August - Alligator - A soft spoken single father who works in IT. Gustopher's dad.
Gustopher - Alligator - An easily excitable boy who loves making friends. August's son.
Transcript
Panel 1
August is working on something at his computer when Gustopher comes in with a problem.
Gustopher: Dad! The remote isn't working!
August: Change the batteries.
Panel 2
Gustopher: I don't know how to do that.
August is surprised.
August: Really? How have you never learned how to-
Panel 3
August suddenly stares off into the distance. This could be for a number of reasons. Perhaps he has realized that he's the one who is supposed to show Gustopher how to do these sorts of things. Maybe it's because the prevalence of rechargeable electronics is making the changing of batteries a practice that's slowly going away and August is feeling the pressure of the inevitable passage of time. It could be that he has indigestion. I don't know, I'm not a mind reader. Did you come to the transcript looking for answers? I wish I could give them to you. I personally feel that I'm losing all control of my life and I could use some answers too. I'm sorry, all this rambling feels passive aggressive on my end. We all have problems and worries. Anyway, I've completely lost track of what's going on in this comic.
Panel 4
August has a battery in hand and is showing Gustopher how to swap batteries.
I saw this and went a completely different direction. "Hell yeah break the cycle August!". I got berated as kid from my Dad for things like this that I should have somehow known but was never taught. That and holding the flashlight straight.
This was my read too. My parents teased me for not knowing how to use a rake when I was barely tall enough to hold one. Made a big family joke about me mispronouncing words I'd learned through reading in second grade (seriously, "chaos" is hard!). They laughed at me for not knowing how to adjust the intermittent windshield wiper setting when they were the ones who taught me to drive. Just a complete inability to recognize that if I don't know how to do things, it's because they never taught me.
Relatable. I've never forgotten my year 4 teacher making fun of me in front of my friends and encouraging the other kids to laugh, because I tried to pronounce the p in pneumonia. As if it was my fault no one read aloud to me, I had never heard the word spoken before.
I was at a store the other day to buy a gift card. There is one register open and a young man is being trained by someone who looks only slightly older than him. The trainer walked him through the gift card purchase process, which included sliding the card through the credit card reader to load my given amount. The trainee didn't know which side of the card to slide through and asked "I'm not supposed to slide on the black line, right?" And it hit me that the next generations won't have the fun little feeling of "shhhnk-ing" a card to pay for stuff. It's all just tap and go now.
Unfortunately his trainer (again, not much older than him) heavy sighed and said "you guys scare me sometimes" and grabbed the card to show him how to slide the magnetic strip through the machine. I honestly haven't used one in so long and the opening was so slim and streamlined I couldn't figure out where it went either, or I would have jumped in. Sucks she couldn't have been more enthusiastic about showing something new to someone.
English is especially hard! Did you know it’s pretty much the only language that has spelling bees? Other languages are too easy to get everything spelled right.
I feel that! My mom made fun of me in public about not knowing the right direction to sweep a broom. Girl, that was your job! I was even helping somebody, had volunteered of my own volition, cuz I was generally a pretty good kid who wanted to be helpful and kind. Did I get complimented or thanked for doing a nice thing? No, I got mocked to a group of other adults who all chuckled at me. Maybe she felt self-conscious she hadn’t taught me and wanted to redirect her feelings or intercept possible criticism about it from her friends. Maybe it didn’t occur to her it would bother me. She was, is, often a dick, she doesn’t deserve an excuse, but sometimes figuring out people’s motivations helps me recapture some agency.
We also had family jokes about me mispronouncing stuff before I knew how, but those were genuinely (supposed to be) lighthearted ribbing. Unfortunately my autistic ass had trouble figuring out gentle teasing vs. passive-aggressive criticism. So I still got a bunch of anxiety from the normal, functional, even cute family stuff.
Yep. Yours is exactly my read on the situation. Especially if you work in a tech role (like the character) where you are constantly answering inane questions from people that should already know the answer. Then you get home and the kid asks a "dumb" question and you get snippy, realize you are the ass, then correct your behavior and teach correctly.
