Kiss and Ride
Cidu Bill on May 5th 2008
So I would call it an ARLO I don’t understand. [also received about 5 minutes later from John]
Cul de Sac by Richard Thompson
Filed in Arlo Page, Bill Bickel, CIDU, Cul de Sac, comic strips, comics, humor | 28 responses so far
Michael May 5th 2008 at 12:52 pm 1
I think the “laughed hollowly” kind of kills the idea that this could be an Arlo.
Although, frankly, my first thought was definitely along Arlo lines until I got to that part. If he “laughed slyly” (or something similar) it would have made a lot more sense. But because of that laugh, this remains a CIDU for me.
Nicole May 5th 2008 at 01:25 pm 2
Michael — yes that makes sense. But I still think that is has something to do with Arlo! I mean ‘ride’ is SUCH a common euphimism for sex and paired with KISS — it is very hard to to think Arlo
Nicole May 5th 2008 at 01:49 pm 3
I found one and only one Arlo like reference to the phrase “Kiss and Run”. It was in the lyrics of a song by a group called bratmobile and accord to the comments it means to have sex and then run.
http://www.songmeanings.net/lyric.php?lid=122802
Oh google — is there nothing you can’t do ????
Bah humbug May 5th 2008 at 02:05 pm 4
I’m surprised nobody Googled “Kiss and Ride”, because I turned up lyrics to a song by Dynamite Walls that would certainly make me laugh hollowly in the kiddie carpool lane…
www.lyricsandsongs.com/song/870623.html
The choris, for example:
“Pour some gasoline on your useless things
We won’t need them anymore.
We can steal a car
Watch the flames billow in the rear-view mirror.”
Bah humbug May 5th 2008 at 02:13 pm 5
I’m surprised nobody Googled “Kiss and Ride”, because I came up with the lyrics to a Dynamite Walls song that would surely cause me to laugh hollowly if I was reminded of them while idling in a minivan in the kiddie carpool lane. I’m not sure how to put hyperlinks here, so you’ll have to Google it yourselves - but the chorus is:
“Pour some gasoline on your useless things
We won’t need them anymore.
We can steal a car
Watch the flames billow in the rear-view mirror.”
Scott May 5th 2008 at 03:53 pm 6
I’ve never seen “Kiss and Ride” used for a preschool dropoff, but only for a dropoff point at a train or subway station. Anyhow, who would leave a preschool kid by himself at some random bus stop?
I also don’t think laughing hollowly goes very well with an Arloesque interpretation. Maybe it is a reaction to getting dropped off to ride to work, which he hates, but that is stretching it. *scratches head*
Madalch May 5th 2008 at 04:22 pm 7
You don’t leave the kid at a random bus stop- you leave them at the designated area where you stop just long enough to kiss them good-bye, then ride away. Thus “Kiss & Ride”.
For the adult joke- I kissed her, and now she gets a free ride for the rest of her life (i.e., I pay for everything). Or she’s constantly nagging (riding) him.
Doers it say anything about my marriage that I think of these meanings to “ride” instead of the Arloesque ones?
Dan May 5th 2008 at 05:16 pm 8
Richard Thompson’s cartoons appear in the Washington Post. In the DC metro area, the train stations have designated Kiss and Ride sections - that’s where you drop people off and pick them up, rather than parking your car for the day, as most commuters do.
I don’t think this is an Arlo. One of the contentious issues of this area is that train fares and parking rates are constantly being increased. So the kid’s dad is saying, here’s where you kiss your money goodbye, because Metro takes you for a ride!
Cedar May 5th 2008 at 05:35 pm 9
I like Bah Humbug’s interpretation, but it doesn’t quite work for me since Dynamite Walls is a more contemporary band, and that song would have come out when he already had kids. I feel like that explanation would make the most sense if it were a line from a song of his youth.
Sparkle May 5th 2008 at 07:04 pm 10
Oh, its definitely an Arlo…Madalch’s got the right direction.
pepperjackcandy May 5th 2008 at 11:37 pm 11
Maybe he drops the kids off and then goes home and rides their mom?
I can’t believe I just typed that.
Michael May 6th 2008 at 12:51 am 12
@Pepperjackcandy — But would you laugh “hollowly” if that was what happened? It would have to be a pretty hollow sex life to get that reaction.
I think Dan has it. His description of “Kiss and Ride” areas at the commuter rail stations is the common interpretation I’m aware of; and if this is a regional comic then his explanation probably makes perfect sense in that area.
Rick from Little Rock May 6th 2008 at 09:17 am 13
I take it to mean, “kiss the kids good bye, then RIDE!” As in drop them off then get on and get out of my way. As a parent who’s dropped kids off at school many times, I know how so many will stop, kiss the kids, sign the last minute note, talk to them about “SOMETHING”, then sit and watch them walk up to the school door, while the rest of the drop off line is waiting. “Kiss and RIDE” (or maybe kiss and DRIVE”) sounds like good instructions.
