2011-06-20
Explanation
This two-panel comic offers a darkly funny origin story. In the first panel, a couple lies in bed looking disgruntled. The woman thinks, "I hate having periods," while the man thinks, "I hate wearing condoms." Both are silently stewing in their respective frustrations with reproductive biology and contraception.
In the second panel, the same couple -- now older and fully dressed -- sits with a young child between them. The woman cheerfully tells the child, "And nine months later, you were born!" The implication is clear: their mutual annoyances led them to skip their respective precautions one fateful night, and the child is the direct consequence. The humor comes from the gap between the sanitized, cheerful "how you were born" story parents typically tell and the decidedly unromantic reality -- their child exists not because of passion or planning, but because both parents were too fed up with contraception to bother.
The votey completes the joke economically. The woman begins to say "We should--" and the man immediately cuts her off with "Nope." This suggests the couple has learned their lesson and the man is now unwilling to entertain any scenario that might lead to another unplanned pregnancy, shutting down even the beginning of a suggestion. The comic is a relatable bit of humor about the unglamorous realities of reproductive decision-making.