Worst-Case Shopping
Worst-Case Shopping
[Cueball is diving in very deep, dark blue water. He shines a flashlight at the sea floor.] Cueball (thinks): Eight meters. There's the wreckage... Yes! I see the key!
[As he swims further toward it, his flashlight starts to cut out.] Cueball (thinks): Gotta grab it, surface, get in to the radio shed, and warn the President! Just a few more... Flashlight: BZZT FIZZ
[This panel has no border like the others, and is divided in half diagonally by a thought bubble.] [The left half of it is a dark blue thought bubble with the diver inside it. On the right hand side are packaged flashlights hanging on a shelf. The one called Hi-Brite is $24.95 and is labeled "water resistant to 10 meters." The one called "FenStar G6" is $49.95 and says "water resistant to 40 meters."] Cueball (thinks): Oh no.
[Cueball and a friend stand in front of a flashlight display in a store. Cueball looks down at the packages with his hand on his chin in thought. The thought bubble from the previous panel leads from his head. The friend stands behind him.] Cueball: ...maybe I should spring for the deeper water resistance. Friend: Why on earth would you care about that? Cueball: Look, you never know.

For most people, under most circumstances, a flashlight's water-resistance is a completely moot point, as most flashlight use occurs on dry land. But, as Randall has shown before , there is a tendency for people to imagine elaborate scenarios in which an extra edge would be useful.
In the dream sequence over the first 2 and a half frames, Cueball appears to be diving to find a key underwater, which he spots using his flashlight when he is at 8 meters. His flashlight goes out at 10 meters because he bought the "Hi-Brite" model. The dream sequence also references a "radio shed", which were only really used in the past for amateur radios or some other military style bases/compounds—which would align with his "warn the President" line. He thus suggests the more water-resistant flashlight. However, this is seen as ridiculous from his friend, since the more durable model costs over $25 more in return. He replies that "you never know" what situation you'll be in.
The title text takes Cueball's thought process to the next level. If he is getting a flashlight that works to 40 meters (worst-case), he should probably be prepared for even deeper waters as well (even worse-case).
[Cueball is diving in very deep, dark blue water. He shines a flashlight at the sea floor.] Cueball (thinks): Eight meters. There's the wreckage... Yes! I see the key!
[As he swims further toward it, his flashlight starts to cut out.] Cueball (thinks): Gotta grab it, surface, get in to the radio shed, and warn the President! Just a few more... Flashlight: BZZT FIZZ
[This panel has no border like the others, and is divided in half diagonally by a thought bubble.] [The left half of it is a dark blue thought bubble with the diver inside it. On the right hand side are packaged flashlights hanging on a shelf. The one called Hi-Brite is $24.95 and is labeled "water resistant to 10 meters." The one called "FenStar G6" is $49.95 and says "water resistant to 40 meters."] Cueball (thinks): Oh no.
[Cueball and a friend stand in front of a flashlight display in a store. Cueball looks down at the packages with his hand on his chin in thought. The thought bubble from the previous panel leads from his head. The friend stands behind him.] Cueball: ...maybe I should spring for the deeper water resistance. Friend: Why on earth would you care about that? Cueball: Look, you never know.
