xkcd.WTF!?

Explanation ➲

This comic is another in a series of comics related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Randall/Cueball has shown in many comics the difficulty of making small talk, or having a "normal" conversation, when you spent your developing years developing work skills (comics of this are here), a trait of nerds such as engineers that is frequently used as material in comics. With the COVID-19 pandemic, he feels that others may have difficulty having normal conversations as well, and so this seems to be a "silver lining" for the pandemic. He can now use this excuse instead of having to admit that he has difficulty in social situations (and always has, even before the pandemic). Randall also uses a false but plausible excuse to cover unusual nerd behavior in 1900: Jet Lag. He also uses another excuse which can get him out of life in general in 880: Headache.

In the title text, he shows his dislike, which existed prior to the pandemic, of going to crowded bars. In the future, even after the pandemic passes, Cueball will still have the excuse that the pandemic made him feel uncomfortable in crowded bars due to possible virus spread and that the feeling has persisted past the pandemic. Cueball remarked on his good fortune in 2276: Self-Isolate, as it turns out he has been "practicing social distancing" all his life, but that it has now finally become common practice.