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Joyce, if your shoes are liable to dirty the machine, what of all the other people who didn’t remove their shoes? That stuff’s all over your socks by now, oops.
Don’t tell her that, then we’ll have her passing out from broken toe pain AND deep existential horror
Joyce isn’t going to have a broken bone if for no reason other than that six weeks in a cast is going to be another five years irl.
If it’s a toe (and not a particularly bad break) she would only need a splint, which could be worn under her shoes.
I broke two toes when I was around Joyce’s age. I tripped over my own foot and the two toes curled under my foot as I was trying to regain my balance. I put my weight down on that foot and the toes just snapped.
The doctor just taped them up with what amounts to popsicle sticks to keep them straight and I was told to use crutches if I found it difficult to walk without them.
I’ve broken a couple of toes before and I never even used a splint. That might be why some of my toes are crooked…
I’ve broken toes multiple times and also just used tape. Only time I actually went to a doctor about it was the time I dropped a (thankfully small) weight training weight on my left foot and broke 2 toes, including the big toe, but he also just taped them up.
My wife has been breaking toes her entire life, and they no longer splint them. She no longer bothers going to a clinic for broken toes any more.
Where do the people attached to the toes go, though?
Broken toes don’t get casts. The splints ANeM mentions are even a bit excessive most of the time. I’ve broken my toe several times…just being careful is fine.
She won’t go into the shower barefoot, but she thinks a machine people get all sweaty and smelly on should be touched with bare feet?
She’s wearing socks.
And blood. Blood will probably be all over her socks now.
goodbye socks
Nope, those socks are still white.
…… aaaaaaaand not going to explore that potential metaphor further.
yeah, a crushed toe is less likely to bleed and more likely to make the nail go purple and slowly fall off. 🙂 I’m glad mine happened at an age when the grossness was cool.
had the toenail fall off because i was stupid enough to wear sandals. i was 20.
Toenails falling off was a common thing in the sport I played. Pretty much every tournament had at least one person lose an entire nail (usually after a season of sporting it completely bruised under), or at the very least peel the skin from the sole of their foot in one complete piece. You learned to recognize the stages of irritation, from ‘everything is pissed off’ to ‘this will feel better if I wiggle a pocket knife around under there until I find the small patch of remaining healthy tissue anchoring it and just *snick*’
I once thought that I had horrible toe fungus in only a single nail, only it didn’t respond to any treatments I launched at it. Fortunately, turned out that I’d killed the nail without obvious bruising, and an entire new nail had grown in underneath…just had to loosen the old one so it fell off, leaving a fresh new nail almost fully grown in its place!
Sandals have never done that for me, the only sandal-related toe injuries I had were the times I cracked my nails in half…which is way worse, bleeds like a mf and way more painful (but recovers quicker, at least!)
I should have stopped reading this comment chain… Its full of ouch and cringe and OMG WHY DID I KEEP READING
Aren’t the shoes brand new? They probably haven’t even been worn outdoors yet.
(My point is they’re not going to make the machine dirty.)
shoes in the bath
no shoes on the exercise machine
seems legit
Oh, trust me. College showers are NASTY. Flip flops are required.
she was wearing MILK JUG SHOES tho
Bath? Pfft, Joyce hasn’t used a bath tub in months, at least. And knowing her, she would never willingly sit in water surrounded by her own filth. She’d want it all rinsed down the drain of course.
Bathroom, not bathtub, silly- I mean, the flipflops would flip flop her right over if she wore them into a bathtub!
Well, see, there’s too much narrativium in that gym… That stuff’s a devil to clean out, and it’ll cost ya.
Okay, this is a genuinely sweet moment.
Joyce why? why would you think that?
it probably looks clean and nice
*plays the Jackson 5’s “Dancing Machine” on the hacked Muzak*
followed by Eddie Cochran’s Three Steps to Heaven https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxj–MkqACY
and Dick van Dyke Step in Time https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4I-b_GJ4ltk
(or is it a waffle? dun dun dunnnnn)
I have to imagine she’s been using the machine for a couple minutes, or this would’ve happened sooner (machines can be nasty if you’re not paying attention to them).
Whatever she did, it didn’t rise beyond “Omigosh” level. That suggests she’ll be okay.
her feet are probably just sore.
