# Xkcd 914 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 20, 2011, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-914/586133 "2011-06-20T10:44:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-914/586133/1 "2011-06-20T10:44:47Z")
[http://xkcd.com/914/](http://xkcd.com/914/) What is the stuff in the bathtub? ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-914/586133/2 "2011-06-20T10:49:16Z")
It’s a reference to the stolen kidneys urban legend. What’s in the tub is ice covered in blood. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-914/586133/3 "2011-06-20T10:50:21Z")
> [@JoelUpchurch](#): > > [http://xkcd.com/914/](http://xkcd.com/914/) > > What is the stuff in the bathtub? I thought it was a mixture of ice and blood. The premise being a twist on one of those ‘you wake up in a bathtub full of ice and one of your kidneys has been stolen’ stories, where the kicker is that he brought the ice himself. _Shakes fist at **VunderBob** _ ---
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-914/586133/4 "2011-06-20T10:54:28Z")
> [@VunderBob](#): > > It’s a reference to the stolen kidneys urban legend. I agree with this… > [@](#): > > What’s in the tub is ice covered in blood. But not this. What’s in the tub is **kidneys**. Instead of waking up in a tub of ice with his kidneys stolen, he woke up in a tub of _kidneys_ with his _ice_ stolen. ---
**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:** [June 20, 2011, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-914/586133/5 "2011-06-20T10:54:58Z")
Yeah, even the hover text (aka tooltip) is a [joke](http://www.snopes.com/horrors/madmen/aidsmary.asp) about perverting urban legends. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-914/586133/6 "2011-06-20T10:57:13Z")
Yup. Instead of the guy being lured in for his kidney and waking up in a tub of ice, he’s lured in for his ice and wakes up in a tub of kidneys. ---
**Author:** ![Sierra\_Indigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Sierra\_Indigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sierra_Indigo)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-914/586133/7 "2011-06-20T10:58:21Z")
> [@VunderBob](#): > > It’s a reference to the stolen kidneys urban legend. What’s in the tub is ice covered in blood. I think you’ll find what’s in the tub is kidneys. Lots and lots of kidneys, and she’s stolen his ice. DAMN YOU ALL ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-914/586133/8 "2011-06-20T12:48:39Z")
Imagine when he has to tell his SO that he spent the night with a strange lady and now has…AAA. ---
**Author:** ![Sal\_Ammoniac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-914/586133/9 "2011-06-20T13:04:13Z")
Not just kidneys, but stick-figure kidneys – which is why none of us could recognize them. ---
**Author:** ![mr.jp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@mr.jp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.jp)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-914/586133/10 "2011-06-20T14:24:34Z")
I think panel 1 was unnecessary and confusing. ---
**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-914/586133/11 "2011-06-20T14:44:37Z")
So what does the part about “Welcome to the AAA Club!” mean? BTW, my mom used to mix up AAA and AA. There are probably people in Tennessee who still think I am an alcoholic because my mom would tell them I’m an AA member. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-914/586133/12 "2011-06-20T14:56:54Z")
> [@JoelUpchurch](#): > > So what does the part about “Welcome to the AAA Club!” mean? It’s another urban legend reference to a woman who has sex with strangers and leaves “Welcome to the AIDS club!” written in lipstick on a mirror, i.e. she’s deliberately spreading the disease. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-914/586133/13 "2011-06-20T15:39:19Z")
> [@Sal\_Ammoniac](#): > > Not just kidneys, but stick-figure kidneys – which is why none of us could recognize them. Thank you. I was feeling bad about missing that. > [@JoelUpchurch](#): > > So what does the part about “Welcome to the AAA Club!” mean? . . . And up until you read that, you might think that the person waking up in the tub was yelling AAAAA!, when it’s really something written on the mirror behind him. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-914/586133/14 "2011-06-20T16:02:12Z")
[http://video.adultswim.com/the-venture-bros/missing-kidney.html](http://video.adultswim.com/the-venture-bros/missing-kidney.html) ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-914/586133/15 "2011-06-20T16:07:00Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > And up until you read that, you might think that the person waking up in the tub was yelling AAAAA!, when it’s really something written on the mirror behind him. Uh, he was yelling “AAAAAAA!” There are only three As in “AAA”, several more in AAAAAAAA!. Plus, there’s the clear “this person is saying this” line going from the AAAAAAAA! to the guy in the tub. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-914/586133/16 "2011-06-20T16:18:58Z")
This thread is going to get really confusing once another 27 strips have been posted. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-914/586133/17 "2011-06-20T16:22:47Z")
> [@Sal\_Ammoniac](#): > > Not just kidneys, but stick-figure kidneys – which is why none of us could recognize them. Yeah, I’ll go with the majority on what the intent of the comic was, but that’s not a concept that leaps easily to the eye from the xkcd format. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-914/586133/18 "2011-06-20T16:23:15Z")
> [@Hal\_Briston](#): > > This thread is going to get really confusing once another 27 strips have been posted. Why? The link in the OP goes directly to the strip ([914](http://xkcd.com/914/)), not to the “today’s strip” ([constantly changing](http://xkcd.com/)). ---
**Author:** ![phreesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@phreesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phreesh)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-914/586133/19 "2011-06-20T16:37:05Z")
I’m a pretty big fan of the strip, but this is a bad one on a lot of levels. a) Disjointed. Connecting the ice to the kidneys is a reach b) Who has a tub full of kidneys? Why does she have a tub full of kidneys? c) What does AAA have to do with this? That he’s screaming AAAAAAAh!? Or just a bad play on AIDS? ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-914/586133/20 "2011-06-20T17:08:04Z")
> [@phreesh](#): > > I’m a pretty big fan of the strip, but this is a bad one on a lot of levels. > > a) Disjointed. Connecting the ice to the kidneys is a reach > b) Who has a tub full of kidneys? Why does she have a tub full of kidneys? > c) What does AAA have to do with this? That he’s screaming AAAAAAAh!? Or just a bad play on AIDS? I disagree with all of that. a) No - subverting “waking up in a tub full of ice after they stole your kidneys” into “waking up in a tub full of kidneys after they stole your ice” is pretty straight-forward word play. b) Seriously? It’s a joke. It’s just as possible as an MC Escher painting, which I’m sure has happened in an XKCD strip as well. c) As has been explained twice in the thread, it’s a simple substitution from “welcome to the AIDS Club!” to “welcome to the AAA Club!”. Again - extremely straight-forward. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-914/586133.md?page=2)