2009-12-14
Explanation
This comic shows a single panel of a woman on a date with a man. She says: "Oh, yeah. Sorry. It's a bet. I have to do that whenever you say 'Oh, wow! Me too!'" The caption below reads: "Shirley was not impressed by The First Date Drinking Game."
The joke plays on the common experience of first dates being filled with performative agreement. When two people are getting to know each other, they often enthusiastically claim to share interests and experiences ("Oh, wow! Me too!") whether it's genuine or not. The comic imagines someone who has noticed this pattern so often that they've turned it into a drinking game, taking a drink every time their date says it. It's a cynical observation about the superficial bonding rituals of early courtship.
The votey panel continues the date, with the woman saying "You're a dick!" and the man responding "That's two" while holding up two fingers -- indicating she just triggered another round of the drinking game by using a phrase he apparently hears on every first date as well. This escalation suggests that being called out for the drinking game is itself a predictable pattern, making the whole situation even more darkly funny.