There is a saying that you should write about what you know. And in general, we stick to that. We once had a fan letter from a guy who said he loved the characters, but suggested we insert a gay character as well. And while we agree (we did introduce a married, gay brother-in-law to Al’s family for a couple of story lines) we try to approach the comic from our perspective, the perspective of hetero white males in their 60’s. What’s that? Yeah okay, I’m 70 (but John’s still a young whippersnapper at 65). And it shows up when we tackle a subject like being transgender. We approach it with the confusion that many people have in their 60’s (and 70’s) regarding their understanding of the trans community. In last week’s blog we talked about how advertising reflects the changing mores of our times. We look back on ads showing doctors in white coats smoking Camels and think, what were they thinking?? What will people think 30 to 40 years from now when they look at our communications today? And I bet one thing that will look naive is our belief that there are only two genders. That you are born one way and that’s the way you should stay. In any event, we hope you look at this comic in the way that our characters look at it: trying to understand and ultimately accept the complexities of life today through the prism of their own experiences. Hence the last line, “I guess Phil lucked out on not having to pay for the wedding.” And now, pardon the pun, let’s transition to our other comic, a dog getting a CAT scan.

Listen, I know people love their pets so much they tend to humanize them. I have a neighbor who calls down the hallway for her dog, “C’mere baby girl.” I have another friend who picks her dog up so it doesn't have to walk on pebbles. Another who has an actual down-stuffed windbreaker that covers the length of the dog’s body and has four holes for the dog’s legs. As Cat Stevens (no relation to Cat Scan) once sang, “Ooh, baby, baby it’s a wild world…” In short, if we’ve managed to offend any pet owners or transgender fans in our audience, we’re sorry. But if we’ve made you laugh, well that’s what it’s all about.

See you next week with two new ones,

Happy Holidays,

Andy and John