Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis for March 05, 2019

They had no choice; the cable was out.

No Internet or smartphones. and the loud bang on the door was Barney Rubble arriving for dinner

In the era before microwaves, you either ate what mom cooked or you didn’t eat.

yeah… who eats as a family these days?

The 3rd floor of my 1892 house was once a ballroom. People played music together, and danced sometimes. Everyone knew how to play something and how to dance. There is a little balcony where couples could get some fresh air.

Tell us more about your grand feast.

I was chatting with a 20-something woman a few days ago. She said that her eight year old sister was living in a different world from the one she’d been raised in.

What is this term family of which you speak?

My niece and her husband bought a house that had formerly been a beauty salon. Had the most entertaining ghosts ever. Even old gossip is fun.

This was in Mississippi. Dick Cavett said that when he went to Greenwood with his wife Carrie Nye he loved to sit on the back porch with her aunts and sisters and just listen. He said every word that came out of their mouths, if transcribed and unedited, would have been publishable.

Haha, and here I made all my comments about “eating together as a family” with the recent FBOFW strip about the same subject.

I remember my friends actually taking PITY on me because I was never allowed to eat in front of the television. Unless I was away from home, I NEVER watched the TV while eating. And, since my mother was the world’s slowest eater, I was forced to sit bored at the table while she finished.

So what everyone views with nostalgia, I view it as the remembrance of being bored. Though I guess my family and I get along better than many families, so maybe that boredom worked!

I’m with RAT and PIG this time! The family unit is no more! Ever since the malls opened, ever since sports became an obsession, ever since credit cards became “vogue”, the family unit crumbled, very sad! Values have changed in America and not for the good! It’s gimme gimme! and not give give!

Yes we eat together why would we not ? …. Croc Power !

We ate dinner together promptly at 5:45, and cleared the dishes at 5:52.

We ate dinner together. But it was sometimes Survival of the Fastest. I once got my hand stabbed with a fork while going for the last meatball.

And Stephan ALSO remembers phones with cords, and black and white televisions that got 3 or maybe 4 channels…and you had to walk across the room to change channels!

I used to get up at 5:30 and make a balanced breakfast for us. After that who knew what would keep us from eating healthy the rest of the day!

Back in the day when one would say “gather round.”

We’ll never know what the “bang” was, will we?

wasn’t he killed yesterday? or is there a cloning machine somewhere.. hoping they turned off the option ‘bad puns’ this time

I wanna hear the rest!

Based on that description, that ‘loud bang’ had to have been a Model T backfiring!

‘Game of Thrones’ was on.

We still eat dinner around the table together. No tv, no cell phones, no electronic devices of any kind. Breakfast and lunch also had ’round the table on weekends.

Um, I am only in my early 40s and we ate meals as a family at the kitchen table.

Wellll, so long as the whole family doesn’t get eaten…

I knew a family that didn’t even have a kitchen table available (it was full of “stuff”) so the food was left on the stove and the kids came and went as they pleased to grab a plateful of food…

The destruction of the family is probably one of the greatest problems of today. From that stem many many issues.

You should have heard the conversations we had. For example, my wife and our two daughters were arguing over something and it was getting more heated till I understood and began a loud strong belly laugh and said, “You all are synced on your periods.”

Does he still live in a basket on Stacy’s porch? I know it’s off topic, but I’ve been wondering.

If this is a truth, then I’m very sad for our culture.

I don’t know whether to haha or :’(

The old times were strange.

Heh heh. Your age is showing, Cartoon-Boy! Do I have to start writing “Cartoon-Middle-aged Guy” instead?

I want to hear the rest of this story. But knowing Pearls, it’s unlikely tomorrow’s strip will be a continuation of today’s.

when iwas growing up, people didn’t even lock their doors

Eating together can be very overrated. My family mostly did eat dinner together, but that didn’t mean we had worthwhile or even peaceful conversations during those meals.

Who is the man

Best one ever.

What happened?