Explain SMBC — the wiki for Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal

bullying

2016-07-20 View on smbc-comics.com → 1 revision
bullying
Votey panel for bullying
This explanation is incomplete or may contain errors. It was generated by AI and has not yet been reviewed by a human editor.

Explanation

The Joke

A man knocks on someone'''s door and says he is not sure if the other person remembers him, but they went to high school together. He says he wanted to apologize for being a jerk -- he was going through a hard time, picking on others made him feel tough. The other man says "Oh well, that'''s okay, I figured you'''d changed."

The bully then reveals he has NOT changed at all. He explains he is on a 30-year "organized apology schedule" where he methodically asks forgiveness from everyone he has wronged -- not because he feels remorse, but because he has never learned a single lesson from his behavior and wants to continue acting consequence-free. He notes that when he asks for forgiveness, people are so surprised they comply, even though he is about to repeat the same behavior that created the need for the apology in the first place.

The victim, stunned by this remarkably honest confession, says: "You'''re remarkably well-spoken." The bully responds: "Gimme your wallet."

The Humor

The comic subverts the heartwarming trope of the reformed bully coming back to apologize. The setup leads the reader (and the victim) to expect a genuine redemption story, but instead the bully has simply weaponized the apology itself. He has turned contrition into a manipulative system, gaming people'''s willingness to forgive in order to continue bullying indefinitely. The final demand ("Gimme your wallet") perfectly punctuates the revelation by demonstrating the cycle in real time -- he is literally bullying the person he just apologized to.

The victim'''s response ("You'''re remarkably well-spoken") is also funny because it shows him processing the absurdity but only being able to comment on the delivery rather than the horrifying content.

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