Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for September 03, 2015

How is Rick better than Clinton Caucus?

This is how RIck ‘survives’ bouts of Jeffrey’s childhood sickness. He doesn’t volunteer to stay home a day with his sick child. He goes away on business. More ‘hands on parenting’. Apparently, ‘hands on parenting’ is just business as usual…

Really seems like you missed the point of the strip…

Timing is everything …………….

Easter egg ??

teddy bear, panda like, replaced raggedy somebody in basket

Take sick time? Vacation time? Personal day?

he is still home, as indicated by tricycle and toys, but planning to be away on business after writing how “they” would survive this, as Joanie took off from work, calling in sick, cleaning up their kid’s vomit,

Stop the presses. Things change from panel to panel.

You’re assuming that he was really away for business. That is only an assumption.

This is beginning to remind me of the old Harry Chapin song “Cats in the Cradle”

I have the key.

Attention: Clinton Caucus, Joanie’s first husband. Not supporters of HRC. Nothing to see here, move along.

I don’t see an Easter egg, but the Raggedy Ann/Andy doll does become a teddy bear in the last panel.

And the laughing coming out of Joanie is rather maniacal… and she’s holding an axe… :-)

Ladies and gentlemen, Clinton Caucus.

Hire some help? Two income family…at least then.

This may come as a shock, but since my Dad ran a business around then, please let me tell you that employees were allowed to take personal sick time (even if caring for a sick relative and not themselves) back in the ancient days of the 1980s.

The fact that Rick is simply stating that, on one day he tells Joanie that ‘they’ would get through this and laugh about it later, and then states that he will be leaving for business the next few days, is the real point. Especially in an industry like the news industry, employees were allowed sick leave back then without automatically being fired. And requesting leave is not the same thing at all as blowing off a work assignment.

In all fairness, he did have a political name; how could GBT have known there would be a Clinton dynasty?