Editing Talk:2416: Trash Compactor Party

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Who invited the dianoga? Oh, it's ok, it's gone now. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.177|141.101.104.177]] 01:20, 26 January 2021 (UTC)

If the characters aren't supposed to die, then could someone please change the incomplete explanation template? Former was supposed to be a reference to no longer socially distancing and no longer alive, but I don't have any other ideas.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.187.79|162.158.187.79]] 02:00, 26 January 2021 (UTC)

I read this very differently. I read this as randall needing a trash compactor to force him to stop distancing

I agree with the unsigned comment above, I read it as forcing the party guests to physically get together and break social distancing habits. Doing some quick and dirty measurements, (read: putting my fingers up to my screen and moving them around) showed that the walls wouldn't be able to physically crush them, just force them incredibly close together.--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.60|108.162.215.60]] 02:55, 26 January 2021 (UTC)

I measured with a ruler,  The pistons seem to have 2cm of movement each and the space between the walls is 7cm.  So, only about half the space will be closed off.  [[User:MAP|MAP]] ([[User talk:MAP|talk]]) 05:42, 26 January 2021 (UTC)

TV Tropes is referenced on Explain xkcd anew! [[Special:Contributions/172.69.35.85|172.69.35.85]] 06:37, 26 January 2021 (UTC)

It's quite similar to [[1187]], isn't it? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.203.25|162.158.203.25]] 17:24, 26 January 2021 (UTC)

: To a degree. Most of the similarity arises from the mechanisms on the sides.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.164|108.162.245.164]] 18:24, 26 January 2021 (UTC)

The first thing I thought of was Fermat's Room the 2007 film. [[User:Bwisey|Bwisey]] ([[User talk:Bwisey|talk]]) 19:01, 26 January 2021 (UTC)

Does the fourth paragraph (beginning "Though a significant proportion of the population seem to have returned to being oblivious to the pandemic...") contribute anything of value to the explanation? It seems to me like blatant editorializing. MeZimm [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.172|108.162.216.172]] 00:10, 27 January 2021 (UTC)
: Aside from the grammatical to-and-fro that happened (fun to watch), I think it helps set up the "will attend party, but still allergic to nearness" nature of the guests. c.f. that prior comic where the television drama was being compulsively assessed in the light of being contemporary yet had ''no masks or social distancing'', i.e. psychology and situation jar together. It has to be pointed out that these ''weren't'' 'Covidiots' more afraid of the rules than the virus, nor natural asocial agoraphobic hermits who'd never liked attending parties beforehand and wouldn't be there 'now' (with or without crusher-walls). I don't know if I could say that in fewer words than what are there, but it looks like I just did in many more... (Congrats to Randall, BTW, for expressing that sense of peoples' recoiling horror against the enforced nearness of others in a faceless ''stick figure'' pose. That's art, that is.) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.77.102|141.101.77.102]] 01:37, 27 January 2021 (UTC)

only one of the five attendees will need to duck for them to safely occupy the same 2d space, except for the furniture.  i wonder if ponytail is simply weighing up the possibility of an embarrasing situation.  still, the furniture bothers me and i would like to see how randall proposes they can resolve that without overcomplicating the picture (remember when there was a debate over ambiguous depth and lines when two were seated on a sideways sofa).  i like how megan is cursing the fourth wall. [[User:Ocæon|ocæon]] ([[User talk:Ocæon|talk]]) 14:55, 27 January 2021 (UTC)

The big rewrite to remove 'personal feelings' (?) could at least have made it a snappier explanation, not longer. And while it is a truth that ''this group'' remain reluctant to close up, even after 'it is all over', there are enough current examples of irresponsible behaviour that at least a few-word nod to these lot having obviously been/become used to being sensible/rule-following should have been made. But I don't feel like an edit-war on that matter, so fair enough. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.105.92|141.101.105.92]] 15:47, 27 January 2021 (UTC)