Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for June 08, 2023

Dad should know those phone calls are billing hours.

Somebody has to answer the robocalls…..

That was then, and thanks to cellphones, this is now!

I decided years ago to not have an “answering machine.” Instead, I have a “questioning machine.” The outgoing message says, “You have reached Alex’s questioning machine. It won’t answer you, but what is you name and what do you want to tell Alex?”

Our friend Leading Edge is posting his customized cartoon on Calvin and Hobbes Lovers FB page. Go check it out.

A strip with neither Calvin or Hobbes.

Panel 4 really speaks volumes about where Calvin gets his attitude from!!

I feel like the dad lots of times.

I have no problem not returning calls. I also ignore practically all "friend"requests on FaceBook.

calvin and his dad are the same person and calvin’s mom is susie..

Well, now we know where Calvin got yesterday’s attitude.

He’d better not answer the next questions, So then what do you use the secretary for?

Now we see where Calvin gets it from!

With that attitude, Dad will not only be out of a job, he’ll probably be disbarred as well.

And people wonder why his ratings are so low In Calvin’s polls!!

https://youtu.be/fB0Tjo_rWj0

Today’s strip agrees with a point that I made yesterday. Someone asked yesterday, “Didn’t they have answerphones in those days?” I replied that they did but they were more for businesses than private households and also that Calvin’s Dad is a technophobe who hated having a TV set in the house and didn’t get a home computer until near the end of the strip.

My own Dad didn’t like answerphones and hated having to speak to them when making a phone call. He used to say that he could remember when people who talked to machines were locked away.

I used to have a singing message I found on the net that ran something like

“We’re sorry we’re not home right now, I’m afraid you’re out of luck

Please leave a message and if you don’t then…… take….. a…… flying…..(Beep!)".

I admit I was easily entertained in those days…

I had thought of an answering machine message that I rather liked. “Please leave your message after the tone. Attempting to leave a message before the tone is futile, and can only lead to frustration. Leaving a message during the tone is recommended for advanced users only.”

Of course, having the machine at all frustrates the Cal-dad’s goal of unreachability, but sometimes someone would leave a message that really was important to me.

Sorry, I like them. I can recall making phone call after phone call trying to tell people something important and not being able to (like someone was in the hospital). Whether you care to return the call is up to you, but once I deliver the message my part is done.

Dad might not like that Cal will find a way to leave his own message. And we all know how ‘diplomatic and polite’ Cal can be.

My landline system blocks automated calls (unless the number is in my phone book), so I don’t even hear the phone ring. Bliss!

One time I answered the phone at work. My boss watched me as I asked for the person’s name and number, but I was just sitting, not writing anything down. When I finished, he asked why I did that. I told him that it was a salesman; if the salesman thought that I was actually taking the message, the odds were great that he wouldn’t call back, but would wait for my boss to call. My boss thought that was genius.

The Questioning Machine…. yes !

I heard an answering maching I liked once. “What do you want. …no”

There is a slight difference between office calls and home calls, though…

suddenly the link to calvin is very noticeable

Bad News, texting is coming

the real reason for cell phones – one ring – let go to msgs – no msg – block number. life is so simple

Where’s Calvin and Hobbs?

I guess this shows why they never seem to entertain friends at home.

Of course, the Dad is not a fan of modern technology, and Bill Watterson generally isn’t either. (Even though by this point the Sunday strips were colored by computer.)

Besides, they have to get a new telephone anyways, since Calvin just broke their old one!

Well, now we see that the apple didn’t fall far from the tree in this family!

This strip makes so little sense if you didnt check, or forgot about, yesterday’s ahah ^^

Back in the 70s, there used to be a Dial-A-Joke answering machine out of Los Angeles called “ZZZZZZ”. You dialed the number and there would be an updated joke or hilarious skit to hear each week. One of those entries was “the world’s first silent telephone recording”. Another favorite was a skit where a guy dials a phone number, it picks up and you suddenly hear tap-dancing. The guy hangs up saying, “It’s no good; they’re tapping the lines…”.

The seed doesn’t fall far from the tree. Hmmm.

I see where Calvin gets it.

Pure coincidence, I suppose, but as I was reading the comments my wife’s phone rang with an obvious unwanted call.

After spending a lot of time on the phone during the day, I didn’t want to answer calls at home, either.

My gosh, how OLD is this strip?

It’s great that now my cell phone gives a “spam likely” notice for unwanted calls.

Now we see where Calvin gets it from.

Answering machine no more but 2 voice mail, 2 texts, 4 emails. No wonder I can’t find stuff.

Now we see why Calvin is the way he is.

I remember the days before voicemail when you could just ignore the phone if you didn’t want to talk to anyone. If the secretary took a message, you could just ignore that too.

I am now aware, more than ever, that Calvinb is definitely his dad’s son.

Do Not Disturb Mode. Absolutely one of the top ten best inventions of modern times.

Dad can’t realize that mom is missing a lot of calls, because her son is a dork.

Secretaries? Just how old is this strip?

So, THAT’S where Calvin gets it from!

I want to know what moms point was

The secretaries are no more required to disturb you nowadays. The smartphones have all it takes to wreck havoc whole day.

Answering machine? Secretaries? Along with the occasional CRT TV cubes, this strip is starting to show its age.

The answering machine ran interference. You are not obliged tol return any of the calls.

I have let my friends know that my cell phone is for emergency use. I don’t like to talk on the phone all day to someone who is simply bored… and I don’t like being interrupted by text messages all day long. So my good friends know that I keep my cell phone on the other side of the room, and they know I have a land line for “real” phone calls. To me it is a fascinating social trend how people will call regularly on a cell phone, but rarely call my land line. Both work equally well… so apparently what they would be calling my cell phone for isn’t important enough for them to use my land line. ; )

As a result, when I do get a cell call I pay attention to it, because it’s probably a friend in need. And if they’re calling just to shoot the breeze, one thing I ask them before the call is over, “Do you have my home phone number?”

I don’t mean to be curmudgeonly… but I didn’t buy my cell phone for their use; I bought it for mine in case I seriously need it when I’m out somewhere. When I gave them the number I told them it’s for important and emergency calls only. So they know the purpose of that phone. I think smart phones are absolutely wonderful incredible devices… but can also be a royal time-consuming pain in the posterior.

Now we just ignore stuff on our mobile phones.

And…..we know which parent Calvin resembles….