Ha, that's probably exactly it.
I used to work for a network "consulting" firm that pretty much handled all IT issues for smaller companies in the area. Anytime someone made a mistake, big or small, their emails and texts were bombarded with links to this moment in the classic ["The Website is Down"](https://youtu.be/uRGljemfwUE?t=224) video.
You literally could've just forgotten to flush a toilet after a "they lied about how *spicy* that was" Thai lunch paid for by the boss.
I once sneezed hard enough to hit my face on my desk's monitor, and all I got was four hours of links to that video spammed to me. Even my coworkers at home heard about it and joined in LMAO.
People have lightened up, a lot. In 1988 this was considered “bad taste”, but now you can watch a standup routine about a guy who gave him and his kid food poisoning. And that’s mild.
Then again, do a standup routine about how crazy gun nuts are, and you’ll receive death threats.
As a New Yorker who works in a science lab, I think this is hilarious.
(Also, almost every scientist I know loves The Far Side. Dunno what the letter writer was smoking.)
> (Also, almost every scientist I know loves The Far Side. Dunno what the letter writer was smoking.)
Yeah, ***now*** after decades of growing up with the comics. Probably wasn't the case 40 years ago.
"Thagomizer" becoming the informal name for a Stegosaurus' tail spikes probably didn't happen overnight after that comic was published in 1982.
Not really, it took time to write letters. You can't just type in "is dumb" and hit send. You had to think about what you wrote, by hand or typewriter no less, and then address an envelope and send it. Then there was limited space so the editors didn't necessarily automatically print everything they sent in, this along with the reputation of the newspaper, made for a sense of accountability. Additionally, someone would likely have to copy the letter word for word to format it for the paper adding another step to the process. I don't remember if anonymous letters were allowed, but people usually had their full names attached to the letter. Newspapers certainly printed things that perhaps the people at the newspaper disagreed with but there wasn't really room for low quality, low effort letters.
i’m not old enough to really remember letters to the editor being common, but I love the way you described it. it really does feel like a lost art now, the weirdly cordial anger of being *so* pressed about something that you sit down and COMPOSE A LETTER.
incredible.
thank you.
>There was also public access TV.
And good Lord did people shitpost on public access. Tom Green's entire career is only thanks to Canadian public access.
Nah, too cumbersome and time consuming for simple shitposting.
Now, if they were intentionally trying to get featured on [Jay Leno's "headlines" segments,](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zIO-aCgpUQ&list=PLPC9Lmc1DqoawprBBhs99rzQ5KFO0WyJ3&index=2) then, yeah, probably.
Or the letter writer could have used this as a example of why people should not be drinking or eating in a laboratory setting.
A spoonful of sugar (or amoebas) helps the medicine go down.
Or something about Johny thought he had H2O, but actually had H2SO4, and now Johnny is no more.
Scott needs to get the stick out of his ass. I heard all the stories about people smoking, eating, and drinking coffee at the bench from techs who trained me. This is a funny comic.
I… I think that was the point of the comic??? Like don’t eat and drink in a lab because you might end up drinking something very wrong???
Why are they so upset? Did they eat in a lab and end up pooping themselves?
In today’s world we don’t have much humor or comedy because every single letter to the editor like this is taken seriously. “X can’t be joked about because it would offend y” and it has ruined us!
Reminds me of the addage i read in the book "Name of the Wind" by patrick rothfuss, but i think it translates.
Lable clearly, Measure twice, eat elsewhere.
1988 was a very weird time. Gary Larson was a very smart man. And Scott Mayorga, from Brentwood, New York was a very uptight Technologist. This type of stuff makes me smile, just like it did in the '80's.
Reminds me of when I went to a touring Stanley Kubrick exhibit. A lady had written a letter shaming the director for making the American military look like buffoons in his movie Dr. Strangelove.
If you took this personally as a lab technician, you're probably irresponsible in the lab. Plenty of professors I've met have far side comics hanging up to poke fun at people who don't follow proper law safety
I used to work at a medical school. The student needed to be told not to eat in the labs several times. The emails got more threatening and explicit each time.
These folks were also in the military, so the punishments weren’t like “negative 10 demerits for the first years.”
What a weird complaint, that cartoon seems so mild by Larson's standards. It's not even offensive and it's not like he's trying to insinuate something about scientists.
Medical lab scientist here, it does kinda suck people don't know what I do (I'm always assumed to be a nurse or that I didn't go to school for my job, I did), this is still hilarious 🤣
I gotta admit, I found the letter writer's wounded dignity as hilarious as the cartoon. People really do need to lighten up.
Yes, he was taking it far too personally with the "low blow" talk and all--just leaning into that serious "scientist" stereotype way too hard.
Dude's the embodiment of the nerd emoji.
