Editing 1419: On the Phone

{{comic
| number    = 1419
| date      = September 10, 2014
| title     = On the Phone
| image     = on_the_phone.png
| titletext = 'No idea what I was thinking! Haha! But anyway, maybe we should check out what this Ba'al guy has to say.'
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|No explanation yet, just a description}}
Megan is wandering around the house, and discovers things which have been left in strange places, or arranged in piles.
On questioning an out-of-panel person (presumably [[Cueball]]), he responds that he tends to pick things up and fiddle with them while on the phone. 

Fiddling with objects, doodling on the nearest surface, or otherwise getting distracted are fairly common habits which many people can probably relate to.

The final panel takes this to the extreme, where an obelisk inscribed with worrying prayers to 'Ba'al, The Soul-Eater' has been erected in the garden. 
Ba'al the Soul-Eater is also in the title-text of [[1246: Pale Blue Dot]]. Ba'al may refer to a range of supernatural beings, starting with {{w|Baal#Baal-zebub|Ba'al Zebub}} that gave rise to Beelzebub (one of the {{w|Classification_of_demons#Binsfeld.27s_classification_of_demons|seven princes of hell}}).  This could be interpreted as a reference to the phrase "idle hands are the devil's playground".  Alternatively, the out-of-panel character could actually be a supporter of Ba'al (either consciously or unconsciously).  This latter interpretation is supported by the title text "But anyway, maybe we should check out what this Ba'al guy has to say", as he may be trying to get Megan to think more about Ba'al's teachings while passing it off as a joke/casual remark.

==Transcript==
[Megan is pointing to the left off-panel and looking to the right off-panel.]
: Megan: Why is there a teapot in the bathroom?
: Off-panel voice (right): Sorry. When I'm on the phone I always zone out and pick stuff up and carry it around.
[Megan is in front of an open fridge, holding a hammer.]
: Megan: There's a hammer in the fridge.
: Off-panel voice: Another phone call. I was just fidgeting.
[Megan is walking next to four stacks of household objects: the first has a lightbulb on top of a book, the second has a blender on top of three books, the third has five books (two balanced vertically) with a smaller rectangular object on top, and the fourth has two tennis balls on top of three books]
: Megan: Did you put all our stuff in weird stacks?
: Off-panel voice: Long call. Sorry.
[Megan, outside, looks up at a towering straight-sided object]
: Megan: ...Why is there a giant obelisk in the backyard?
: Off-panel voice: Phone again. My bad.
: Megan: It's carved with prayers to "Ba'al, the Soul-Eater."
: Off-panel voice: Haha! I'm so absentminded.

==Trivia==
This comic is similar to [[1765: Baby Post]], But there the daughter probably wasn't a cover story.
{{comic discussion}}