I’ve met people who had their flu shot and had a very nasty bout of flu. Once again, those who predicted what flu would be raging were way off the mark.
In my experience the strip would of ended at panel 2. Olsen / teachers reply, remember homework is 25% of your grade, and you just got a zero on that assignment
I believe this is the second or third time a flu shot has been recommended in Frazz. How sad. I read the comics to laugh – and this is NOT funny. A flu shot is medicine and also a for-profit industry. One-size medicine does not fit all. A medicine should never be recommended to the general public. It is a very individual decision. The flu shot is absolutely big bucks for Big pHARMa and does not need to be promoted in the comics!It also has the potential to make someone very very ill. It is the number one vaccine payout in the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program run by the government, because….I hope everyone knows…..you can’t sue a vaccine manufacturer or the doctor that administers it, thanks to a 1986 law that exempts them from ALL LIABILITY, including death. Yep, vaccines are the ONLY product in America exempt from all liability. This is an interesting article on Senator Peralta from New York who died at age 47 within 2 weeks of getting his flu shot: https://www.theburningplatform.com/2018/11/30/after-getting-flu-shot-new-york-state-senator-gets-sick-for-two-weeks-then-dies/
Went for my senior flu shot this year and they were in short supply so they didn’t have any. Didn’t know when they’d get them in so I took my chances with the regular flu shot.
It occurs to me now — as opposed to when I was writing the actual cartoon — that this might not be the best timing for publication, in the gulf between vaccination season and actual flu season. No one’s thinking much about either. But I’m still thinking about them, if thinking and being baffled are the same thing, and with me they often are.
Flu shots may be the one thing that’s essentially free that people still resist. Put something on sale and generally Americans will fall all over themselves to get in on the bargain, whether or not they thought they needed it — or even knew it existed — before it went on sale. Offer even the most useless trinket for free, and we’ll elbow children and the elderly out of the way to get to it first.
But an expensive flu shot — a drug! — that’s essentially free? (Most insurers will waive the copay, which happens rarely enough it should tell you something right there.) That’s greeted with a spectrum of No ranging from indifference to outright resistance, and those who do partake I’m guessing aren’t doing it for the bargain.
So in a few weeks, when the flu season hits in earnest, a few people who got the shot will still get the flu, and a few people who didn’t won’t, and the latter will be convinced this makes them smart rather than merely lucky. Meanwhile, I picture people taking sick days they wouldn’t have had to, lying in bed, miserable, in a t-shirt they got for free at the ballpark from the mascot with the t-shirt cannon after committing aggravated assault to get to it before that goddamned grabby 8-year-old did who was wearing a t-shirt he already undoubtedly got for free from that Ronald McDonald House fundraiser walk, the entitled little snot. And that the memory will make them feel just a little bit better.
LupisLight about 6 years ago
Mmm, that’s a point for Caulfield, I believe.
Bilan about 6 years ago
Lotteries aren’t based on odds, they’re based on a wing and a prayer.
(at least in my mind)
mddshubby2005 about 6 years ago
Given her habits, she shouldn’t be playing odds – she should be reviewing actuarial tables. And updating her will.
asrialfeeple about 6 years ago
I’ve met people who had their flu shot and had a very nasty bout of flu. Once again, those who predicted what flu would be raging were way off the mark.
cervelo about 6 years ago
If you accept Caulfield’s role as a precocious little smarty pants, the story line is good and the punchline bang on.
sandpiper about 6 years ago
Caulfield – 1/Olsen – 0 Aaannnd we’re off!! Excellent arc today.
jessegooddog about 6 years ago
Love today’s strip! One of the best banters between these two.
kunddog about 6 years ago
In my experience the strip would of ended at panel 2. Olsen / teachers reply, remember homework is 25% of your grade, and you just got a zero on that assignment
Richard S Russell Premium Member about 6 years ago
“I suppose there’s a chance that this cold compress won’t be able to stop the bleeding, so let’s just skip it, OK?”
Julie478 Premium Member about 6 years ago
I’m 57 and I’ve never had a flu shot or the flu. I consider myself lucky!
MarkHall4 about 6 years ago
I believe this is the second or third time a flu shot has been recommended in Frazz. How sad. I read the comics to laugh – and this is NOT funny. A flu shot is medicine and also a for-profit industry. One-size medicine does not fit all. A medicine should never be recommended to the general public. It is a very individual decision. The flu shot is absolutely big bucks for Big pHARMa and does not need to be promoted in the comics!It also has the potential to make someone very very ill. It is the number one vaccine payout in the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program run by the government, because….I hope everyone knows…..you can’t sue a vaccine manufacturer or the doctor that administers it, thanks to a 1986 law that exempts them from ALL LIABILITY, including death. Yep, vaccines are the ONLY product in America exempt from all liability. This is an interesting article on Senator Peralta from New York who died at age 47 within 2 weeks of getting his flu shot: https://www.theburningplatform.com/2018/11/30/after-getting-flu-shot-new-york-state-senator-gets-sick-for-two-weeks-then-dies/
rekam Premium Member about 6 years ago
Went for my senior flu shot this year and they were in short supply so they didn’t have any. Didn’t know when they’d get them in so I took my chances with the regular flu shot.
Night-Gaunt49[Bozo is Boffo] about 6 years ago
PostsFrazz14 hrs ·
It occurs to me now — as opposed to when I was writing the actual cartoon — that this might not be the best timing for publication, in the gulf between vaccination season and actual flu season. No one’s thinking much about either. But I’m still thinking about them, if thinking and being baffled are the same thing, and with me they often are.
Flu shots may be the one thing that’s essentially free that people still resist. Put something on sale and generally Americans will fall all over themselves to get in on the bargain, whether or not they thought they needed it — or even knew it existed — before it went on sale. Offer even the most useless trinket for free, and we’ll elbow children and the elderly out of the way to get to it first.
But an expensive flu shot — a drug! — that’s essentially free? (Most insurers will waive the copay, which happens rarely enough it should tell you something right there.) That’s greeted with a spectrum of No ranging from indifference to outright resistance, and those who do partake I’m guessing aren’t doing it for the bargain.
So in a few weeks, when the flu season hits in earnest, a few people who got the shot will still get the flu, and a few people who didn’t won’t, and the latter will be convinced this makes them smart rather than merely lucky. Meanwhile, I picture people taking sick days they wouldn’t have had to, lying in bed, miserable, in a t-shirt they got for free at the ballpark from the mascot with the t-shirt cannon after committing aggravated assault to get to it before that goddamned grabby 8-year-old did who was wearing a t-shirt he already undoubtedly got for free from that Ronald McDonald House fundraiser walk, the entitled little snot. And that the memory will make them feel just a little bit better.
davetb1956 about 6 years ago
Caulfield, definitely don’t get under her skin. She is lumpy enough already.
soaringblocks about 6 years ago
EXCELLENT!
kane2742 about 6 years ago
Even if this year’s flu vaccine is only 30-40% effective, wouldn’t not getting it be 0% effective?
Jhony-Yermo almost 2 years ago
Great strip !