We often get mail asking us to write more about one particular group or another, and we always reply, we like to write about what we know. That is why the situations (hopefully) feel authentic. One of my favorite emails came from a reader who asked, “Why don’t you feature a cranky old gay man like myself?” That’s a great question and we will try to do more of that in the future, but it will be our perception of a cranky old gay man. Not beig cranky old gay men ourselves, it would sound inauthentic to try and sound like one. Granted, we are plenty cranky and old, just not gay. But most of the subjects we write about are comic spins on things that actually happened to one of us. This week features two takes on stuff that happened to John.

The first came from an observation that John’s wife Linda isn’t particularly fond of bugs. So we imagined a situation where Al and his grandson are inspecting a bug with great interest. Al is feigning interest because he’s enjoying his grandson’s interest. Joanne doesn’t share the same intrigue and may have reacted with a little more passion than the situation called for. We would just like to reiterate that no actual bugs were injured in the drawing of this comic strip.

Next up also came from a trip to the dog trainer. Since the last dog I had was 20 years ago, this is firmly from John’s camp. After learning what dogs react to and how to make them obedient, Rachel decides to try the technique on Marv. Of course, very little works on Marv that doesn’t include food. In a previous strip, faithful readers may recall Sam mourning the loss of his dog. When his new wife wants to quickly replace the dog, Sam naturally wonders if she’d be so quick to replace him when HE died. For those of you who think this is crazy, ask yourself this. How much do you humanize your dog? Hey, they’re part of the family. We can’t help it. Think about it, if you’re in your 60’s and get to the point where you have to put your dog down, are you going to be so quick to get a new one? Or are you going to enjoy your new found freedom from having to find dog sitters when you go away or from worrying about how long it’s been since the dog has been let outside and whether you should skip dessert and get home? Maybe it’s the same way with husbands. Hopefully not, but in any case, have a nice weekend and don’t ask for a Corona with lime. It wasn’t too long ago that a Corona with lime was something you looked forward to at the end of the day. Now Corona and Lyme are two of the most worrisome diseases on the planet.

Boy did this turn maudlin in a second. On second thought just ignore the entire last paragraph except for the “have a nice weekend” part.

Andy and John