Bill Nye
Bill Nye
[A restaurant. Blondie is with two small Cueballs at a table; Bill Nye with black hair in a white lab coat sits at the next table with his back turned towards them. Two other tables can be seen at the edge of the panel at either side. A caption is written above them:] The tribulations of Bill Nye: Blondie: Hey, kids, see how the ice cracks and pops in your water? I wonder what causes that... Blondie: *Ahem* I said, I wonder what— Bill Nye: Know what? Maybe I just wanna enjoy my goddamn meal.

Bill Nye is an educator well known in the United States for his science-focused television show targeted to elementary school children ( website ).
A mother, Blondie , is sitting at a table in a restaurant with her two children, asking them a science-related question about the ice cubes in their drinks. She is hoping to prompt Bill Nye, sitting at the next table, to join the conversation and perhaps inspire her kids.  Thinking he has not heard, the mother then coughs slightly and starts to repeat the question. His then immediate and abrupt dismissal of her is antithetical to his television persona, where he is consistently enthusiastic about science and keen to take any opportunity to teach the viewer.
The use of the word "tribulation" implies that being recognized and accosted in public is a cause of much suffering and misery to Mr. Nye.
The title text contains another joke. He eats a meal in public where he does not want to be recognized or harassed with questions; however, he wears a lab coat. Regardless of Bill Nye's otherwise iconic and recognizable appearance, wearing a lab coat in public will probably draw the gazes and curiosity of others, no matter who is wearing it.
Ice pops and cracks when dropped in a glass of water because of thermal contraction: the much warmer water causes the surface of the ice to shrink, resulting in audible internal fractures in the brittle structure.
[A restaurant. Blondie is with two small Cueballs at a table; Bill Nye with black hair in a white lab coat sits at the next table with his back turned towards them. Two other tables can be seen at the edge of the panel at either side. A caption is written above them:] The tribulations of Bill Nye: Blondie: Hey, kids, see how the ice cracks and pops in your water? I wonder what causes that... Blondie: *Ahem* I said, I wonder what— Bill Nye: Know what? Maybe I just wanna enjoy my goddamn meal.
