# I'm such a sap! (XKCD comic reacton) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 30, 2010, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-such-a-sap-xkcd-comic-reacton/527036 "2010-01-30T17:59:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2010, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-such-a-sap-xkcd-comic-reacton/527036/1 "2010-01-30T17:59:37Z")
I’m a sap. A soft touch. A bleeding-heart. Even for machines… [Spirit](http://xkcd.com/695/) All I could think of after I read it was that Ikea commercial where the smarmy Swedish guy tells me I’m silly for feeling sorry for a lamp. So where do I join the Facebook group to bring Spirit home, anyway? ☹ ---
**Author:** ![nicole1912](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9de0a6/32.png) [@nicole1912](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nicole1912)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2010, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-such-a-sap-xkcd-comic-reacton/527036/2 "2010-01-30T18:26:35Z")
I’m glad I wasn’t the only one! Poor Spirit… ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2010, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-such-a-sap-xkcd-comic-reacton/527036/3 "2010-01-30T18:32:52Z")
I was all weepy at the end of that, and had to tell Oni no Husband not to read it - he’s even more soft-hearted than I am. However, he accidentally saw the first few panels, and was really upset by them. We talked about it at dinner last night, and we think that the comic is wrong. Spirit _had_ to have known it was a one-way trip. All spacecraft (except the manned ones) know that they’re one-way explorers. He wouldn’t be looking to go home - he would be thinking of himself as THE FIRST EARTHLING SETTLER ON MARS!!! That made us feel a lot better about it. So, we decided - the comic is wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Knig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@Typo\_Knig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Knig)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2010, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-such-a-sap-xkcd-comic-reacton/527036/4 "2010-01-30T19:38:08Z")
I was saddened by that XKCD also. As much as we anthropormorphize the Mars rovers, they don’t know or feel anything. We humans should be proud of the people who built the rovers, got them to Mars, and ran them for years past their design life. This is an ending, but the ending of something that was more successful than anyone could have anticipated. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2010, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-such-a-sap-xkcd-comic-reacton/527036/5 "2010-01-30T19:49:46Z")
Good grief, that had me welling up too. But I agree that we should instead look at Spirit as a pioneer and applaud him for the thankless task he immortalized. ---
**Author:** ![History\_Geek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b19c9b/32.png) [@History\_Geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/History_Geek)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2010, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-such-a-sap-xkcd-comic-reacton/527036/6 "2010-01-30T20:00:54Z")
We’re going to recover them just as soon as we land, and turn them into monuments at the first human colony. I mean, we \*are \*still going, right? Right? Bugger. Looks like I packed my p-suit for nothing, now. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2010, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-such-a-sap-xkcd-comic-reacton/527036/7 "2010-01-30T20:39:12Z")
Awww. Poor Spirit. He just needs a [girlfriend.](http://datastore.rediff.com/images/briefcase/6C6C686A645D6B3038/6vt3oci51a15ky98.D.0.walle_eve.png) ---
**Author:** ![Cort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/77aa72/32.png) [@Cort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cort)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2010, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-such-a-sap-xkcd-comic-reacton/527036/8 "2010-01-30T20:41:34Z")
Maybe it’s cos I’m a bit poorly at the moment, but this one really bummed me out. Thanks for nothing XKCD! Then I saw [this](http://xkcd.com/692/) one and now I love it again 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2010, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-such-a-sap-xkcd-comic-reacton/527036/9 "2010-01-30T21:51:24Z")
> [@History\_Geek](#): > > We’re going to recover them just as soon as we land, and turn them into monuments at the first human colony. I mean, we \*are \*still going, right? Right? Bugger. Looks like I packed my p-suit for nothing, now. That still won’t be home, though. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2010, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-such-a-sap-xkcd-comic-reacton/527036/10 "2010-01-30T21:57:57Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > That still won’t be home, though. Did he not spend more time on Mars rather than Earth? Maybe he considers Mars to be home, now. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2010, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-such-a-sap-xkcd-comic-reacton/527036/11 "2010-01-30T22:02:13Z")
As it happens, I have a counter for that cartoon. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/PQy12MWkPRU/hqdefault.jpg "ikea sad lamp") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQy12MWkPRU) “that is because you are crazy” ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2010, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-such-a-sap-xkcd-comic-reacton/527036/12 "2010-01-30T22:08:26Z")
> [@E-Sabbath](#): > > As it happens, I have a counter for that cartoon. > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQy12MWkPRU](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQy12MWkPRU) > “that is because you are crazy” I actually referenced that in the OP. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Carmady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f04885/32.png) [@Carmady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carmady)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-such-a-sap-xkcd-comic-reacton/527036/13 "2010-01-31T00:10:56Z")
That comic actually makes me happy, because I hate machines that pretend to have feelings, and enjoy seeing them get their comeuppance. ---
**Author:** ![lee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lee/32/7455_2.png) [@lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lee)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-such-a-sap-xkcd-comic-reacton/527036/14 "2010-01-31T00:19:32Z")
Spirit doesn’t need a girlfriend. Spirit needs a fan or wiper or a bit of wind. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-such-a-sap-xkcd-comic-reacton/527036/15 "2010-01-31T01:09:39Z")
_Stop, Dave. I’m afraid_. ---
**Author:** ![Cyberhwk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7993a0/32.png) [@Cyberhwk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyberhwk)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-such-a-sap-xkcd-comic-reacton/527036/16 "2010-01-31T02:04:35Z")
Yeah, I got a little misty. ☹ Hopefully one day within my lifetime we’ll be good enough at this we can bring them home. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-such-a-sap-xkcd-comic-reacton/527036/17 "2010-01-31T02:57:36Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > _Stop, Dave. I’m afraid_. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-such-a-sap-xkcd-comic-reacton/527036/18 "2010-01-31T04:56:23Z")
He knew the mission. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-such-a-sap-xkcd-comic-reacton/527036/19 "2010-01-31T05:02:16Z")
> [@pravnik](#): > > He knew the mission. But did Spirit volunteer or was Spirit drafted? Hmmm… ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-such-a-sap-xkcd-comic-reacton/527036/20 "2010-01-31T05:17:35Z")
Is this based on anything real? Or is it just a random comic? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-such-a-sap-xkcd-comic-reacton/527036.md?page=2)