Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for March 19, 2010

Take that kid home, I’m out for an adult dinner…

Marge, get take-out.

Sometimes I feel that way too1 fortunately my wife is the same.

I must be built like a submarine. Any such atmospheric pressure works for me, Calvin: haute cuisine all the way down to Burger King.

But for once, your six-year-old status excuses you. If only your imagination weren’t so precocious that you’re dying a thousand deaths before your time because of it. :(

That said…I find this one of the funniest C&H strips ever!

That’s why we go to those nice places later in the evening!

I remember those days………..not quite that bad, but I still remember them!

Pacejv, why should Marg get take out? Let Calvin’s parents get take out!

Hey, Calvin, think: Would it be better, if you had to stay at home with your baby-sitter?

My father would not eat at a restaurant without a full liquor licence. Burger joints didn’t serve Beefeater Gin in my day. At least I learned table manners. I also learned to buckle up on the way home.

Our kids learned table manners at home before they were allowed to eat out, and that included fast food places like Wendy’s or Mr. Mike’s. When they had learned to behave there we graduated them to better places but it was always made plain that this was a treat and a privilege. It worked.

@JFri…I think Marg doesn’t need to look at a kid with boogers.

Air pressure!

Mom and dad must be gluttons for punishment to take Calvin to a restaurant with table cloths…either that or Rosalyn has doubled her fee.

Oscar Wilde may have been correct …

You can too eat in fast food places all the time. unlike high priced restaurants, the food is recognizable and you can even go in sweats of you want too. Life can be good if you let it.

Cal overheard mom n dad saying that place has atmosphere, that’s why they like it there, just too much atmosphere for him!

I agree jrbj! And some of you folks are just waaay too serious … it’s a “comic” … you know … just for fun?

The boy just needs an energetic Mother with a STICK!!!!!!!

My parents took me to a nice restaurant once when I was rally young. Had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich served under one of those covered metal dishes.

Get a babysitter when you go here - introduce kids to good restaurants when they get older. Of course, there still will be awkward times - kids don’t like relaxing conversation while they eat - too much atmosphere :-)

There are plenty of restaurants between fast food and formal dining. And lots of them have full liquor licenses. Take your kids to a “family friendly” restaurant, and people who don’t like kids go to places that are more adults only. Why do people find this so complicated?

My Father took my Mother and I to ‘all kinds’ of restaurants when I was growing up. The menu was wide open–but I had to finish what I ordered or the next time we went out to eat, I got burgers or hot dogs and fries. I learned how to behave, though, contrary to ‘our hero’ I liked them.

When our son was younger, we took him to a diner & he said “I didn’t ask to come here!” :) We told him he had no say in the matter & we liked to eat at places other than fast food. When he was a little older, we started having him bring his GameBoy along to keep him from being bored while waiting for our food.

Fast food restaurants are for when I’m in a hurry. I’d prefer to sit down and enjoy a good meal that wasn’t put together in minutes in some burger joint. Leave Calvin at home with a sitter and truly enjoy your dinner & the peace & quiet. You’ve earned it.

There are many fun ways to help your kids behave at a nice restaurant. You just have to make a game out of it.

Wiseguy411……What did Oscar Wilde say??

Calvin, someone should erect a new and improved version before you implode (although some people like Calvin just as he is). By the way, does anyone else have a problem with imploding usable, functional stadiums and other edifices? It seems sort of terroristic. Is anything ever good enough, or do we always have to keep up with the Joneses?

Just give the kid a hit from the bottle of beaujolais. He’ll settle down.

Funny stuff! I gotta remember that ploy for when I get drug out to a place with “atmosphere” and “ambiance”.

Kudos to Calvin’s mom for trying to teach the little heathen some manners in public places.

Children of today have very little to no self discipline. This is what comes from letting a child run the house because it, for the moment, seems easier than being bothered to take the time to teach them consequences for their actions. Too many parents take the easy way out to the determent of their child, their families and society.

As the saying goes, “if we had behaved in that manner in any public place when we were children, our behinds would have gotten lit up when we got home”. I’m none the worse for wear for having been made to behave with proper manners and decorum. I thank my parents for loving me enough to take the time to teach me.

I don’t want any rice in my fried-rice.

Just because no one else said it, here it goes…..

They tried to open a posh restaurant on the moon but it failed.

No atmosphere.

The Oscar Wilde quote? Maybe -

“The best way to make children good is to make them happy.”

Or then again:

“Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go.”

Mom you can so eat at fast food places all the time Next you will want Calvin to dress up to go shopping at Walmart

Yeah, all the fancy trimmings and tablecloths ‘n stuff, with a price to match. As a good friend of mine once observed however, “You can’t eat atmosphere”. Some of the best eating out sort of food I have ever had was working on set as an extra for the movies over the past 30 years or so….

You can’t eat atmosphere!

I KNOW Chuck Norris can.

Anyway, Calvin never sits still OR behaves. Never.

Well, he’s not being loud, just a little stinker. They’re used to it. This would be a good time to introduce him to Harvey Wallbanger. Back then it was perfectly legal to give your kid some of your drink, as it still should be. All the rest of his thoughts will go on silently in his head, and everyone else can eat in peace.

Calvin wants to eat at McDonalds.

We took the kids to tablecloth restaurants once in a while (and required them to behave) but with 4 kids in 5 years we mostly went out when my parents paid and I always did the “baby bounce” on my lap (keep the baby quiet, with constant motion). I did many meals -even the main family holidays an I enjoyed being the one who did “gourmet” cooking - even back in the 60s ;-)

I think the wine idea is a good one, but seriously, kids can be taught to behave in public places. That’s what parenting is for. That could be quite a stretch for Calvin, but it might be worth a try.

In today’s economy, I rarely eat out, and when I do it’s at a buffet style restaurant. At a buffet, you don’t have to wait for your food and you can see exactly what it is before you get it. You have as little or as much as you like.

I try to avoid buffets at ALL costs. It’s just too easy to over-eat at one because you feel like you have to in order to get your moneys-worth when the meal can be $10.00 or more per person … otherwise, you feel like you’re being cheated if you don’t!

Take that kid home, I’m up for an adult dinner…

fast food. that looks like a fancy pancy resturant