Difference between revisions of "2714: Cold Complaints"

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| number    = 2714
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| date      = December 21, 2022
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| title    = Cold Complaints
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| image    = cold_complaints.png
 
| imagesize = 740x254px
 
| noexpand  = true
 
| titletext = Our investigation into whining-based remedies became the first study to be halted by the IRB on the grounds that the treatment group was 'too annoying.'
 
}}
 
 
 
==Explanation==
 
{{incomplete|Created by a GIGANTIC WHINING BABY - Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
 
 
 
When people are ill, they will often complain about the symptoms that they're suffering from. A common sterotype is that men will revert to infantile behavior when miserably sick. This can be annoying to the people around them, but they typically tolerate such behavior out of compassion. The joke in this comic is that [[Hairy]] spoke via a {{w|telemedicine}} appointment to [[Ponytail]], a medical professional who explicitly advised him to act out, since his condition has no effective medical treatment. He takes her advice to, "act like you're the first person ever to have a cold," literally, stating it specifically when his companion asks about it.
 
 
 
This comic was published during a "tripledemic" in the U.S., involving {{w|COVID-19}}, {{w|influenza}}, and {{w|respiratory syncytial virus}} (RSV, a frequent cause of common colds) infections, the latter of which have no cure other than to wait them out with plenty of rest and fluids. It expounds on the finding that, "talking about troublesome events, including events with which one is dissatisfied, may ... result in improved physiological health." (Kowalski, R.M. (2002) [http://people.uncw.edu/hakanr/documents/whining.pdf "Whining, griping, and complaining: positivity in the negativity"] ''Journal of Clinical Psychology'' '''58'''(9):1023-35.)
 
 
 
The title text describes a similar study, but where the {{w|institutional review board}} (IRB) halted the study because the participants were too annoying. This is ironic since they would be expected to whine annoyingly. IRBs are expected to review the ethics of a research project. Whining is not usually considered dangerous,{{citation needed}} but in this case it was presumably so intolerable that they had to put a stop to it.
 
 
 
==Transcript==
 
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
 
 
 
:[Hairy sitting on a chair in front of a computer screen. There is an image of Ponytail on the screen speaking.]
 
:Ponytail: Well, it's not COVID or flu. Probably one of the other viruses.
 
:Hairy: Ughh
 
 
 
:[A zoomed out version of the image, Ponytail cannot be seen]
 
:Ponytail: There's not much you can do to speed up recovery other than rest, hydrate, and whine and complain and be a gigantic baby about it.
 
 
 
:[Same as previous panel]
 
:Hairy: Whine and complain?
 
:Ponytail: Yeah. You need to act like you're the first person ever to have a cold.
 
 
 
:[Hairy lying on a couch wrapped in a blanket, with a lot of paper tissues around]
 
:Off-screen voice: Are you '''''sure''''' that's what she said?
 
:Hairy: Unbelievable. Here I am, the only person ever to feel bad, and you're '''''doubting''''' me? 
 
 
 
{{comic discussion}}
 
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
 
[[Category:Doctor Ponytail]]
 
[[Category:Medicine]]
 
[[Category:COVID-19]]
 

Revision as of 07:12, 22 December 2022

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