For Zeke

We got to talking about The Far Side at work today because Henrik was admonishing his dog about something and I referenced the Far Side “What we say to dogs, What they hear” cartoon. Being from Denmark, he wasn’t all that familiar with Gary Larson. While searching for the image, I came across this one, which always makes me laugh. I thought I’d post it just to bug you Zeke.

The story for those of you who are not Zeke, is that in college, Zeke had a mug with this cartoon on it (still does, last I checked) that always bugged me (still does too). You see, I just don’t get the choice here. The guy should just choose the door on the right because it’s labeled “Dammed if you don’t.” In other words, you’re dammed if you don’t choose that door while you ARE dammed if you choose the other one. That’s what the doors say anyway. And the caption bears this out. The guy can’t be dammed if he makes a choice or doesn’t, as Zeke contends, because the devil is forcing him to choose.

Seems pretty simple to me.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 10th, 2008 at 4:16 pm and is filed under Just some ramblings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

5 Responses to “For Zeke”

1
Melissa
July 10th, 2008 19:12
I’m still a little bewildered and may have to look at it again (and again) but…
I think he should choose damned if you do.
then at least he gets to do whatever he was going to do in the first place, and deal with the damning later….while choosing damned if you don’t means he is damned AND has to deal with the fact that he didn’t do whatever it might have been he wanted to do!

but I also agree with Zeke. if the devil makes him do it. it doesn’t count.
2
cmonster
July 10th, 2008 20:13
What? No. Zeke doesn’t say if the devil makes him choose it doesn’t count. Zeke thinks that the point of the cartoon is that if the guy chooses either, he’s dammed. It’s a no-win situation.
But I say that if he chooses the door on the right, then he’s ok.
3
Zeke
July 11th, 2008 08:49
God I hate you people.

Listen to me – the “do” or “don’t” on the doors does NOT refer to the act of going through the doors. It’s just a literal manifestation of the axiom “damned if ya do, damned if ya don’t.” EITHER WAY you are damned. You’re both being way too literal. The funny part is that the guy is taking time to decide, as though it matters which one he goes through. Either way he’s in hell.

Maybe it helps to think about it this way: On the other side of the door on the left, you’re damned if ya do anything at all. On the other side of the door on the right, you’re damned if you don’t do anything at all. It’s impossible to pull off either of those for very long. Either way, you are damned. Get it?

And yes, I still have the mug, and it’s still first one out of the dishwasher. It’s like Jerry’s yellow T-shirt. It’s a little cracked and the paint is faded, but damn it goes out there and plays every day. And it’s still God damned funny.
4
cmonster
July 11th, 2008 09:26
WAIT a second. I was just writing a reply about how you are contradicting yourself (just to keep pissing you off cause it’s so dam fun), but I just looked at the cartoon again and saw something new: the font on the doors.
Dammed, on both doors, is the title of the door. They lead to the same place. The “if” phrase on each is just a qualifier.

At last, I see how the joke DOES work. I always just assumed the guy was already in hell. (look around him. Flames or no, the devil is there.) But obviously, he is about to go into hell and the devil is just giving him a choiceless choice about which door to take in.

HA! Funny.

I feel sort of like a chapter of my life has come to a close now that I can see how the joke actually does work and isn’t just a failed interpretation of a good idea.
5
Zeke
July 11th, 2008 09:28
Damn you. Or don’t. I don’t care.