Editing 616: Lease

{{comic
| number    = 616
| date      = July 29, 2009
| title     = Lease
| image     = lease.png
| titletext = You should talk to the girl down the hall; I think you'd like her. Lemme know if you find out why she's ordering all those colored plastic balls.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Cueball]] is about to sign a lease to rent a building, but he's scared that he's not grown-up enough for the responsibility, presenting as evidence that he still plays with {{w|Lego}} building blocks.

It's common for children to assume, on some level, that adults are all capable, even infallible, and have all the knowledge they need to navigate the adult world. As a result, there's often a subconscious assumption that you'll reach a point where you feel like an adult, with all the attendant knowledge and maturity. The reality is that maturation is a process, knowledge is gained over time (and often through harsh experience), and the immaturities of youth never spontaneously vanish. Most people learn to behave in ways that adult society expects of them well before such behavior comes naturally, and for some people it never does. This is probably the source of Cueball's comment that he "stopped growing up" as a teenager and has been "faking it ever since". 

Of course, Cueball actually ''isn't'' responsible and capable, since he drifts off to think about the fictional character {{w|Batman}} (who appears in comic books, often considered children's material), in the middle of a serious financial transaction.

The title text references one of xkcd's most famous comics, [[150: Grownups]], where [[Megan]] decides to use the freedom of adulthood to fill her apartment with playpen balls. It is possible that this is a prequel to the events in that comic. After the events in this strip occur [[Cueball]] may have moved into the building where [[Megan]] lives, gets to know her and one day when he goes to see her, the events in that strip take place. From the title text we see the lesson can tell that Cueball would like Megan and from the events of Grownups we see that a romantic relationship of some sort did form.

==Transcript==
:[A man is holding a sheet of paper.]
:Man: Okay, any other concerns before you sign the lease?

:Cueball: I'm concerned that we're sitting here like I'm a responsible adult. I'm pretty sure I stopped growing up in my teens and have been faking ever since.

:Cueball: For god's sake, you're entrusting me with a ''building''. I still make LEGO buildings sometimes.

:Man: Sir, does any of this impact your fulfillment of the lease terms?
:Cueball: I don't know what you just said because I was thinking about Batman.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Playpen balls]]