xkcd

by **bhoot** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 4:40 am UTC

Title Text: "Our company is agile and lean with a focus on the long tail. Ok, our company is actually a polecat I found in my backyard."

Beret guy seems to be making more of an appearance these days. I like it.

by **-KF-** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 4:41 am UTC

Mouseover: Our company is agile and lean with a focus on the long tail. Ok, our company is actually a polecat I found in my backyard.

I really love how much the Beret Guy has been showing up these past weeks.

by **-KF-** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 4:43 am UTC

Drat, you were ahead of me by a minute.

I also love Beret Guy's return.

by **jpk** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 4:44 am UTC

Weird. I like it. The spare joke was pretty good, too.

by **Katifer Dragonite** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 4:45 am UTC

A polecat business sounds a bit like a mob thing, where people pay you to not set the polecat on them.
A pole tax, if you will

by **bhoot** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 4:46 am UTC

-KF- wrote:Drat, you were ahead of me by a minute.

I also love Beret Guy's return.

Procrastination is a wonderful thing

by **JetstreamGW** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 4:46 am UTC

What the deuce?

by **Eternal Density** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 4:51 am UTC

Er, was the quarter of a million dollars inside the polecat?

by **jpk** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 4:54 am UTC

Come to think of it, polecats aren't known for particularly long tails, are they?

by **Black Dynamite** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 5:01 am UTC

This one made me laugh. Very hard. I wasn't expecting it.

by **philippos42** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 5:04 am UTC

Dada. Well, screwball comedy, really. I'm still laughing.

Is beret guy Randall's new alter ego? The artist, chaotic?

by **Sir_Read-a-Lot** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 5:06 am UTC

If it was bobcat, I'd say that it came in the mail. Since it's a polecat, I'm guessing it was found on a pole.

by **rhomboidal** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 5:10 am UTC

I always imagine Adobe execs wearing business berets. And viewing everything through a Gaussian blur.

by **glasnt** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 5:11 am UTC

I think it was a bobcat.

by **The Scyphozoa** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 5:13 am UTC

What in the fuck.

by **LSK** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 5:15 am UTC

This comic is significantly funnier if you read it as both characters acting completely serious.

by **jpk** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 5:28 am UTC

Sir_Read-a-Lot wrote:If it was bobcat, I'd say that it came in the mail. Since it's a polecat, I'm guessing it was found on a pole.

Right. But not everyone's mailman is named Bob.

by **Quicksilver** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 5:29 am UTC

My first thought was did he mail the polecat to Connr Clark. I love how Beret Guy gets less intelligent with each panel. Handlebox? I need to remember that one.

by **Azkyroth** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 5:40 am UTC

Sir_Read-a-Lot wrote:If it was bobcat, I'd say that it came in the mail. Since it's a polecat, I'm guessing it was found on a pole.

No, it was on Bob.

by **joselgarciac** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 6:11 am UTC

I thought a polecat was a cat that hung out at poles, turns out they aren't...

by **Steve the Pocket** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 6:26 am UTC

Yannow what... I'm just going to turn this one over to SirMustafa. No sense us both saying it.

by **Copper Bezel** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 6:31 am UTC

LSK wrote:This comic is significantly funnier if you read it as both characters acting completely serious.

How else could it be read?

This was gorgeous. = )

by **Mikkim** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 6:45 am UTC

I just have to say, that was hilarious. I don't think I've ever laughed as hard at an XKCD comic before.

by **kleingordon** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 6:53 am UTC

Could someone help me pin down what exactly beret guy/gal's character represents? Is it innocence? Spontaneity? Absurdity? Has his/her personality evolved significantly over the course of the comic? I really never know what to expect when he/she shows up, and maybe that's the point, but I feel like there must be some common motivation in all the appearances

by **ijuin** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 6:53 am UTC

Sir_Read-a-Lot wrote:If it was bobcat, I'd say that it came in the mail. Since it's a polecat, I'm guessing it was found on a pole.

