Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for November 26, 2020

Calvin will make a great husband.

“Who are you and what have you done with Calvin?!”

I always feel like chores are easier when you do them on their own without being told.

When I’m downstairs and notice the dishes need unloading, I’ll eagerly do it. But when my mom tells me to unload, I find it a lot harder.

Mom didn’t look in the closet .

Fairly common guy mind trick

It’s better if mom’s impressed with the fulfillment of the least of my obligations.

Set the bar low.

Nice innocent smirk in panel one, easy to miss…

Last Thanksgiving Day, someone wished us all a Happy Thanksgiving and I replied “Thank you but I live in the UK and we don’t have Thanksgiving here. We have Harvest Festivals earlier in the Fall.”

Another commentator replied that we should have Thanksgiving in the UK to thank God for taking the Puritans to America. I replied that there were plenty of Puritans left in England and especially in Scotland and that the Puritans played an important role in the English Civil War and the overthrow of King Charles I.

I watched a TV documentary this year which commemorated the 400th anniversary of the Pilgrim Fathers sailing to America. It explained that the Pilgrim Fathers weren’t just Puritans but a “radical fringe” of the Puritans. The Puritans were extreme Calvinists and the Pilgrim Fathers were extreme Puritans.

I think that we should tolerate extremists when we can as extremists sometimes do a good job. The Pilgrim Fathers seem to have been one example of this.

The less you do, the people expect of you. I’ve got it down so most people are impressed if I can walk and chew gum at the same time ;-)

Seen on a performance evaluation: “Continually sets low standards for himself and fails to attain them.”

That’s it kid. Keep the bar low and you get the most for the least.

Wonder what Calvin would be at 18, 21, 30, 40, 50…

Calvin probably lost a bet with Hobbes.

Lower your own bar.

What a nice Thanksgiving day present for mom (and a great way to kick off the campaign for Christmas). Happy Thanksgiving everyone in the US! Have a nice day everyone else. We’ll eat an extra piece of pie in your honor.

Has Calvin used the ethicator on himself?

Can we just talk about how beautiful the visual storytelling is here? Multiple perspectives on the room, the faces, the contrast in the positions of the characters’ bodies…I’m firmly convinced Watterson could have been an animator if he wanted.

Ferengi Rule of Acquisition #76: “Every once in a while, declare peace. It confuses the hell out of your enemies.”

“Least Expectations”. Charles Dickens new title if he wrote that novel today……

Is Calvin reading the comic book version of Machievelli?

Never give authorities unrealistic expectations.

Not unlike a marriage. Set the bar low enough and you’ll be rewarded.

I read this and immediately thought of the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW.

Sorry.

Lowering the bar…Calvin would LOVE 2020…well, actually the past 10-15 years or so.

That is a huge bed though.

By now, she probably has low expectation so any good deed seems impressive.

Only mothers can be happy with the least obligations of a child. For the rest you need to do much more.

This can work for your job too.

“When you help her”?!? Making the bed is Calvin’s job