She said “omigosh” out of surprise, before she hurt herself. Now she’s literally crying.
Yep, I read it wrong. Time to see what other words she will allow herself above Dangit and below “Toedad kidnaps Becky at gunpoint”.
Somewhere in her family I am sure “Cheese and crackers got all muddy” was taught.
She still asked Joe why he was yelling before commenting on her injury. That’s probably good.
okay, shes definitely in pain. ice, then a heating pad.
“RICE” may be called for.
(With meatballs on the top, because she’s a big girl now.)
To be fair, sometimes I think I swear more for small things than for more serious ouches. I got gouged by a protruding screw once — like there was literally a piece of me on the floor afterwards, I didn’t realize what it was and then picked it up and was utterly grossed out — and at the time I don’t think I even swore at all, just slowly and silently moved out of harm’s way so that I could examine the wound and clean it.
Agreed. I would expect a stream of invective.
Well, Joyce-invective: FUDGE! FUDGING SUGAR GOSHDARN POOPY!
joyce! start small! then build up!
Joyce needs years of serious psychological help for her various neurosis…
She could probably use therapy for the attempted rape and the best-friend-kidnapping much more than a couple fastidious quirks.
They’re so perfect for each other
If by perfect for each other you mean “want exactly opposite things out of relationships”, then yes.
… fine, I friend-ship it.
We don’t actually know what Joe wants out of a relationship, he’s never had one in the comic.
He doesn’t want a relationship to begin with, so… yeah, the opposite of Joyce who, at the beginning, ptetty much went to the university to find Mr Right and learn enough to educate their kids by herself.
Gee, that was so long ago. She definitely isn’t in that mindset anymore, but I don’t think she totally gave up on the idea of finding there the right man to share the remainder of her life.
If you don’t exercise at all then you won’t hurt yourself using exercise machines incorrectly.
Speaking from experience, this is a false assumption.
(For the record, exercise machines make lousy and unstable box-storage platforms.)
…but fine laundry hanging apparatus.
Time for Jacob to carry her to the nurse… with those big muscley arms… and maybe just a little bit of Florence Nightingale Syndrome.
Interesting that it’s Joe who rushes to her aid, though.
Well – it seems kinda legit, as he was the one calling out to her in the first place, meaning he watched her directly hurting herself. So he ‘should’ be the first one to react. Doesn’t mean Jacob won’t, after he realises what’s going on. Though I doubt anyone will carry Joyce anywhere – even though I’d love to see something like that. (it would remind me of the good old days I read too much shojo mangas)
So, what do you think, will she be carried on his back, or princess style?
I may also read far too much manga.
🙂 One cannot read too much manga- and if so, you should throw some Anime in between XD
Well, my shojo manga-imprinted heart wants her to be carried princess style, the more rational part of me just wants her to be helped (possibly lending a shoulder, with her jumping on her non-injured foot).
*whatever noises boats make* all aboard the (possibly unhealthy) Joyce x Joe ship
ngl I still love that Joyce got with Walky in the walkyverse but thinks he’s gross here in the dumbiverse also 10/10 thought walkyverse was proof joycexjoe had potential
Brrrrrr brrrrrrrrrp
My best attempt at foghorn. I ship it
I thought he talked with more of a southern accent.
Our SS Joece is a coal-powered cruise ship. We may pollute the air and the water, but we leave the pollution behind us – for the people ON the ship, it’s perfectly healthy!
(The crew – I’m the purser – sometimes refer to it as the ‘SS BrownRosen’, because it sounds like ‘brown-nosing’.)
Excercise conquistadora!
…this is why you go for the first time when the room’s at least a little crowded, and watch non-creepily before jumping in.
This is why you always start exercising with a ‘native guide’ – someone who’s been there before, and knows how all the machines work.
Joe probably hasn’t taken his eyes off of her much since she got there, and judging by this, that was probably prudent
Partly because she’s completely inexperienced with exercise equipment that can injure you if you’re not careful, but also because she’s adorable in her fitness getup.
What’s really gonna bake your noodle later is, would she still have crushed her foot if Joe hadn’t said anything?
…have another cookie.
She’s cute … but not too bright.
