2010-09-01
Explanation
This comic follows a man's internal monologue as he stands at a bathroom sink after using the restroom. He pauses and thinks: "Wait... If I touch the sink handle, I get whatever germs the last guy had. If I don't touch it, the only thing I touch during the entire bathroom experience is my penis." He then reasons further: "My penis is washed every day, then placed in a sterile cotton container. It's... it's the cleanest part of my body." This leads him to the seemingly logical but socially disastrous conclusion: "My God... the most sanitary thing to do is NOT to wash my hands."
Seized with the fervor of discovery, he declares: "I have to tell everyone. But... where do I start?" The final panel, labeled "Soon...", shows him emerging from the men's room and enthusiastically announcing to horrified bystanders: "Everyone look! I only touched my penis!" The comedy comes from the collision between his internally consistent (but deeply flawed) logic and the social reality of shouting about your genitals in public. While there is a kernel of truth to the observation about bathroom sink handles carrying germs, the conclusion spectacularly ignores the broader context of hygiene -- and more importantly, no amount of logical reasoning will make that announcement socially acceptable.
The votey panel provides the perfect rebuttal. As the man begins to explain his reasoning with "So you see-" a woman cuts him off with "Wash your goddamn hands!" This serves as the voice of common sense and social norms crushing his pseudo-logical argument, and it is the reaction any reasonable person would have to someone trying to justify not washing their hands after using the restroom.