Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis for January 20, 2013

Dang, I thought Neighbor Bob was the normal one.

And I was so ready for a pun..,

Hmmmmm. Autobiographical, Stephan?

I can see why Neighbor Bob hasn’t been with a girl since the fifth grade.

Well, it’s clear why this Neighbor Bob (one of a long line of Neighbor Bobs, some of whom have died from living next to Rat and/or Li’l Guard Duck) is single and always will be, having the emotional development of a five-year-old! Kinda feel sorry for Gina and even for well-intentioned Pig, whose “good deed” has bombed!

Bob is an engineer?

Pig ’ll be in big trouble if Pigita ever finds out.

Even Pig is smart enough to know there’s no such thing as “girl cooties”…

Cooties!!!

Pig’s such an expert on romance. Just ask Pigita.

TAG! Now you ALL have cooties!!!

I hate girl cooties

Gina is now en route to a lesbian bar…can’t say I blame her!

Lame can be very funny. But sometimes (and too frequently lately in Pearls…) lame is just that: lame. Losing your edge?

LOL Cooties in my day were the symbol of the grossness of touching or getting near the opposite sex. No one in my class wanted them!

The ritual my daughters had back in the seventies as teens was more gender neutral. Upon tagging you shout “Boogie germs! Checkouts!”. (The “checkouts” prohibits retaliation). Still makes me laugh to think of it.

Is Bob related to Peter Pan?

That’s gonna be some meeting he’s going to.

SLM

I remember playing that game in fifth grade. By sixth, I think, I didn’t mind the cooties so much.

How…. embarassing.

xxx

It’s sad when pig is the mature one

This is exactly why I can never get girls’ phone numbers!

that’s one weird neighbour.

He looks like a successful business man. You’d think his company’s health plan would include something as basic as cootie shots.

I guess some people never grow up

So, how did he have a girlfriend in the 5th grade? Was he immune to cooties that year?

Since fifth grade? With that third grade attitude it’s shocking he had a girlfriend in fifth grade.

Was totally expecting Pig to do something stupid. Pastis must want to keep us on our toes

so many people named bob sigh

Funny Story: When I was in fifth grade or something, some kid drooled on this chair, and that freaked everyone out. Later my classmates drew a red “X” on the chair with permanent marker to signify it was the “Drool Chair”. If you accidentally sat on the chair, you would have cooties and be shunned for at least a month.

Eeewww! Boy cooties!