Cul de Sac by Richard Thompson for January 19, 2021

oh, darn

I hear you, Alice.

All puppies are cute, Alice. Just figure you need to be nice to Kevin, for a change.

Relax, kid. Life only gets harder from here.

I had friends like Alice. They liked me for the toys I had, not really interested in playing with me, otherwise.

Hobson’s choice!

I have trouble thinking of one thing at once.

Alice’s self importance and narcissism is appalling.

This is worth clipping… the final panel will come in handy.

Go with the puppies. Love wins out over hate in the end!

Fitzgerald wrote that “the test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposing ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function,” but I don’t think he expected it to apply to preschoolers.

Once a snotty little brat, always a snotty little brat.

First-hand experience has shown Alice that Kevin is annoying, while she has only second-hand reports that the puppy is really cute. However, were the puppy annoying presumably her friends would have mentioned that as well. It can’t be ruled out, but it’s worth a first-hand check.

The neighbors have a lot of kids, the youngest reminds me a bit of Alice. Once I think she was trying to get me to help her clean all the barbies she had strewn over their porch. She kept saying things like how much easier it would be with help and even threw a doll in my direction to see if I could get that?

Conflicting ideas, not so much two at once as two in alternation (like the superbly apt art!). Still, the question you need to answer for yourself, Alice, is which shall prevail? Can you be kind to Kevin just this once, or should you forego your Puppy Envy?

What if the puppy has a big bucket head?

Alice! IT IS A PUPPY!!! Nothing beats a new puppy! NOTHING!!!