Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for September 17, 2021

Where was he hiding that?

I used to see kids wearing bike helmets even when they weren’t riding bikes.

Just a bit big and won’t it fall of?

What if something pops them?

Sure, Calvin

Die the astrologer! Scratch your private parts, Calvin.

The Mae West, though that’s a little….ah….out of Calvins age range…

That was the response I ALWAYS used when people asked me that as a kid.

I’m pretty sure they make children wear life jackets for that exact reason.

If he stays on dry land all his life, he won’t be in a boat, right?

His dad likes to go camping near rivers. He trusts his dad too much.

I thought Rosalyn would be happy that Calvin is quitting the swimming class.

It figures that a swimming instructor doesn’t understand what “staying on dry land for the rest of his life” means. (I suppose there are such things as landed boats in the middle of the Sahara Desert, such as in an amusement park or mini golf coarse, but if you fall off that boat you just get your face full of dirt.)

I was hoping for water wings.

What if your Dad throws you in the lake off the end of the dock? Don’t even think about telling me “that would never happen.” I know friggen better.

If he’s going to stay on dry land his whole life, why would he be on a boat?

As many have intimated, that would require getting on a boat…

After Calvin says he’ll stay on dry land, Rosalyn’s retort is something that doesn’t involve dry land.

I tried to learn to swim at three times in my life. I was a miserable failure at it. I am now with Calvin’s Dry Land way of life.

“Did he fall, did he jump, or ……. was he pushed?”

With all the flooding we’re seeing these days, “staying on dry land” is no longer assured….

Calvin has the right idea! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvmQxeIUiZs

Once heard someone loudly complaining that life is no fun anymore with all those seat belts and life preservers and helmets.

Never go in the water until you learn how to swim. ( ;

i wished i had learned to swim. i tried but my legs always dropped down. i can float and swim on my back though.

Calvin should learn how to fly in case he falls out of an airplane.

Someone recently commented that Rosalyn is “the babysitter from Hell” and someone replied that Calvin is “the kid from that destination.”

As many have pointed out, Calvin isn’t really a bad kid. He often shows his caring side especially in environmental strips. Also, most of the kids in Calvin’s class seem to be mean to him so they are worse than he is. Furthermore, most of the trouble Calvin gets into in school seems to be due to his daydreaming in class. He hardly ever gets into trouble over anything serious. He seems to have considered himself Prime Suspect over the Noodles Incident but Miss Wormwood only told Mom about Calvin’s bad grades.

It’s certainly true that we see Calvin at his most rebellious in the Rosalyn strips so she usually sees Calvin at his worst. In contrast, Moe sees Calvin as “a wimp”.

Calvin has the right idea (for once). You should wear a life jacket when you’re on a boat, even if you know how to swim.

But what if someone accidentally pushed you off of a boat before you hat time to put on your life jacket? I’m just saying…

When I was Calvin’s age, we had swim classes. Maybe the difference was we were at a lake with a beach and you could gradually go deeper into the water. A standard pool where a kid his age can’t touch bottom would have scared me too.

Now I love the beach and would stay in the water for waters, as long as it’s warm, as at my age, it’s the only place I can be without being in constant pain.

Just don’t ever go on a boat. Sounds easy enough.

Calvin saw this coming.

If she was the teacher, I’d do the same.

Calvin just invented the life jacket.