She’s very bright, actually. She’s just very sheltered and doesn’t have a lot of experience to draw upon to help her avoid making mistakes like this one.
That a good portion of her brain was focused on beefcake and trying to look like she knew what she was doing weren’t helping either.
@Fart Captor
They were making a Matrix reference. 😀
Crud, I wasn’t sure if it would be clear who I was replying too, but the physical location of my gravatar does make it clear, making my @username bit unnecessary. Whoops
oic. Sleepy brain did not pick up the reference. It’s been years since I’ve seen it
Huh? What? Sorry, I was looking at the woman in the red dress.
Freeze it.
As you say Oracle.
Child, don’t you know how dirty those machines are already? Covered is other people’s sweat and whatnot. Plus who knows when was the last time they were cleaned.
It is weird that she took her shoes off. I mean, realistically, she would know that everyone else didn’t so she shouldn’t either.
Except she’s never been to a gym before and neither of the other two people in the room with her are using one of the machines you put your feet on, even if that were a guarantee that she’d notice it
Imagine how much worse gyms would smell if people took their shoes off. Brrrr
I have a friend that takes off their shoes to deadlift.
I think they’re crazy, but eh. Tbf their shoes are not ideal for lifting.
yeah, squats and deadlifts it can make sense, but proper lifting shoes are preferable.
And this is why you don’t interrupt someone mid-set unless the danger of *not* interrupting them is somehow even higher. Wait for her to stop, *then* give her the safety lecture.
Exactly! Or like, don’t call out from behind to ANYONE doing some kind of exercise, especially if it’s not something that’ll be paused soon (as in using cardio exercise machines). The best would have been for him to walk normally to her, and talking to her from the front, so that she wouldn’t turn around.
This comic ain’t called: “People entering young adulthood making the logical and proper decisions.”
Yeah I know 🙂 (this is why it is a blast to read it and follow ensuing discussions in the comment section) – I just wanted to, as a follow-up to Inhac’s comment, point out how it’d be good to approach this situation in real life.
(as I don’t consider sport injuries lightly. I had to experience an operation because of one about a year ago, and it even just was a ‘light’ injury).
I agree completely! Great advice, CoMa :3
Yelling at someone from behind while they’re on an exercise machine just seems like a recipe for disaster.
I know Joyce is leaning more towards Jacob but I still ship Joe and Joyce.
I don’t know if they ought to date, but they are great for each others development as functional adults.
Astounding logic, Joyce.
On another note, her eyes seem really blue today. Must be the tears.
The path of the fitness conquistador is hard and filled by dangers.
“The path to fitness conquistador begins with a single ste–OW GOSHDANGIT ROWRBAZZLE DAGNAB FRICKIN CHEESES!”
*slowclap*
Hey don’t give up Joyce keep working that step machine and you’ll and you’ll get Jacob’s attention in no time or you get buns of Steel which might also work, most men like a girl with a good butt on them.
Hope her toe isn’t broken.
Now she’ll never eulogistically undulate again.
Plaster cast, Joyce; Joyce, plaster cast. Get used to each other, you two. You’ll be spending lots of time together over the next month!
Seriously, though, this is not the first time we’ve had an indicator that Joyce is mildly neurotic about these things. Remember how she reacts to the communal showers? This is basically an extension of the same symptoms that surround her inability to eat foods made of mixed ingredients.
yea def
(JOYCE IS AUTISTIC SHE IS SENSITIVE TO TEXTURES. AND RULES AND ROUTINES ARE MUCH EASIER TO ORIENT HERSELF BY THAN ACTUALLY PAYING ATTENTION TO HER SURROUNDINGS. THIS IS SO RELATABLE IT HURTS)
(I am SO JEALOUS of Joyce for being able to walk into unfamiliar situations where this kind of blunder is inevitable with her head held high and exit without having a quiet panic breakdown inside)
(like damn this girl has NO ANXIETY ISSUES and that is so fucking enviable)
No anxiety might be a bit off, she’s down here because she can’t be outside by herself, she panics. That’s an anxiety issue, though it is in response to trauma and not just how her brain works.
Even her public anxiety seems to have faded since Becky was kidnapped.
And more since Ryan was properly stabbed.
