There are a lot of comic strips and email cartoons parodying seniors. I get emails from Senior friends with lots of hilarious cartoons about the foibles and frailties of being older. Some have to do with memory loss. Some to do with hearing loss. Some to do with just plain getting older. They show wrinkled and sagging bodies and seemingly stereotyped activities. I love to read them and truly enjoy their messages.
“You know you’re getting older when the candles cost more than the cake.” – Bob Hope
It seems that some people take offense at the messages in these cartoons and comic strips. Of course, cartoons can’t offend anyone, but people can choose to take offense or be offended if they are so inclined. Personally, I find the cartoons hilarious. Some of them hit home hard — in a humorous way. If I choose to be offended, I will ask senders (usually friends) to take me off their list, or I simply would not read them. Easy choice to make and no complaints.
Sometimes there is a valuable, but often subtle, message in them. Take the “Pickles” strip from today’s Washington Post. This morning, Opal Pickles, the Grandma, complained that when she looked in the mirror, she didn’t look the way she felt and didn’t feel the way she looked. She decided to TAKE ACTION and DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. When Grandpa Earl went in to the bathroom to shave — the mirror was gone. Problem solved!
The saga of Opal and Earl Pickles, a retired couple in their seventies, can be found in many newspapers across the country and probably across the world. Most days, it reminds me of . . . Me. Funny thing, my wife says it reminds her of me too. Hmm.
“Nice to be here? At my age, it’s nice to be anywhere.” – George Burns
Often a bit of parody of ourselves can be good for us. It’s good, clean fun. Some don’t appreciate the aging “stereotypes”, but if the cartoons make you laugh, then that’s a good thing.
Laugh and the world laughs with you. So, keep those hilarious cartoons and comic strips coming.
Thank you for reading.