Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for December 01, 2018

Be patient, Calvin. This story has an O. Henry twist at the end.

“Once upon a time, there was a kid named Calvin.”

Guilt, it always works on parents.

Eventually Calvin will be the one who doesn’t have time for his dad.

I think this was the first time it was explicitly stated that dad was a patent lawyer.

“…and the father came home and pounded his annoying kid into the ground!”

Try not to spoil much, dad.

Hey! That WAS high tech back then when this strip was done. look close. This as a push button phone, & not a rotary dial one!

Cat’s in the cradle, I guess.

As a kid, I never picked up on this, but this is Watterson giving Calvin’s dad the same job as Watterson’s own father- a Patent Lawyer. It’s about the most boring “office job” kind of thing imaginable that’s still very professional and can be expected to make some kind of good money, but not fantastical wealth. It fits dad’s personality quite well, too.

Patent Law?!? No, something substantive like Hamster Huey and Ewwy Kablewy.

“…not a scary one.”

Calvin’s been listening to Harry Chapin.

Hydraulic pump patent infringement is big-time drama.

This reminds me of an episode of M*A*S*H where the 4077 was host to a bunch of orphaned children. Col. Potter was reading a bedtime story to some children from a field manual for a machine gun.

Dad does spend time with his family; they go camping, Although Mom and Calvin tend to do nothing but complain.

I think I almost teared up a little bit there, but then I really got caught up in the patent infringement story!

I think this is the first, and maybe the only, time we get a clue as to Calvin’s dad’s occupation… correct me if I’m wrong please :)

When Cat’s in the Cradle came out in the 1970’s I thought it was trite, retelling a story I’d heard before. (I was all of about 15 then.) Now all sorts of commenters seem to think that Harry Chapin invented the story.(By the way, checking Wikipedia, it seems his wife came up with the story.)

For you “really old” people, “Cat’s in the Cradle” Harry Capin

“And one of the flayrods went askew on the treadle…”

Dad really did have a boring job.

Ooooh, I love a good evil patent infringement story… I’m all ears.

I guess Calvin wants more ‘family time’… living on the streets.

One of the rare times we got a hint at what Dad actually does all day.

Patent infringement stories are the best stories of all.

Calvin still couldn’t penetrate dad’s toughened exterior with his sentimental crap; love how dad is focussed on work even after.

I was going to comment on Calvin being frozen in his time zone, but after reading all of your comments, I have to agree, we are experiencing a serious addiction. Everytime I get behind the wheel, I find myself getting upset with other drivers more concerned with their smartphones, than their driving. We need to go back to the days that Calvin is going through.

Nice try Dad….

Hey! That is a good story! Everybody: Shush! This could get interesting!

Uh, Calvin? Growing up at an unbelievable rate is what he’s counting on…

One of the few clues giving us an indication of what work Calvin’s Dad did.

He can probably use a good lawyer right now – that room yesterday wasn’t going to clean itself.

You get what you pay for kid.

Parenting is like gardening. The more time you spend in the garden, the better it will grow. Just sayin’…

What kind of business person answers their phone “Hello?”?