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November 14, 2007

Skid

Filed under: Bill Bickel, cars, CIDU, comic strips, comics, Frazz, humor, manual transmission — Cidu Bill @ 12:02 am

skid.gif

12 Comments »

  1. I can only assume Mrs. Olsen worked herself into a hair-curling tizzy working with unfamiliar car controls, and the skid marks are from her shifting awkwardly and bringing her car to a sudden halt.

    Or maybe she’s just peeling donuts in the parking lot because it’s a loaner?

    Comment by Freezer — November 13, 2007 @ 11:34 pm

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  2. Additional adding against whiplash.

    Comment by [jec] — November 13, 2007 @ 11:43 pm

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  3. Naw, I think the gag is that this crusty old lady is actually a speed-demon at heart, a fact that eluded the kids until her inner demon was unleashed by a manual transmission loaner that she can drive with impunity. Her bun is on the back of her head b/c of how fast she takes off from 1st gear (hence the skid marks).

    Comment by LD — November 13, 2007 @ 11:55 pm

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  4. She normally wears the bun on top of her head.

    http://www.comics.com/comics/frazz/archive/frazz-20071110.html

    http://www.comics.com/comics/frazz/archive/frazz-20071113.html

    http://www.comics.com/comics/frazz/archive/frazz-20071102.html

    So #3 is the explanation that makes the most sense to me.

    Comment by Cedar — November 14, 2007 @ 12:13 am

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  5. Ha, I think jec’s got it… if the bun’s in the back, then all the jerking back and forth because she isn’t skilled with the manual transmission won’t be quite so bad on her neck – just a little extra padding there to help out. I always feel a little sorry for Mrs. Olson.. mean ol’ kids 🙂

    Comment by dd — November 14, 2007 @ 12:14 am

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  6. I took it to mean that being unfamiliar with operating a manual transmission resulted in sudden acceleration and braking in the parking lot as she got used to the car. The resulting violent herky-jerky motion slid her bun to the back of her head, not unlike how an item on the dashboard would fly back after a sudden stop.

    Comment by Blinky the Wonder Wombat — November 14, 2007 @ 6:59 am

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  7. I also thought it was the speed-demon explanation, but the herky-jerky explanation also fits.

    Comment by Powers — November 14, 2007 @ 7:17 am

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  8. I’m for the herky-jerky explanation. I don’t see how a manual would let you go that much faster in the parking lot.

    Comment by Scott — November 14, 2007 @ 12:12 pm

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  9. It’s not that a manual trans. lets you go faster (though that’s debatable). It’s that the excitement of changing gears and really connecting with the engine makes one inclined to drive faster and more aggressively than usual.

    The herky-jerky explanation is still a good one (especially the bit about her bun being padding for her head!), but I think the last kid’s enthusiasm about the skid marks implies that the marks were made in a really cool way–i.e. by driving like a speed demon–not by someone who simply didn’t know what they were doing. It’s just funnier to think of this old lady as a secret speedster than as a bad driver.

    Tough call, really.

    Comment by LD — November 14, 2007 @ 2:53 pm

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  10. Well, I thought that I had it well sussed out till I read everybody else’s comments. I immediately thought that she’d gotten a little car that didn’t have a lot of head room and that the skid marks were from her trying to figure out the coordination needed to drive it.

    Comment by Lola — November 14, 2007 @ 4:44 pm

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  11. lol

    Comment by ASE — November 14, 2007 @ 6:00 pm

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  12. I didn’t fully understood until I reached comment 4.

    Comment by ASE — November 14, 2007 @ 6:04 pm

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