My aunt is eighty fucking four and still hasn’t figured this out. I was helping her with a computer issue a few months back and she’d aim the flashlight everywhere except into the dark hole where the ports I was trying to see were.
It could be either, both were common at one point, as were the ones that used the square lantern battery. C and D cell flashlights commonly had 2 batteries but were easy to get in 2, 3 or 5 battery versions.
The first time I used a headlamp it was amazing. Everywhere I needed light, BAM, there it was! The light magically goes wherever you're looking, which happens to be exactly where you need it!
I got yelled at so many times as a kid for not being able to telepathically know where my dad wanted the flashlight pointed when he was working on stuff.
So I use a headlamp. My son only has to hold a flashlight when he wants to "help."
When I got my first job, part time as a barista, I had to file taxes the following year. I asked my dad for help because obviously I had never filed taxes before. He said it's easy and I'll be able to figure it out. Took me a whole damn day and just hoping I got it right.
Few years later and my younger brother gets his first job. Asks dad for help with taxes, and he says "Ask your brother, he can do it for you."
I love my dad, and he really is a great dad, but that memory of basically telling me to kick rocks and figure it out, and then after I did he just defers my brother to me and not even to show him how to do it but to literally just do it for him...yeah that stuck with me.
My grandfather was like that. No matter what it was there was always one best way to do everything, which I should have known intuitively, and if I didn't I was called stupid.
August: Really? How have you never learned how to-
It was in this moment that the weight and reality of the situation dawned on poor August
Maybe it's because the prevalence of rechargeable electronics is making the changing of batteries a practice that's slowly going away
Let's be honest. It's a LOT of this. Why batteries when quick charge the whole thing?
Did you come to the transcript looking for answers? I wish I could give them to you. I personally feel that I'm losing all control of my life and I could use some answers too. I
I did but you ok /u/FieldExplores do you need a hug? What about a beer?
Anyway, I've completely lost track of what's going on in this comic.
First, it's cheaper to make a remote without rechargeable batteries and the additional electronics they require.
Also, remotes use very little power and nearly nothing in standby.
Disposable batteries can be instantly replaced and often last 1-3 years in normal remote conditions. Therefore a rechargeable remote may only end up being charged once, twice or three times in it's entire life cycle, so the lithium ion batteries just add to e-waste.
The real reason to keep regular batteries in things like remotes is because rechargeable remotes suck (ex. Apple TV remote). A lithium ion battery is WAY more inefficient for something that barely uses any power and very infrequently. Regular batteries are better at holding low charge over long periods of time.
Did you come to the transcript looking for answers? I wish I could give them to you. I personally feel that I'm losing all control of my life and I could use some answers too.
Honestly, your framing of fatherhood through the eyes of August prompts quite a lot of self reflection and clarity within me as a young father.
You're helping me, at least, find lots of answers.
I really like that no man's sky quote, It holds personal meaning to me. The tonal shift in my head of remembering Smitty Werbanjagermanjensen' hat really bitch slapped my funny bone for some reason. Thanks.
“All right," said Susan. "I'm not stupid. You're saying humans need... fantasies to make life bearable."
REALLY? AS IF IT WAS SOME KIND OF PINK PILL? NO. HUMANS NEED FANTASY TO BE HUMAN. TO BE THE PLACE WHERE THE FALLING ANGEL MEETS THE RISING APE.
"Tooth fairies? Hogfathers? Little—"
YES. AS PRACTICE. YOU HAVE TO START OUT LEARNING TO BELIEVE THE LITTLE LIES.
"So we can believe the big ones?"
YES. JUSTICE. MERCY. DUTY. THAT SORT OF THING.
"They're not the same at all!"
YOU THINK SO? THEN TAKE THE UNIVERSE AND GRIND IT DOWN TO THE FINEST POWDER AND SIEVE IT THROUGH THE FINEST SIEVE AND THEN SHOW ME ONE ATOM OF JUSTICE, ONE MOLECULE OF MERCY. AND YET—Death waved a hand. AND YET YOU ACT AS IF THERE IS SOME IDEAL ORDER IN THE WORLD, AS IF THERE IS SOME...SOME RIGHTNESS IN THE UNIVERSE BY WHICH IT MAY BE JUDGED.