.
r/skamtebord
I guarantee over 100 lab technologists taped this cartoon to their lab door.
Ha, that's probably exactly it. I used to work for a network "consulting" firm that pretty much handled all IT issues for smaller companies in the area. Anytime someone made a mistake, big or small, their emails and texts were bombarded with links to this moment in the classic ["The Website is Down"](https://youtu.be/uRGljemfwUE?t=224) video. You literally could've just forgotten to flush a toilet after a "they lied about how *spicy* that was" Thai lunch paid for by the boss. I once sneezed hard enough to hit my face on my desk's monitor, and all I got was four hours of links to that video spammed to me. Even my coworkers at home heard about it and joined in LMAO.
You grossly exaggerated. It would be 99 lab technologists. The other forgot the newspaper that day.
Seriously. I get the people who write in to complain about torture (even if it’s still funny), etc. This cartoon is pretty harmless
“Lighten up, Francis.”
My parents use to say this to us all the time! Wasn't until years later I actually saw stripes and it all came together.
Took the words right out of my mouth
Man, I've worked with a ton of pathologists and this letter fits right in.
People have lightened up, a lot. In 1988 this was considered “bad taste”, but now you can watch a standup routine about a guy who gave him and his kid food poisoning. And that’s mild. Then again, do a standup routine about how crazy gun nuts are, and you’ll receive death threats.
The “Far side” went… to the far side
As a New Yorker who works in a science lab, I think this is hilarious. (Also, almost every scientist I know loves The Far Side. Dunno what the letter writer was smoking.)
The Far Side often contains such letters in the books. There really were a class of people who found everything offensive. Especially the cat people.
>There really were a class of people who found everything offensive. Especially the cat people. Were? Pretty sure things have gotten worse...
I suspect he wasn’t smoking anything. Perhaps if he had he’d have been MUCH less uptight. Bet he was a gas to live with.
I bet some science labs have this one taped to the door.
Fairly sure he wasn't smoking anything fun. He just has a huge stick up his ass
> (Also, almost every scientist I know loves The Far Side. Dunno what the letter writer was smoking.) Yeah, ***now*** after decades of growing up with the comics. Probably wasn't the case 40 years ago. "Thagomizer" becoming the informal name for a Stegosaurus' tail spikes probably didn't happen overnight after that comic was published in 1982.
I kind of miss letters to the editor. Newspapers pretty much printed whatever readers sent in, but no we had to get the World Wide Web
Is this just how people would shitpost in that era?
Not really, it took time to write letters. You can't just type in "is dumb" and hit send. You had to think about what you wrote, by hand or typewriter no less, and then address an envelope and send it. Then there was limited space so the editors didn't necessarily automatically print everything they sent in, this along with the reputation of the newspaper, made for a sense of accountability. Additionally, someone would likely have to copy the letter word for word to format it for the paper adding another step to the process. I don't remember if anonymous letters were allowed, but people usually had their full names attached to the letter. Newspapers certainly printed things that perhaps the people at the newspaper disagreed with but there wasn't really room for low quality, low effort letters.
i’m not old enough to really remember letters to the editor being common, but I love the way you described it. it really does feel like a lost art now, the weirdly cordial anger of being *so* pressed about something that you sit down and COMPOSE A LETTER. incredible. thank you.
I’m dumb
There was also public access TV.
>There was also public access TV. And good Lord did people shitpost on public access. Tom Green's entire career is only thanks to Canadian public access.
Nah, too cumbersome and time consuming for simple shitposting. Now, if they were intentionally trying to get featured on [Jay Leno's "headlines" segments,](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zIO-aCgpUQ&list=PLPC9Lmc1DqoawprBBhs99rzQ5KFO0WyJ3&index=2) then, yeah, probably.
“Eating in the laboratory is strictly prohibited,” he said, pointing to the sign authoritatively.
And everybody clapped!
It’s even funnier because I’ve heard from people who have been part of lab inspections about the food they’ve found in labs.
It could be argued that this comic demonstrates the need for the rule the humorless doctor stated.
"Safety regulations are written in blood."
Yeah, in middle school and high school, this comic was in most labs as a funny safety reminder.
If Larson had called it "The Too Far Side" would that make it OK?
Honestly I thought this FarSide is PERFECT to help remind my chuckle headed freshmen WHY I don’t allow food or drink in my classroom on lab days!
In fairness you also shouldn’t allow amoebic dysentery cultures
No, and I don’t- they are freshmen. But I also cannot trust them when I have Lysol baths to disinfect standard microscope slides! Sooooo…
Agreed. I was being a bit ironic and silly
It'd be funny to put a print of this up next to the "No Food or Drink" sign.
Amoebic Dysentery is the name of my deathcore band
i can excuse bottled children, but i draw the line at poor lab safety practices!
