Mutt & Jeff by Bud Fisher for May 18, 2021

Mutt’s a dad after my father’s heart. This is what I was promised if I ever got spanked at school. That only happened once and I kept my mouth shut.

My Dad used to say that if the police reported him to my grandfather, usually for scrumping apples and the like, he would have already received a thump from the policeman, back in the days when we actually had some on the streets, and then got a second helping from grandad.

That’s what would have happened to me. Plus I would have been told that I must have done something to deserve it.

I never told my folks about getting paddled at school.

Similar to grade cards in Catholic elementary school. Father would pass them out and comment so all of your classmates knew that “you must not have tried very hard, what a disappointment to your parents after all of the their sacrifice to send you here”, and then when you got home your parents would comment and usually remove some of your privileges and then you would hear it from your grandparents. No problems with inflated self-esteem in those days.

So the kid gets another spanking because the teacher is good looking? The logic of that escapes me.

My teacher never looked like that.. but the threat of harsher punishment at home was certainly there. Strange how the threat.. was more effective than actual punishment which.. looking back never really occurred. Then, there was also a vague threat of reform school.. never clearly defined, but if you ever went there… that was the end.

Today, the teacher and the father would be reported for child abuse.

Nowadays that’s called child abuse.

What will Mrs. Mutt say?

Is that Mary Noble, Backstage Teacher?

A lot of truth there. And junior is learning the hard way.