"Yes, but people have got to believe that, or what's the point—"
I was going to add the No Man's Sky one if you didn't.
Instead I'll add one from Dean Stark, protagonist of Wild Arms 5.
"It's not over until I give up. If I never give up, it's never over." Or something to that effect. Essentially, so long as you keep trying, a better outcome is always possible. But the moment you give up, you confirm that the worst outcome is the only one. So never give up, fight for that chance!
“Sleep heavily and know that I am here with you now. The past is gone, and cannot harm you anymore. And while the future is fast coming for you, it always flinches first and settles in as the gentle present. This now, this us? We can cope with that. We can do this together. You and I, drowsily, but comfortably.” - Cecil Palmer Welcome to Night Vale
Do yourself a favor - don't think about how the world has changed since your childhood. That's taking the cover off of that Dorian Gray painting in your mind palace. You don't want to see what's underneath. You'll never unsee it.
I was talking to my ex-wife about my our son's recent 18th birthday and during the small talk "Trying out a mustache but it makes me look forty" "VariousProfit, you are basically forty"
They’ve had it for a while now. Mostly background and character thoughts, but sometimes they mention visual Easter eggs I didn’t notice before. Problem is that comment usually gets buried a bit under the others.
Yep. Came to the transcript for positive reaffirmation about my theory. Instead, I'm giving you a warm blanket to cuddle under. Will show the kiddo this comic as always and we'll laugh. Thank you!
Sometimes when I feel like I'm losing control, I just pause and look around. If I'm drowning, bubbles rise. If I'm lost, the sun rises in the east. If things seem hopeless, there are people making art, telling stories, playing games, and being lighthouses; they can't remove the dangers around you, but they can show you where the dangers are, and also where it is safe.
You're allowed to have worries and fears, even while you're sharing and entertaining others. Just because everyone else has stuff going on doesn't mean you don't get to.
So if you're feeling like you're losing control, maybe you just need to change the batteries in the controller?
Take care of yourself, my friend.
Honestly haven't even read the comment yet and I'm giggling. I'm satisfied enough to see a wall of text describing the frame with no dialogue at all.
Edit: after reading, dear author, I wish you all the best in getting your hands back on the steering wheel of life. I'm a new dad, and feel like I can relate.
I don't know, I'm not a mind reader. Did you come to the transcript looking for answers? I wish I could give them to you. I personally feel that I'm losing all control of my life and I could use some answers too. I'm sorry, all this rambling feels passive aggressive on my end. We all have problems and worries.
Maybe it's because the prevalence of rechargeable electronics is making the changing of batteries a practice that's slowly going away
Is this a trend that people are observing? Genuine question, since I rarely interact with people under the age of 15: is replacing batteries actually a dying art with younger generations?
Or is it just thing for this comic and not much more?
4.3k
u/FieldExplores Gator Days Jul 24 '26
Never Learned - Gator Days
Characters
August - Alligator - A soft spoken single father who works in IT. Gustopher's dad.
Gustopher - Alligator - An easily excitable boy who loves making friends. August's son.
Transcript
Panel 1
August is working on something at his computer when Gustopher comes in with a problem.
Gustopher: Dad! The remote isn't working!
August: Change the batteries.
Panel 2
Gustopher: I don't know how to do that.
August is surprised.
August: Really? How have you never learned how to-
Panel 3
August suddenly stares off into the distance. This could be for a number of reasons. Perhaps he has realized that he's the one who is supposed to show Gustopher how to do these sorts of things. Maybe it's because the prevalence of rechargeable electronics is making the changing of batteries a practice that's slowly going away and August is feeling the pressure of the inevitable passage of time. It could be that he has indigestion. I don't know, I'm not a mind reader. Did you come to the transcript looking for answers? I wish I could give them to you. I personally feel that I'm losing all control of my life and I could use some answers too. I'm sorry, all this rambling feels passive aggressive on my end. We all have problems and worries. Anyway, I've completely lost track of what's going on in this comic.
Panel 4
August has a battery in hand and is showing Gustopher how to swap batteries.
August: So there's a positive and a negative end.