Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis for August 20, 2011

Maybe you should think about your mealy mouthed use of a lame euphemism Neighbor Bob. You’re a human in theory. Pig is a pig.

Hair today, gone tomorrow.

Well, I lost my father in 2008.

He was a LOT bigger than a head of hair, and I even know when and where I left him — but sometimes you just can’t help losing things.

(To those of you who think the above is tasteless, I agree — but I know Dad would laugh.)

Is this the back-story to why Neighbor Bob became such a foe of Pig and Rat? And does he sometimes wear a wig?

Sooooo. . . Exactly which “Neighbor Bob” is this? I’ve seen several Neighbor Bobs over the course of the strip. Is every human that block named Bob?

There would be a lot of steps to retrace….to many. Let’s just forget it, Pig.

Woody — Thank you! And sorry to hear about your losses.

Hope it does start to feel better soon.

My Dad was a retired military man and liked his hair very short. He always said if he needed a comb, it was time for a haircut.

BTW “Susan Sunshine” is just the way other people tend to simplify my real name.

I used to protest it, but now I’m used to it.

And Anthony, yeah, I already said some people would think what I said was tasteless.

But I made that joke for my father, who would have made it first if he could have.

I have to admit, we didn’t always get along, when I was younger — but one bond we always shared was sarcastic humor.

It’s a comic strip….lighten up ! If it brings you a chuckle…fine! If not….let’s do our best to brighten someones day with the way we act…or react, to what life brings us.

I know I’m a bit late for this, but I’d like to weigh in on the Great Facebook Debate that was on here a couple of days ago…I lived in Spain for 5 years back in the 80’s, long before cell phones and internet. I made some lifelong friends there, but unfortunately, over the years we lost contact…fast forward to two years ago, when I discovered facebook. I found one of my friends, and from there it was a chain reaction, now I’m friends on facebook with just about all of them. Last year I went back and we organized a reunion dinner and I had a blast…I even rekindled a romance with a girlfriend from back then. All this thanks to facebook…I only have about 60 friends, family and real friends mostly, and I see all of them in the flesh regularly. Thank heavens for facebook! When used in the right way it’s a godsend…I would never have found all these good friends without it. I’ll admit there are abuses, but as far as I’m concerned facebook rocks!

SusanSunshine, I think it’s great that you can laugh through your loss without denying its meaning. Moms and Dads make a lot of memories for us, hopefully good ones. Those good memories remain a blessing after they’re gone and remind us that they are still with us, laughing and crying with us.

Pig, it’s always in the last place you look. And he hasn’t stopped looking yet.

@Snoopy_Fan

Not necessarily. Sometimes things I’m looking for sneak back into a place I’ve already looked. It may be in the place I look last but not really the last place I look. Does this happen to anyone else. It may be an age or retired thing.

@Olddog1 — No, that happens to young people too. Take my word for it.

You notice NOW.

Pure Zen.

Wow — I didn’t mean for my original post to upset or depress anyone, believe me, and I’m sorry if it did.

And thanks to those who understand.

But please — the joke isn’t about someone’s death, it’s about words.

I LOVE words.

A pun is all about preying on their inadequacies, twisting them and making them say things they don’t really mean.

Of COURSE I don’t laugh because my father died!

But I DO laugh because we say we “lost” some one, as though it were our fault, to express grieving…

It’s more gentle — but that makes it a euphemism, and my father and I both loved to skewer euphemisms.

When my mother told him one time that a friend had lost her husband in the Korean War he said, “That was careless.”

We always traded barbs, and he laughed and even zinged me in his old age and in spite of his Alzheimer’s.

That’s why my post was a tribute to him and not mocking his absence.

And HIS jokes — sometimes deeply sarcastic — may have something to do with why I am what I am.

And finally…. when I am “lost”some day, I hope the memory of me makes people laugh, not cry.

SCAATY — I’m having a busy and scattered day, but earlier, I meant also to commend you on your posts. Thanks.

Maybe Bob’s hair was lost in the same place as Mary Anne’s Virginia tee. (Anyone remember that?)

ive just noticed, even the non pun strips are puns