CSotD: Keeping the ex- in Xmas
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There are half a dozen strips in the "Pick me! Pick me!" folder today, and whatever distractions may be driving your actions, and despite the fact that Saturday is traditionally the place cartoonists dump their least-of-the-week nominees, you should go read the funny pages. I didn't spot any fruit cake gags and there were quite a few very good holiday strips.
In fact, I thought about running several today, but then there were several more that would have still been lined up and left out. So I stuck to the format, and you'll have to go find them all. Think of it as an Advent calendar where you get to open all the little windows on the same day.
But, while choosing the First Runner-Up would have been tough, Between Friends was easily the CSOTD with a strip (that may or may not be) capping an arc about Maeve's complicated relationship with her ex, who not only gave her a pair of earrings but paid back $500 of the five grand he borrowed from her some time ago.
There is something unrealistic in this ongoing subplot in Maeve's life, in that she and Simon didn't have kids. In my experience, divorced couples without kids part, wander off into the ether and that's it, except for the fools who had violated the Prime Directive, which is:
"Never date anyone you can't avoid."
(There are frequent feature articles in the paper about the etiquette of office dating. This does not reflect real life: The articles appear because reporters and editors, who work odd hours and never get to meet anyone but each other, find the topic more germane than sane, normal people who can pursue sensible dating policies. Whatever issues of nepotism and conflict of interest may arise in dating someone you have to work with, they are overwhelmed by the devastation that results from violating the Prime Directive.)
In any case, I like the idea that Maeve and Simon don't have kids because it keeps the ex-relationship more narrowly focused than it would ever be in real life.
I used to hate my ex because of stupid things that would come up between us over the kids. Now I love my ex because of the wonderful things she's able to do with our grandkids.
But it was always more about the kids than it was about each other, and this set up lets that other aspect come to the fore.
It's a fascinating aspect.
Fact is, I love my ex. Always will. I see her about once a year, and, in the first few minutes, I remember how much fun she was and then, in the next few minutes, one of us will say or do something that reminds me of why we're not together anymore and what a very good thing that is.
In other words, we can replicate our entire 13-year marriage in about 20 minutes.
I think it takes a couple of decades to get to that point, and I'm sure that the fact that she lives on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean doesn't hurt.
Great buffer, that Atlantic Ocean. One of the best.
Still, I'm sorry the plan this year is for the kids to go see her in the summer, because I like it when she comes to visit them and we have a few hours to laugh over things nobody else would get.
Today's Between Friends is certainly the most touching of this year's Christmas strips, one that uses the holiday in a way to go back for a brief moment to Fezziwig's party for a gentle, spectral reminder of what was, and what can never, ever be again.
Unless Maeve goes completely out of her mind.
(Those still finding the wounds too raw should click on this link I provided a few days ago. Those who are ready to smile and remember should seek out this 1979 film.)
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