XKCD Web Comic #1067: Pressures (described)

A web comic of romance,
sarcasm, math, and language.

Scene: Drawing of a stick figure with shoulder-length dark hair, sitting at a desk with a computer monitor and a pile of papers and holding a paper in each hand. A stick figure with a blonde ponytail is standing behind and looking over the first stick figure’s shoulder.

Pony-tailed Figure: So…what’ve you been up to?

Dark Haired Figure: Handling patent applications.

Pony-tailed Figure: Yeah, but…besides that.

Dark Haired Figure: That’s about it.

Pony-tailed Figure: You’re not, like, thinking abut any cool stuff? — Just curious.

Caption

For the last hundred yeas, Swiss patent clerks have been under some weird pressures.

Hover text: Everyone’s caught by surprise when a theory of quantum gravity is developed by a sound technician wearing patent leather shoes while editing Clerks II.

Warning: This comic occasionally contains strong language (which may be unsuitable for children), unusual humor (which may be unsuitable for adults), and advanced mathematics (which may be unsuitable for liberal-arts majors).