Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis for August 18, 2015

What? Huh? Is that Larry? Reading a (real!) book?

Take his phone away.

Larry must be REALLY having empty-nest syndrome.

You can’t stand them when they’re living at home, but you sure miss them when they leave the nest. Hang tough Larry, you’ll see him again.

Larry must be relying on auto-correct, because he can’t spell big words like “miss” and “u.”

Texting, a bane on society.

My grandson, an only child, is heading to college in a few days. His mom (my daughter) is going to go nuts. Been just the two of them since his dad was killed in car accident when he was one. She’s already laid in a supply of tissues for crying.

JR just turn the phone off then you may study in peace. :-)

I’m confused. The “dings” are coming from the phone before the message is shown, leading me to believe that Larry is reading the texts, not writing them.

It’s this kind of activity that gave rise to the term “helicopter parent”. (Notice Junior does not respond. Typical kid’s reaction.)

Double negative. If you were NOT texting NO one, then you must have been texting someone…

Wow! As a former teacher, I should have known that even comic strips are hard to understand but this surprises me. C’mon, it ain’t rocket science.

I agree. That’s why thinking comes in handy sometimes.

Junior’s at school. It’s time to put Mom on a new clutch of eggs.

My son went on a group flight overseas for a year after high school. I’ve never seen so many men crying (myself included) as their kids went off to the plane. Hang in there, Larry.

That’s really sad

Okay, Patty. Make lying Larry turn over his smartphone. Junior needs to be able to read and study without constant interruptions by his helicopter dad!

Machete don’t text… but Larry texts like a tweenage Belieber!

can’t wait to see what happens next

The whole strip is written from JR’s perspective. First the phone dings, then he reads the text,resumes studying, repeat. don’t forget, JR is all grown up now, so he looks like a big croc; hence the confusion.

Junior is homesick.

Like everybody didn’t already know that.

xxx

Here’s a little hint for everyone who’s confused::THE ONE WITH THE BOOK IS JUNIOR.

Poor Larry is so distraught over Junior’s absence that he’s not even drinking beer. If he starts, then you’ll really see crocodile tears.

@legaleagle48Oh. It’s official, I should start drinking coffee earlier.

@Number Three

Junior is not homesick. He’s the one getting the texts from his dad. At this point for all we know he’s excited to be away from home and away from his dad. Junior likes to study and Larry has always picked on him for that. But then Larry is an idiot croc while Junior and Patty are both smart.

Aww