February 5th, 2014

Chuckles of Support

by Wayno & Piraro

Bizarro is brought to you today by Spinach Lovers.

I’ve been arrested and interrogated by the fuzz too many times to count, but never in a clown suit. If any of you readers are cops who have arrested and/or interrogated a clown, please share your story in the comments section. For some reason, it fascinates me. Possibly because I have always been naturally suspicious of anyone in a clown outfit. I wouldn’t say I am “afraid” of them, but I don’t trust them and will avoid them if possible. It’s the same as I treat panhandlers or obvious prostitutes; I just don’t have any interest in contact with them.

My second cartoon today, or, “Tuesday’s cartoon,” as I’ve come to call it, is about a support group mistaken for a children’s game. I spent a lot of time in a divorce support group after my first marriage exploded in 1996, then later went back and trained to be a facilitator of the same group. I’m a big believer in support groups for anything from substance abuse to grief to common psychological issues like being a family member of an alcoholic. They really do work and they’re usually free. I got as much help from my support group as I did from my therapist back in ’96 and paid nothing for it.

The gentleman in this cartoon who is speaking was a friend of mine from the old group. Fred was going through the group at the same time I was, then was a facilitation partner with me a couple of years later. Fred was a great guy and a good friend. He passed away a few years ago but I thought of him again when I was doing this cartoon.

BIZARRO BASEMENT: Here’s a bit more fun on the subject from 2001. I’ve found that there’s a support group for just about anything that’s bothering you so even though I made this up, it might well exist somewhere. In my opinion, this is a problem that has long been swept under the rug in our society.