Packages
Packages
[Cueball is sitting at his computer.] Cueball: I love getting packages.
[Megan enters and Cueball turns towards her.] Cueball: I set up a script to search eBay et. al. for $1 items with free shipping.
[Cueball comes home with a backpack on his back and find a package waiting for him on his doorstop.] Cueball: I gave it $365, so each day it can buy me something random.
[Cueball, again sitting at his computer.] Megan (off-screen): What if you just end up with lots of crap? Cueball: I'll give it away. Cueball: But I'm sure I'll end up with some interesting stuff.
[The next five panels have a caption in a black frame at the top. The caption is written first for each panel. In the first panel Cueball has unpacked a hose. The paper lies in tatters on the floor. Megan stands next to him.] Day 1: Length of rubber hose Cueball: Could be handy around the house.
[Cueball stands with a black item and the packaging material it came in. Megan looks on.] Day 2: Ski mask Cueball: It's spring, but hey.
[Cueball is standing alone with a bear trap and the box it came in on the floor.] Day 3: Bear trap Cueball: Huh.
[Megan is back as Cueball looks at a piece of paper that came in an envelope.] Day 4: Tourist map of the Pentagon. Megan: Uh oh.
[Cueball is standing alone with a bottle of lube in one hand and the box it came in in the other hand.] Day 5: Lube Cueball: I'm stopping this before I end up on every F.B.I. watch list ever.
Someone has set up an actual service inspired by this comic, which does exactly what this comic describes, and has been featured in the advertisements section to the left.

Cueball wrote a script that searches online shopping sites for items that cost US$1 with free shipping. Because the script is programmed to use an account with a $365 balance, this script will buy one random item per day for a full year. Megan comments that Cueball might just end up with "lots of crap" but he replies that he might get something interesting.
Over five days the script orders a length of rubber hose, a ski mask, a bear trap, a map of The Pentagon and "lube" (sexual lubrication). This pattern prompts Cueball to stop the script out of fear of being placed on a FBI watch list; to a paranoid passerby, the purchased items make Cueball look like a terrorist who plans to kidnap and torture federal employees. And also a pervert; such a contrast is considered funny.
In the title text a sixth item is sent, a bobcat . This is probably connected with 325: A-Minus-Minus where Black Hat delivered a bobcat instead of a chair.
[Cueball is sitting at his computer.] Cueball: I love getting packages.
[Megan enters and Cueball turns towards her.] Cueball: I set up a script to search eBay et. al. for $1 items with free shipping.
[Cueball comes home with a backpack on his back and find a package waiting for him on his doorstop.] Cueball: I gave it $365, so each day it can buy me something random.
[Cueball, again sitting at his computer.] Megan (off-screen): What if you just end up with lots of crap? Cueball: I'll give it away. Cueball: But I'm sure I'll end up with some interesting stuff.
[The next five panels have a caption in a black frame at the top. The caption is written first for each panel. In the first panel Cueball has unpacked a hose. The paper lies in tatters on the floor. Megan stands next to him.] Day 1: Length of rubber hose Cueball: Could be handy around the house.
[Cueball stands with a black item and the packaging material it came in. Megan looks on.] Day 2: Ski mask Cueball: It's spring, but hey.
[Cueball is standing alone with a bear trap and the box it came in on the floor.] Day 3: Bear trap Cueball: Huh.
[Megan is back as Cueball looks at a piece of paper that came in an envelope.] Day 4: Tourist map of the Pentagon. Megan: Uh oh.
[Cueball is standing alone with a bottle of lube in one hand and the box it came in in the other hand.] Day 5: Lube Cueball: I'm stopping this before I end up on every F.B.I. watch list ever.
Someone has set up an actual service inspired by this comic, which does exactly what this comic describes, and has been featured in the advertisements section to the left.
