Over the summer I've received lots of suggestions about whether Dilbert should lose his innocence or Liz should be hit by a meteor. But I'd already written myself into a corner. I broke the unwritten cartoon rules. My solution was to write the comic equivalent of a traffic accident. All the witnesses see the same event but perceive it differently.
Reality is, after all, subjective.
How you interpreted the August 9th strip says a lot about you. About 18 out of every 20 people saw the limp tie and perceived that Dilbert lost his innocence. Maybe some readers trusted me as the authority figure in this case, and I clearly implied the tie was the sign. Or maybe they just wanted Dilbert to get lucky. The people in this group buy lottery tickets and expect to win.