Comic Transcripts

ELMER: Y’ever notice how cashiers nowadays count your change forwards?
DON: Do tell.
ELMER: Used to be, cashiers had to count change backwards. Start with the price of the item, then add coins and bills as necessary to add up to the amount you’d given them. It’s a more accurate method! Now, their registers tell them how much change to give out. You have to hope your cashier can correctly assemble unusual amounts at a moment’s notice. Because there’s no deduction involved, the process becomes rote and prone to error!

DON: So what’s your point?
ELMER: EVERYTHING’S BETTER THE WAY IT USED TO BE

{{header: march on to WONDERMARK.COM}}
{{alt-text: kids these days! so selfish! they’re supposed to care about ME!}}

#405; In which Elmer is always Irate transcribed by in

ELMER: Y'ever notice how cashiers nowadays count your change forwards?
DON: Do tell.
ELMER: Used to be, cashiers had to count change backwards. Start with the price of the item, then add coins and bills as necessary to add up to the amount you'd given them. It's a more accurate method! Now, their registers tell them how much change to give out. You have to hope your cashier can correctly assemble unusual amounts at a moment's notice. Because there's no deduction involved, the process becomes rote and prone to error!

DON: So what's your point?
ELMER: EVERYTHING'S BETTER THE WAY IT USED TO BE

{{header: march on to WONDERMARK.COM}}
{{alt-text: kids these days! so selfish! they're supposed to care about ME!}}

kids these days! so selfish! they're supposed to care about ME!

#405; In which Elmer is always Irate

  — May 6th, 2008

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Applications open for Genius Northwest – an IRL gaming competition

May 8, 2026 by David Malki !

Last year, I participated in Genius Northwest, a gaming competition inspired by the Korean gameshow The Genius and its ilk.

It’s a reality show without the cameras — a 3-day, all-inclusive weekend retreat structured around a series of challenges and puzzles, in which personalities and dealmaking matter as much as playing games.

It’s truly a remarkable thing. I came in dead last in the competition, but I still had a great time participating.

The event is held annually in the Pacific Northwest (hence the name) and applications are now open to participate in the 2026 competition!

Learn more — and apply — at GeniusNW.com.


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