk falling over if they stop. Unlocking a phone with the stilt would require not only staying still near the phone long enough to do so, but doing so on a single stilt, while lifting the full weight of the other and making those precise motions with an awkward blunt tool that has both considerable mass and considerable moment of inertia on a tiny object a stilt-length away. It is no wonder that instead the person ended up putting too much weight on the stilt while it was above the phone, resulting in considerable force being distributed over a very small area of the phone's fragile screen. All things considered the attempt went much better than it could have, since the person did not fall over.
It is also unlikely that a phone touchscreen could even be operated by a stilt. Most work through capacitive sensing, and are unlikely to work with the stilt-ends unless specifically equipped with a cap of material with electrical properties similar to those of human fingers.
Stilts have been used in other comics, such as 482: Height, 1608: Hoverboard, 1663: Garden, 2603: Childhood Toys, 2669: Things You Should Not Do, and 2765: Escape Speed.
Transcript[edit]
- [On the left a long stick enters the panel from near the top left. There are "tap tap" sounds where the stick hits the ground. Cueball is on the right, looking left towards the stick.]
- Tap Tap
- [There are now two long sticks closer to the middle of the panel. They cross near the top, and the stick makes three taps near the bottom. Cueball is still looking at them and looking down.]
- Tap Tap Tap
- [The two sticks are almost parallel now, a little further apart at the ground. Cueball is still looking at them, but now not bending his head]
- Voice from above: Do you have your phone?
- Cueball: Yeah.
- [The two sticks are parallel. Cueball is holding a cellphone in his right hand.]
- Voice from above: Can you Google --
- Cueball: -- how to get down from stilts?
- Voice from above: Yes please.
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Those are some pretty dang tall stilts ... oh yeah, and F1RST P0ST! RadiantRainwing (talk) 20:59, 18 August 2025 (UTC)
There's a not entirely tenuous link with 1660: Captain Speaking, methinks... 92.23.2.228 21:31, 18 August 2025 (UTC)
Is unlocking the phone with stilts even possible? Aren't phone touchscreens based on electrical conductivity? What are these stilts made of? 160.39.41.182 21:33, 18 August 2025 (UTC)
- Ah, I just added a paragraph about that! Great minds think alike/fools never differ...
- Probably capacitative (which is what I linked), and indeed I was thinking that wooden/other-structural-material wouldn't get any response unless you put a pad of special material (such as seen on the tips of "iPhone gloves") that emulates the electrical qualities of bare skin. Which is probably not what you usually get, there, even if they're given "little rubber boots/soles" for grip purposes. 92.23.2.228 21:44, 18 August 2025 (UTC)
So... is there a special procedure for getting off stilts? If so, it should be mentioned in the explanation. 2A01:36D:104:47E3:7D15:7369:B5C7:C18D 22:56, 18 August 2025 (UTC)
- Gravity being what it is, I always found it easier to get down than to stay up. 98.5.115.49 (talk) 23:39, 18 August 2025 (UTC) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)
- You don’t get down from stilts, you get down from an elephant! 2607:FB90:8B0C:94F1:95A5:B4D0:D3A3:4420 06:54, 19 August 2025 (UTC)
- I'm sure you could get down from stilts if you really wanted to. 82.13.184.33 09:48, 19 August 2025 (UTC)
- Heh. Nice! ("You don't get down from an elephant, you get down from a duck.") BunsenH (talk) 14:34, 19 August 2025 (UTC)
Why did he make this comic? Is he running out of ideas? Caliban (talk) 15:23, 19 August 2025 (UTC)
- Because it was an idea that amused him? Why did he make any of the previous 3129? 82.13.184.33 16:10, 19 August 2025 (UTC)
- Obviously because he is currently stuck on stilts and hopes to be able to check this website for ideas on how to get off of them. Tharkon (talk) 18:02, 19 August 2025 (UTC)
- I hope he can read us, from all the way up there! 92.23.2.228 19:50, 19 August 2025 (UTC)
- I rather like this comic. It led me into a deep dive with Copilot about how stilt walkers stay safe. Next time I see a parade with stilts, I'm going to watch for the spotters on the ground. Gbisaga (talk) 19:48, 19 August 2025 (UTC)
I've never been on stilts and will happily defer to people with firsthand experience. But from my time hanging around in circus schools, I saw people put on stilts while sitting on a ladder or other convenient tall platform. They get down by reversing the process. Stilt walkers travelling to events usually bring their own ladder, and often another person to act as a spotter while they're up there. 66.162.136.21 21:10, 20 August 2025 (UTC)
A "retired professional stiltwalker" has spoken up in the Reddit thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/xkcd/comments/1mtyz9v/xkcd_3130_predicament/n9hvjtp/ Dogman15 (talk) 09:35, 21 August 2025 (UTC)
- How do add that in the wiki Mathmaster (talk) 19:19, 1 September 2025
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