Category: GUY STUFF…
HOMELAND SECURITY ALERT! FLIGHT RISK
A lot of my cartoons are to “poke” my friends…
In this particular case, I didn’t know the recipient of the cartoon’s attention. Fortunately for me, the person (who shall remain nameless because he carries a gun to work…) must have a sense of humor.
I was contacted by an insurance client who knew I was a cartoonist. The client (who also shall remain nameless… he carries a gun to work, too.) is a police officer. He wanted me to draw a cartoon to poke fun at another officer on his police force.
As the story goes, his friend was home alone at night and had fallen asleep on the couch watching TV. He awoke to the sound of glass breaking and immediately thought he was being burglarized. Since he was nowhere near his gun, he grabbed a household item (Here’s where multiple versions of the story come in…) and crept through the darkened house, heart in his throat.
From what I heard, he was ready to confront the burglar in hand-to-hand combat and use all the self-defense skills he had learned in the Police Academy. THIS WAS SERIOUS!! Imagine his relief when he discovered the broken window and a small bird lying on the floor with a broken neck…Crime solved without firing a shot!
His mistake was telling his Police buddies about it. They couldn’t let it go and asked me to do a cartoon to commemorate the event. He was given the “Award” at a police function. To date, I’ve received no credible threats… Should I be worried?
CAN ALL LIFEGUARDS SWIM?
In my early days as a STATE FARM 
AGENT, I often attended the annual “Professional Sales Institute” held by State Farm at Albion College, in Albion, Michigan. After a day of classes, one of the great things available to participants was the Olympic-size pool we got to use in the evenings .
As you might imagine, some insurance agents aren’t in the best physical shape. On one particular evening, several of us “larger-than-life” agents were in the pool at the same time. In addition to discussions about the rise in the water level, we all noted that the lifeguard was a tiny college coed. Soaking wet, she might have weighed 90 lbs. The thought occurred to us we might be in trouble if she had to jump in and save us. In my mind, it was like sending a minnow to save a whale.
The “Save the whales” talk sparked the idea for the cartoon. You might have noted from the cartoon that the section we were in was only 4 feet deep. Maybe we weren’t in as much peril as we thought… if, for some reason we weren’t able to stand up, she could have dragged us to shore!
FLY FISHERMAN’S DILEMMA
English is an interesting language. The multitude of inherent double meanings provide unlimited cartoon ideas.
I got this idea when I saw an ad for the opening of Trout Season in Northern Michigan. The ad suggested the business had everything a fly fisherman would need. Prior to that, I hadn’t thought about what it would be like if flies fished. The idea of flies fishing raises the same questions that people have who fish: “What are the size restrictions?… When do you have to catch and release? Are they in season?” Fishing is complicated!
Often, after a cartoon is drawn, I realize there is more than one way to interpret it. Another possible interpretation for this cartoon: Is the fly fisherman checking to see if the bait is still on the line? If people use flies for bait, wouldn’t flies use people for bait? If that’s the case…. What are the flies fishing for?
WINTER FOOTBALL…UP NORTH!!
Cartoon ideas come from interesting places… Last night I went to a presentation by a Hand Surgeon on “Hand Pain”. I’ve been experiencing hand pain from all the drawing and computer work I do. As the Doctor explained some of the surgical options available, I identified myself as a cartoonist and asked how dexterity was affected afterward.
At the break, a really great couple came up and Jerry, the husband, said he had a cartoon idea but hadn’t been able to draw it to his satisfaction. He asked if I could draw it. He gave me some general ideas about playing football Up North… wearing snowshoes and skis . This is what I drew for him.
I decided to post it now because I suspect this year there are some people who aren’t Up North that can relate to the problem of winter football and snow.
Should I have drawn it with snow-covered palm trees?