I injured myself on a step machine. I broke my ankle. Those things can be dangerous if you don’t know what you are doing.
of course, they have invented these amazing things called stairs. They work quite well and less chance of maiming yourself while exercising. You don’t even have to plug them in.
Okay you say that but I have fallen down stairs before, and not even while, like, fatigued from exercising on them. Just, for no reason.
Am I the only one who wants Joe to hug her?
I think that it’s more likely that he’ll carry her, bridal-style to the first aid office. Entirely gentlemanly thing to do that will create a ton of misconceptions, both in-universe AND out here!
no I also would love to see that.
So, I clearly don’t work out enough but how do you break a toe on a step machine?
The only way I imagine it to have happened (right now) is that she didn’t stop her stepping while turning around, and moving her feet in the same movement, somehow lifting or moving her left foot in a way that it would collide with the other ‘stepping platform’ (in lack for a better term right now, the alternative I’d think of would be pedal, but that doesn’t really fit) or be caught in between the one platform for the left and for the right foot.
Might also be she didn’t break anything but sprained something, or bruised it. I heard that those can be as hurtful or hurt even more than something being broken (though I wouldn’t really know, I never broke anything, so I can’t really compare one pain with the other, but I imagine it depends on how the injury came to be as well).
She probably accidentally jabbed her toe into the step mechanism and it got crushed between the actuator bar and the top of the gap in the casing.
Yet I can’t help but think if that’s what happened the shoes might not of helped much.
The shoe would have stopped the toe going into the gap all toghether!
You don’t get plaster for a broken toe, do you? Or are doctors more in awe of the big toe and you ge a cast for that? Last time I met anyone with a broken toe, they didn’t get plaster either.
Might not be the same, but for a broken pinkie I got a little metal dude who hugged my finger til the bone healed. Which wasn’t really a hard-and-fast time span, more like “wear this til you feel like it’s not broken anymore”
It’s kinda the same, except the toe splints are often more like slippers. … slippers with individual toesies.
> I got a little metal dude who hugged my finger til the bone healed.
Now I’m picturing a tiny, naked, metal effigy of Jacob walking up and embracing Joyce’s toe, tenderly kneading the bone back into place. Five weeks later, she still insists that her toe hasn’t healed yet.
Joyce you dork…
If you don’t know what you’re doing with a machine, ASK.
But that would reveal that she’s not “totally down with the fitness, yo”.
Obviously she’s down with the fitness. The fitness is in the basement and she’s down there with it.
That’s the thing: This had nothing to do with Joyce knowing how to safely operate the machine; she was pretty sure she knew that. This was basically caused by Joyce’s mild neurosis about dirt and other people’s germs (and, as we see here, not giving her germs to other people).
I really want to give Joyce a hug right now…
Pretty sure Joe, though he wouldn’t admit it, probably wants to hug her as well
Next two words of the alt-text:
“…to draw”
Holy crap. Is that what a steppy-thing looks like?
Back in my day a ‘steppy-thing’ was a step. You stepped up onto it, then you stepped back down. Repeat.
The dialogue here kind of reads like a bizarre condom advertisement. If we presume the word condom is outlawed and the word shoe has to be used to circumvent weird conservative laws. And if we presume one party has been mislead to believe the use of condoms increases the chance of catching an STD.
Hmmm, this needed more premises to work than I expected. Maybe I should avoid reading DoA 30 minutes after waking up.
I’d like to point out that it was Joe who was watching Joyce enough to see she’s taken her shoes off and became concerned. For someone who claims he’s completely uninterested in her, he sure pays her a lot of attention.
She’s his friend and he knows she has no idea what she’s doing?
everyone knows dudes only pay attention to girls they LIKElike
In Trump’s Soviet Russiamerica, machine steps you.
A painful lesson for Joyce but hopefully she’ll learn from it…maybe
Definitely.
….
The problem is WHAT she might learn from it.
she’s very tiny.
For someone who doesn’t like drawing exercise machines, you sure are drawing a lot of them.
He doesn’t like drawing plaid either, but…
Yelling dodge is more distracting than helpful
Currently dealing with a broken toe with nothing more than “sturdy shoes” to treat it.
I think that works better for smaller toes than the big toe, if experience serves me correctly.