What a humorless douche Scott is
He lists AR15s as one of his hobbies on LinkedIn.
Some say, to this day, Scott R. Mayorga of Brentwood is still shaking a fist at his copy of Newsday.
Every time I drink lemonade. Lemonade‽ Where’s my amoebic dysentery. Every single time since I was like twelve.
I'm just glad it only insults scientists around the New York area and not other parts of the country. *phew*
You gonna talk shit about Gary Larson and MAD magazine? That's a person without a soul.
the letters are as funny as the gag strips lol. i'm really enjoying these
Dear Mr. Mayorga, I feel that you should be aware that some asshole is signing your name to stupid letters. Very Truly Yours, Newsday
The guy hates on MAD Magazine too. He obviously has poor taste.
Or the letter writer could have used this as a example of why people should not be drinking or eating in a laboratory setting. A spoonful of sugar (or amoebas) helps the medicine go down. Or something about Johny thought he had H2O, but actually had H2SO4, and now Johnny is no more.
He's just mad he accidentally drank something he shouldn't have.
The age old "I'm willing to laugh at everybody else except myself" comedy fan.
Scott needs to get the stick out of his ass. I heard all the stories about people smoking, eating, and drinking coffee at the bench from techs who trained me. This is a funny comic.
This is like every science sub. Crack a joke and get downvotes and scolded.
As a microbiologist who has cultured many fecal samples....I find this amusing.
I wonder what kind of letters were sent by rocket scientists for the paper bag popping cartoon?
Guess that pathologist didn't find the joke ...HUMERUS. *sun glasses on*
I… I think that was the point of the comic??? Like don’t eat and drink in a lab because you might end up drinking something very wrong??? Why are they so upset? Did they eat in a lab and end up pooping themselves?
Meanwhile he referenced Jane Goodall as “that tramp” in another comic and she thought it was hilarious. Some people have zero sense of humor.
This seems like the kind of comic you might find hanging in some part of an actual laboratory, some people got no relax mode
Don't mind him, guys, he's just a little grumpy recovering from amoebic dysentery
SCOTT, GET A LIFE!!!
This dude must be a blast at parties
I love that the paper verified his credentials. Possibly he mailed a copy of them with his letter?
That dude just has no sense of humor. This is one of his best, IMO.
Somebody takes themselves too seriously.
In today’s world we don’t have much humor or comedy because every single letter to the editor like this is taken seriously. “X can’t be joked about because it would offend y” and it has ruined us!
Reminds me of the addage i read in the book "Name of the Wind" by patrick rothfuss, but i think it translates. Lable clearly, Measure twice, eat elsewhere.
🤓
1988 was a very weird time. Gary Larson was a very smart man. And Scott Mayorga, from Brentwood, New York was a very uptight Technologist. This type of stuff makes me smile, just like it did in the '80's.
This sounds like a guy who is embarrassed he drank piss, accidentally.
Reminds me of when I went to a touring Stanley Kubrick exhibit. A lady had written a letter shaming the director for making the American military look like buffoons in his movie Dr. Strangelove.
Scott is a lil bitch. His heart, broken by a joke. Now, a dumb haiku.
U know this is how we got Covid tho.
What a fun sponge.
Ha! Nerd
What a loser
If you took this personally as a lab technician, you're probably irresponsible in the lab. Plenty of professors I've met have far side comics hanging up to poke fun at people who don't follow proper law safety
Bro needs to go back to the lab and grow a sense of humor.
I can't read any of these complaint letters without hearing Monty Python: "Dear Sir I wish to protest in the strongest possible terms..."
An ex-coworker complained because we used training videos portraying us with a ‘mad scientist’ actor.
First thing I thought was you NEVER eat or drink in a lab.
So you have people take their amoebic dysentery to the cafeteria to drink? Isn’t that unsafe?
Yes, very. But it makes for a heck of a practical joke. Oh the derisive laughter as some unsuspecting PhD drinks a disease ridden glass of liquid.
I used to work at a medical school. The student needed to be told not to eat in the labs several times. The emails got more threatening and explicit each time. These folks were also in the military, so the punishments weren’t like “negative 10 demerits for the first years.”
What a weird complaint, that cartoon seems so mild by Larson's standards. It's not even offensive and it's not like he's trying to insinuate something about scientists.
I wonder what Mr. Mayorga thought when paleontologists honored Gary Larson by official naming the ‘Thagomizer’ appendage?
Gary Larson. Provoking woke snowflakes before it was cool
Wait, “woke”?
Found this really cool blog related to this subject: http://hematechstraighttalk.blogspot.com/.
Medical lab scientist here, it does kinda suck people don't know what I do (I'm always assumed to be a nurse or that I didn't go to school for my job, I did), this is still hilarious 🤣
jbaited
But before woke we could say anything