For the benefit of non-Americans here, "polecat" is a common nickname for the American Skunk (yes, those guys who spray horrible stinky stuff on you when frightened).

by **shashwat986** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 7:03 am UTC

kleingordon wrote:Could someone help me pin down what exactly beret guy/gal's character represents? Is it innocence? Spontaneity? Absurdity? Has his/her personality evolved significantly over the course of the comic? I really never know what to expect when he/she shows up, and maybe that's the point, but I feel like there must be some common motivation in all the appearances

It's always been innocence and childlike curiosity. And that's what makes him so awesome... He represents what you would do in that situation if you were a child in an adult's body. Always sincere, and innocent, he probably represents Randall's unassuming, "immature" urges, and how very often they just seem right, as opposed to the socially acceptable thing to do. IMHO

by **mric** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 7:16 am UTC

I assume there is a joke lurking in this one. I can't see what it is, unless it is the extraordinarily feeble one of suggesting that social media companies have infantile business models. I guess that joke might have raised a wry smile in 2002.

by **The Scyphozoa** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 7:18 am UTC

shashwat986 wrote:
kleingordon wrote:Could someone help me pin down what exactly beret guy/gal's character represents? Is it innocence? Spontaneity? Absurdity? Has his/her personality evolved significantly over the course of the comic? I really never know what to expect when he/she shows up, and maybe that's the point, but I feel like there must be some common motivation in all the appearances

It's always been innocence and childlike curiosity. And that's what makes him so awesome... He represents what you would do in that situation if you were a child in an adult's body. Always sincere, and innocent, he probably represents Randall's unassuming, "immature" urges, and how very often they just seem right, as opposed to the socially acceptable thing to do. IMHO

Yeah, at the core it's innocense, and the absurdity and spotnaneity that goes along with that.

by **AtG** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 8:03 am UTC

Great strip! In the world of business jargon everyone sounds like a crackpot. If I had the money I would be challenging the social norms just like beret man.

by **J L** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 8:14 am UTC

I just returned from the Leipzig Book Fair, and I must say, this description is pretty accurate.

by **Reserve** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 8:20 am UTC

I've always preferred to use the word "polecat" specifically to mean the European Polecat—basically feral ferrets.

The fortune was made by an army of flying feral ferrets terrorizing smaller countries with cute little model biplanes. And tiny little machine guns. And musk bombs.

by **Whys** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 8:29 am UTC

I could be wrong, but I think the point is, when it comes to networking, it's all about being the guy with the cash.

by **TG333** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 8:33 am UTC

Made my day and possibly saved next weeks convention. It´s unlikely I´ll get new business cards or some balls to follow through with BG´s approach to networking, still I will chuckle now and then when some guy in some crunched and ill fitting suit comes over to ask "and what lead you here?"

Probably even funnier than pretending the male-male interaction at "great networking opportunities" are actually gay men hitting on each other, although "wanna pop out for a drink later, I mean, you know, just the two of us" is always hilarious.

by **rundlesm** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 9:27 am UTC

Thats weird. Burritos are a theme today.
http://warehousecomic.com/comic_730.php

by **Technical Ben** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 9:38 am UTC

I think I've seen this in real life. Mainly conversations between Investment bankers and Graphic designers. Both made as much sense and money as Beret Guy.

Oh, nothing against those occupations, I've worked in both industries just a tiny bit and I make just as ~~much~~ little sense! (But did not make any money.

)

by **lesmith11** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 9:47 am UTC

I work in a restaurant and we cater for networking meetings quite often. I can fully imagine them doing this!

Here's the link for that meeting...just for curiosity and interest: http://www.4networking.biz/Events/Details/25884

Also, if you click on their profile at the bottom, you can see how many breakfasts they've eaten. Networking is wierd...

by **Red Hal** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 9:50 am UTC

Business yay! Yeah, the interpretation Whys gave is the one I took out of it; namely, if you've got the cash you can spout whatever bollocks you want. Also, pastries.

by **sotanaht** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 9:59 am UTC

ijuin wrote:
Sir_Read-a-Lot wrote:If it was bobcat, I'd say that it came in the mail. Since it's a polecat, I'm guessing it was found on a pole.

For the benefit of non-Americans here, "polecat" is a common nickname for the American Skunk (yes, those guys who spray horrible stinky stuff on you when frightened).

Judging from wikipedia, it refers to weasels, skunks, badgers and/or otters alternatively. Also among the specific weasels listed is the European polecat, which I assume is the same as what Reserve meant (not actually a ferret, but close enough I guess).

by **SpeakerToManagers** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 10:00 am UTC

The other side of my business card reads, "The other side of this business card is false."

by **Red Hal** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 10:21 am UTC

Polecat?

Spoiler:

Who is online