2012-11-06
Explanation
This comic presents a numbered list titled "Phases of Life" on a yellow note, listing 14 phases that each follow the pattern of a verb plus "everything": 1) Eat everything, 2) See everything, 3) Have everything, 4) Do everything, 5) F*** everything, 6) Love everything, 7) Fix everything, 8) Change everything, 9) Earn everything, 10) Keep everything, 11) Relive everything, 12) Remember everything, 13) Resolve everything, 14) Relax everything. The list traces a rough emotional and motivational arc from the raw appetites of youth through ambition, responsibility, nostalgia, and finally acceptance in old age.
Below the list, two elderly men sit at a bar. One holds the list and asks "At what age does six start?" and the other replies "No idea." The joke is that phase 6 -- "Love everything" -- is the aspirational turning point where a person moves from selfish desire to genuine love, and neither of these old men has ever reached it, despite having presumably passed through many of the other phases. It is a bittersweet punchline about how universal love remains elusive even after a lifetime of experience.
The votey panel continues the gag: one person asks "Would you like it to start?" and the other flatly replies "Nope" -- suggesting that even when offered the chance at that transformation, they prefer to stay stuck in their ways.