I lived for awhile where there wasn’t even a toilet at all. And the shower was outside. Lot of fun, actually, but not entirely conducive to getting a lot of work done: Chores eat quite a bit of time.
Down here in eastern North Carolina, 9,000,000 pigs live indoors, their waste flushed through slats into open pits called lagoons. If you want to lose your appetite for all pig products, come by for a visit on a hot summer day. Or come by after a hurricane, when the lagoons have flooded. Or when it gets sprayed onto pastures as fertilizer. Industrial farming is unimaginably different from a family farm.
Stephan occasionally likes to invoke the song “Cats In the Cradle” in his work, so I thought it appropriate to take a moment to remember the man who wrote and performed the song, Harry Chapin. He was killed in a car accident 39 years ago today, at the age of 38. In addition to being a singer, he was an anti-hunger activist – in fact, the people behind “We Are the World” have cited him as an influence on that project. Perhaps if you are moved to do so, you might pay tribute to him by making a donation to the anti-hunger foundation he founded in 1975, still active today, at www.whyhunger.org.
The epitaph on his headstone, from one of his songs:
“If a man tried / To take his time on Earth / And prove before he died / What one man’s life could be worth / Well, I wonder what would happen to this world.”
We lived with no indoor plumbing for several months. Not fun. We didn’t even have an outhouse. Thankfully it was during late Spring and Summer so the bushes could hide you. Just watch out for the poison ivy. Yeah, that hellhole our parents moved us to scarred all 5 of us for life.
Pig never talks about his childhood because he quit high school, whereas his four older brothers went to Notre Dame, Harvard, Clemson, & Grambling State. Unfortunately they went as footballs!
Tolstoy I believe said that all unhappy families are unhappy in their own way. Pig’s unhappy childhood was unhappy in its own weird, literalist way. He has his reasons for not discussing it.
BE THIS GUY almost 4 years ago
That’s even worse than a broken home.
Sherlock Watson almost 4 years ago
What a crappy story.
Renatus Profuturus Frigeridus Premium Member almost 4 years ago
Have a home is something , for a pig . At least is not a pigpen .
mwksix almost 4 years ago
Really more of a broken sty…
Leojim almost 4 years ago
Pig heaven!
Bilan almost 4 years ago
Reminds me of the line from Trading Places:
“You’re from a broken home of course?”
“Yeah, it was broke. So what?”
Wilde Bill almost 4 years ago
And that about as far as Pig ever gets talking about his childhood.
Concretionist almost 4 years ago
I lived for awhile where there wasn’t even a toilet at all. And the shower was outside. Lot of fun, actually, but not entirely conducive to getting a lot of work done: Chores eat quite a bit of time.
danketaz Premium Member almost 4 years ago
Happens with outhouses.
Gary Fabian almost 4 years ago
So he grew up in a pigsty, big deal.
dadoctah almost 4 years ago
Never would have happened in my family. Dad was a plumber.
blunebottle almost 4 years ago
Goat, you spoke too soon.
iggyman almost 4 years ago
Outhouses, “The Unflushables”!
Walter Kocker Premium Member almost 4 years ago
’Reminds ME of the late great Carrie Fisher – describing HER broken home:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4bv9ZTSnLE
And as Kurt Vonnegut is wont to say:
Hi Ho
Gent almost 4 years ago
I thought Pig was raised in a barn.
Troglodyte almost 4 years ago
I’m sure “pipe down” had a completely different meaning for Pig in his childhood.
Breadboard almost 4 years ago
Goat your turn to spill the beans . Were you a good little goat ? ;-) … Croc Power !
wrd2255 almost 4 years ago
He was like a pig in $h1t.
Aladar30 Premium Member almost 4 years ago
Pig’s backstory is so sad…
Zebrastripes almost 4 years ago
Pig needs help! Everything is literal to him.
Markov Da Robot almost 4 years ago
It looks like, of the two of them, only Pig has coffee. If you look closely, you can see the tip of the teabag on Goat’s mug.
Whatcouldgowrong almost 4 years ago
Down here in eastern North Carolina, 9,000,000 pigs live indoors, their waste flushed through slats into open pits called lagoons. If you want to lose your appetite for all pig products, come by for a visit on a hot summer day. Or come by after a hurricane, when the lagoons have flooded. Or when it gets sprayed onto pastures as fertilizer. Industrial farming is unimaginably different from a family farm.
Reader almost 4 years ago
Pig’s dad did not want to have his plumbing fixed.
Ellis97 almost 4 years ago
A total nightmare.
garcoa almost 4 years ago
Be careful when drinking coffee and talking about a broken home when standing a few inches away from the edge of a cliff.
skipper1992 almost 4 years ago
Stephan occasionally likes to invoke the song “Cats In the Cradle” in his work, so I thought it appropriate to take a moment to remember the man who wrote and performed the song, Harry Chapin. He was killed in a car accident 39 years ago today, at the age of 38. In addition to being a singer, he was an anti-hunger activist – in fact, the people behind “We Are the World” have cited him as an influence on that project. Perhaps if you are moved to do so, you might pay tribute to him by making a donation to the anti-hunger foundation he founded in 1975, still active today, at www.whyhunger.org.
The epitaph on his headstone, from one of his songs:
“If a man tried / To take his time on Earth / And prove before he died / What one man’s life could be worth / Well, I wonder what would happen to this world.”
petermerck almost 4 years ago
I swear there are more cliff edges in comics than in real life.
sirbadger almost 4 years ago
Did the toilet have a fingerprint reader that doesn’t work with goat fingerprints?
pchemcat almost 4 years ago
We lived with no indoor plumbing for several months. Not fun. We didn’t even have an outhouse. Thankfully it was during late Spring and Summer so the bushes could hide you. Just watch out for the poison ivy. Yeah, that hellhole our parents moved us to scarred all 5 of us for life.
COL Crash almost 4 years ago
Pig isn’t that wrong. That’s a pretty good example of a dysfunctional Family to me.
The Brooklyn Accent almost 4 years ago
So Pig was housebroken?
Mentor397 almost 4 years ago
I was in a nursing home like that for a while.
Carl Rennhack Premium Member almost 4 years ago
Pig never talks about his childhood because he quit high school, whereas his four older brothers went to Notre Dame, Harvard, Clemson, & Grambling State. Unfortunately they went as footballs!
wjbillthompson almost 4 years ago
Sounds broken to me.
DCBakerEsq almost 4 years ago
I’m housebroken.
Another Take almost 4 years ago
Of course. He lived in a pig sty
Otis Rufus Driftwood almost 4 years ago
Tolstoy I believe said that all unhappy families are unhappy in their own way. Pig’s unhappy childhood was unhappy in its own weird, literalist way. He has his reasons for not discussing it.
Sisyphos almost 4 years ago
Sounds broken to me, Goat. You are too caught up in idiom.
Sad story, Pig. Hope your family found a plumber….
Ceeg22 Premium Member almost 4 years ago
We had to turn on the hose to fill the tank after flushing the toilet. It was a very old house
The one and only Eldest Arc (now at peace) over 1 year ago
Sing along with the Tree: I was broken from a young age Taking my sulking to the masses,