Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis for November 18, 2015

My best friend is a political science professor. Our conversations are usually pretty interesting as long as we stick to talking about baseball.

It means he bores the $#!+ out of morons.

He’s the “those who can’t” type?

I have to say some academics have put me to sleep over dinner and even just over a beer. But I’m sure I’ve done it to them as well. The problem occurs when you don’t catch your conversation-mate’s interest and speak about things that keep him/her awake. It’s an art and a responsibility. And not only for academics.

Pig why would you listen to Rat in the first place ! Just go to dinner and let Goat pick up the tab :-)

Eat alone, Pig, and be prepared to always eat alone. Even an academic is better than nothing (especially if someone else is picking up the tab)….

My husband is a highly degreed academic and well-versed polymath (there’s an oxymoron in there somewhere, but I digress). I sleep very well, even while he’s still talking. We also have a splendid sense of humor and the feeling is mutual. When I talk, he’s peacefully snoring away before I get to the punch line – works every time. We both love Pearls Before Swine and have you guys set as our morning favs, what a funny way to start the day. Love the gag lines. I mean, the funny lines.

Anyone is boring if they’re not talking about something that interests you. Rat can speak with authority about eating alone since no one ever wants to eat with him.

That dumb Pig always seems to follow Rat’s lead.

Most people don’t share my interests so I have little to say and I avoid politics.

I think he’s referring to Woody Allen’s phrase, “polymorphously perverse”..When I read the strip, I was thinking of a line in a movie I saw that was set in apartheid-era South Africa:.“I know a politically-active Indian dentist I want you to meet.”“Those are the three people that I least want to spend time with.”

it depends what the friend teaches. some topics are way more interesting than others. also, not simply is this an academic type, but is it a narrow-minded type?

Pig would only make a “Pig” of himself at the dinner table!

And Rat… Well. That’s not worth going into at all.

xxx

I’m with rat on this one. There is effort required to master a topic, and additional effort required to make it interesting to somebody else.Most academics don’t bother with the latter, as they mistakenly assume that their topic is so inherently fascinating that everybody surely must be interested.

Well, this has been a very enjoyable thread so far. Kind&Kinder – “…It’s an art and a responsibility.” Well said! SRQgoneBananas – You’re new here, right? Welcome aboard! And, the whole polymath/polymorph/polymorphously business had me chuckling. I wish I had something worthwhile to add, but regardless, I just had to express my appreciation to everyone.

Yes, I agree — intellectuals bore Rat-type people. Lots of those out there too.

Yes, I guess you could say I’m new here – metaphysically speaking. I see this crowd doesn’t sleep much either. This is going to be a long and bumpy ride – looking forward to the next morning run on Pearls Before Swine. Brilliant to permit chat about the comics online makes for great self-marketing, Stephan. Love the pillows and coffee cups props drawn on these strips. P.S. I need instructions on how to delegate a Reply to a specific comment – so this is for “Arianne”. Pardon my naïveté.

It does depend on the expert/professor. Some could make watching paint dry exciting.

It means they went to Harvard.