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?