by Terry Wynne
Harry really did have to go the library like he told his wife. It just so happened that the pub was on the way. Why not stop and relax for a while? No harm done.
One of Harry’s usher friends was sitting at the bar stool with a window view the sidewalk. Patrick was taking the pedestrian scene all in as he sipped a Guinness. He had a ruddy, jovial face that always looked like it basked in the sunny side of life. Whatever demons resided in his soul, you could not read them on his expression. He lost his wife to cancer many years ago and went to church daily. Father McGinty entrusted him with counting the collection money. Patrick was diligent and conscientious. Whenever the ushers would tease him about skimming the collection, he didn’t take kindly to it.
“You are really stretching this unemployment, Harry,” said Patrick. “Aren’t you going on close to a year?”
“I got four weeks left. Don’t worry about. I’ve been doing so many push ups I’ll be in shape to do Bachelorette parties before you know it. I hear the women really like to ante up for those.”
“The only place you could dance is up at the Senior Center,” said Patrick. “Don’t you realize you are over the hill.”
“So the world tells me.”
Danielle spotted Harry and pulled him a pint of Blue Point. There would be more to come. She always gave him an extra pint or two knowing he was out of work. She was kind.
“You got in the wrong business, Harry, “ said Patrick. “You should have worked in civil service like me. You get a decent pension and they don’t show you the door at 50 unless you want to go. That advertising is a young person’s game. And, from what I see on the TV, cutthroat.”
“Wish you were around in 1982, “said Harry. “ I was a dolphin swimming in shark tank. Should have known better. The stress I have now is killing me. I can barely sleep.”
“ When I have stress, I go downstairs to my basement and read old comic books I’ve collected through the years. I got a few boxes.”
“I loved Batman and Superman,” said Harry. “I missed the Marvel revolution by about a year. Mostly, a DC guy. I was only into it for a few years.”
“I got em all, Harry. Marvel, DC, Popeye, Weird Science, Mad Magazine, Uncle Scrooge – even my sister’s Little Lu Lu. I can’t tell you how much comfort they bring me. Transports me back when the world wasn’t such a dark place.”
“Don’t misunderstand – The early 1960s were not idyllic. Assassinations, racism, war, poverty, riots, generational hostility. But I do remember the comic books helping me. Right after JFK was shot, I was looking at a Superboy issue. I remember the pale blue sky background of one of the panels. I wished I could escape into that blue sky and fly away, just like Superboy. Everything would be alright if I could dive into that sky.”
“We all are looking for that blue sky in the panel,” said Harry. “Maybe we found it this pub.”
“If that is true, I am in deep shit, Harry. Drinking alone in here can be a depressing prospect.”
“As long as my unemployment holds out and even after, you will always have me, Patrick”
“Then we are in deep shit together my friend.”
About the Author:
Terry Wynne is a freelance cartoonist whose cartoons have appeared worldwide. He lives in Camillus, New York with his wife, Noghma, his daughter, Gabrielle, and his mother, Marianne. His work includes sight gags, comic strips, children’s books, political cartoons, and caricature. He devotes his time to cartooning, charity, golf, and softball.