1715: Household Tips

Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb.
Revision as of 21:34, 3 August 2016 by Kynde (talk | contribs) (Explanation: removing air fresher a there is no cleanup after using one of these. Putting an empty one in the waste bin is not cleanup.)
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Household Tips
To make your shoes feel more comfortable, smell better, and last longer, try taking them off before you shower.
Title text: To make your shoes feel more comfortable, smell better, and last longer, try taking them off before you shower.

Explanation

This comic shows Cueball explaining many things one should already know and are likely already doing without needing to be told. This is a continuation of 1567: Kitchen Tips.

Below is a table:

To conserve water try turning off your shower before leaving home: Implies that the shower would "normally" be on at all times, which would be very wasteful, since any excess water (or if the bath tub plug is not in place or in a shower stall, all water) would be drained away. The what if? article "Faucet Power" illustrates similar wasteful and destructive water use. This may be a reference to the common recommendation that people should unplug appliances when they are not in use.

Sick of changing those smoke detector batteries? Eliminate any fires in your home and the batteries can last for months or years!: A smoke detector on standby consumes much less power than one constantly ringing, since standing by only requires that a detection circuit (which draws little current) be on and an LED flashes a few times a minute (which also consumes very little power), while a buzzer used to sound the alarm uses much energy by comparison. Of course, keeping one's house fire-free at (mostly) all times is usually done because of other benefits than just saving on batteries, such as preventing fire damage to valuable property, infrastructure, and human bodies.

Tired of clogged toilets? Try leaving the lid on the upper chamber and use only the lower bowl!: The "upper chamber", the toilet's cistern, delivers plain water to the lower bowl at speed to flush the latter. As such, the pipes that direct the water down are not wide enough for waste to pass. There is typically a lid on the upper cistern because it isn't intended to be used, but access is occasionally needed to fix or replace the flushing mechanisms. The lower bowl, as one should be familiar with, is the one intended to receive solid waste or defecation and is connected to the plumbing by pipes wide enough for this purpose. The comic seems to imply that some people defecate both on the "upper chamber" and the lower bowl and recommends to only do it in the lower bowl.

Fresh air doesn't have to be expensive. Many windows can be slid up to create a temporary hole without the usual cost and cleanup!: This suggests that the people he appeals to typically smash a window to get fresh air, hence the clean up and expensive replacement of the window once enough fresh air has been obtained.

The title text: To make your shoes feel more comfortable, smell better, and last longer, try taking them off before you shower.: This talks about shoes lasting longer and being more comfortable when they are not worn into a shower. People typically remove all their clothing, including and/or especially shoes (except perhaps for some lightweight sandals to protect the feet in public showers), when showering, so while it is certainly true that removing ones shoes before showering will allow them to last longer and stink less (since getting them wet without methods of getting them fully dry would produce malodorous molds), this is not in any way a novel idea.

Transcript

[Cueball is standing outside a shower, reaching in and turning the taps]
Cueball: Hi everyone! I'm back with more household tips. To conserve water, try turning off your shower before you leave home.
[Cueball is pouring water on several small fires while a smoke detector goes off in the background.]
Smoke detector: BEEP BEEP BEEP
Cueball: Sick of changing those smoke detector batteries? Eliminate any fires in your home and the batteries can last for months or years!
[A picture of a toilet. There is an X with an arrow pointing towards the upper chamber and a checkmark with an arrow pointing towards the toilet bowl.]
Cueball (offscreen): Tired of clogged toilets? Try leaving the lid on the upper chamber and use only the lower bowl!
[Cueball standing next to an open window.]
Fresh air doesn't have to be expensive. Many windows can be slid up to create a temporary hole without the usual cost and cleanup!


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Discussion

I think this references infomercials with a tendency to show people completely inept at doing extremely simple and common things, then offers a slightly more convenient product as if it were the solution to the ineptitude.The problem-solution pattern matches the tone of those. 108.162.217.125 14:41, 3 August 2016 (UTC)

It is possible there is a bit of meta humor going on in regards to this comic (and its predecessor). As the comic is literally explaining in xkcd, it may be a subtle jab at explainxkcd.com, putting those on explainxkcd.com in the amusing and awkward situation of trying to explain in detail about a detailed explanation of something that doesn't needs explaining. 108.162.246.112 23:37, 3 August 2016 (UTC)

Doubt it. We tend to explain pop culture references (which not every country will understand) or math formulas, not bleeding obvious common sense.162.158.255.106 20:15, 5 August 2016 (UTC)
Please see the explanation for this comic.--162.158.92.207 11:22, 8 August 2016 (UTC)
I may have started this "explaining the obvious" thing. I figured that since the explanations on this site sometimes further the jokes in the comics by self-demonstration or invocation, explaning "seriously" the points in the comic would have humorous effect.--Troy0 (talk) 00:05, 9 August 2016 (UTC)

Wait, there's more! Even the windows that do not slide up are not always a lost cause - the hook normally used for hanging the hammer you use to let the fresh air in actually turns, allowing the window to be opened or tilted! (Seriously, I think I've never even seen a sliding window in real life - I guess it's only popular in a few countries, including US) --162.158.86.119 12:12, 4 August 2016 (UTC)

I figured the shower thing is a reference to how you should turn off your faucet while brushing your teeth, or the more recent advice to turn it off while lathering your hair/body. 173.245.54.80 14:02, 4 August 2016 (UTC)

I find this one amusing as it is the rare XKCD that is both genuinely funny, AND doesn't need an explanation. Not saying he has many which are not funny, but generally you need some knowledge to find an XKCD funny, and the funniest ones generally require explanation even if you don't need to understand it to find it funny. 108.162.221.84 18:50, 4 August 2016 (UTC) Sam

I actually thought this was a knock at the plethora of YouTube videos and blogs/articles that claim to be "life hacks" but are often just really obvious things (probably because there are so many videos that they're running out of unique content). 108.162.240.24 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

I think the last one in the comics is actually refering to people who only turn on their air-conditionor without ever opening their windows to let fresh air in. --108.162.222.155 07:04, 5 October 2016 (UTC)

opening the windows could also be a reference to the movie the lorax in which people needed to buy bottled air