John May 6th 2008 at 09:47 am 14
The meaning just doesn’t seem to come together for me. Yes, there are Kiss & Ride dropoffs at Metro stations in D.C. (and in other parts of the country), but there it’s the commuters who are kissing their spouses good-bye, then riding into work; school dropoffs are not so labeled. That, however, may just be a nit. More to the point, while it seems vaguely Arlo-ish, I don’t see an Arlo-ish interpretation that makes sense for these pre-schoolers. Is it about parents’ eagerness to get away from their children? That would make more sense if the quoted speaker were a teacher or other observer, not a parent. The kids’ free ride? But that isn’t funny and doesn’t make much sense. Whatever the answer, it has something to do with the emphasized words “AND RIDE.”
DPWally May 6th 2008 at 10:27 am 15
“and he laughed hollowly” is wrong coming from a preschooler who can’t even read yet. It jarred me out of the suspension of disbelief necessary to accept the rest of the precocious dialog and get the joke. (Assuming someone can find the joke, which I haven’t.)
Unless that phrase’s jarringness *was* the joke.
DPWally May 6th 2008 at 10:28 am 16
I think “jarringness” is an appropriately jarring non-word.
Judge Mental May 6th 2008 at 01:36 pm 17
After a couple of days hoping to see a good explanation for this one, I can’t say that any of these work for me. Sparkle, I particularly don’t understand your comments. You say it’s “definitely an Arlo”, but then you say that Madalch (whose interpretation was definitely NON-Arlo) has “got the right direction”
A couple of thoughts (more like half-thoughts):
- if we indeed interpret “kiss and ride” as a G-rated euphemism for “f and run”, then the dad was laughing hollowly in that was what “he should have done”. This is a very bleak joke and while I don’t read “Cul De Sac” every day, it seems out of character for the strip, or am I off-base?
- Is the dad just lamenting that his every-day nine-to-five schedule only leaves enough time for this brief interaction with his child?
Pinny May 6th 2008 at 07:38 pm 18
No Arlo.
His father feels like he all he ever does with his kids (ie, all they need him for) is give them rides and kiss them good-bye.
A view from the other side of Harry Chapin’s “Cats in the Cradle”, maybe?
Cedar May 6th 2008 at 10:27 pm 19
I like Pinny’s explanation–that one works on all levels for me.
dd May 7th 2008 at 01:05 am 20
Funny that so many have been interpreting it as the dad kissing women then riding away. I thought the “hollow laugh” went better with the idea that women kiss HIM then ride off, never to be seen again. Love em and leave em.
Bah humbug May 7th 2008 at 07:44 am 21
The adult level of conversation - mixed in with typical kid-speak - is a continuing joke in this strip. Check out the strip for 5/4/08, where the little boy discusses how parents have “fetishized their kids and worship them as little deities” and complains how he feels like his mom is stalking him like a deranged fan. And the whole time, the little girl is gearing up to go postal because nobody will push her on her swing. I love it, and I think I’ve found a new favorite strip to follow!
Nicole May 7th 2008 at 07:48 am 22
I agree with Bah humbug, I have been reading the strip for a while and some of the dialog borders on the surreal — I think of it as Peanuts if it was done by Salvidor Dali
R Thompson May 7th 2008 at 02:10 pm 23
The answer to this whole sordid mystery can be found here, under “How To Screw Up a Perfectly Good Joke”.
http://richardspooralmanac.blogspot.com/
My apologies for the confusion, but on the other hand I kinda enjoyed it.
dd May 7th 2008 at 05:54 pm 24
Kiss and LEARN - yes, that makes more sense
eeyore19 May 7th 2008 at 07:28 pm 25
I’m with Judge Mental on this one. The phrase “Kiss and Ride” immediately brought to mind the phrase “f*** and run” (and the Liz Phair song with the same title). I take this to mean that before the boy’s father met the mother, he had a string of girls that would “f*** and run” and leave him feeling dejected.
bAT L. May 7th 2008 at 10:44 pm 26
I had thought that the sign actually said something else other than what is said here, since the kid can’t read (apparently), and we don’t have those signs anywhere in the city where I live. The link in #22 explained it completely, even if that is kinda cheating.
Pinny May 9th 2008 at 07:10 am 27
Re: bAT L. (#26)
The CIDU page used to contain a sentence like, “We’d love to hear from you — especially if you are the artist,” so I don’t consider post #23 “cheating”.
Cidu Bill May 9th 2008 at 12:49 pm 28
You misremember slightly, Pinny: What I used to say was, if there’s a comic you don;t understand, feel free to send it to me — especially if you’re the artist.
Generally we frown on the artist dropping by the explain a CIDU, because he already HAD his change to make us understand — but clearly, in the case of this particular strip, the artist’s comment was very different than most and I’m happy he dropped by.