An Even More Important Tip: Never Congratulate a Woman on Her Pregnancy Unless You’re 100% Certain She IS Pregnant
Cidu Bill on Jan 11th 2009
This just baffles me: Is complimenting a woman on her varicose veins something that anybody actually does, at any time or under any circumstances?
Filed in Bill Bickel, CIDU, The Norm, comic strips, comics, humor, pregnancy | 16 responses so far
Charles Jan 11th 2009 at 12:42 am 1
Maybe he thought they were a tattoo? But what does that have to do with the first three panels?
It took me a while to figure out that the third panel is him getting hit by the woman at work.
Comic fail.
Nicole Jan 11th 2009 at 05:05 am 2
Yep - the third panel is what happened at work — he is wearing a tie in that panel,not in the others. What I don’t understand is why he is smiling in the first panel, even though he is clearly distressed in the final panel.
This guy I know Jan 11th 2009 at 06:01 am 3
I think the idea behind it is that some men find pregnant women particularly attractive….
Add to this the desire to compliment an attractive woman…
Then add a misplaced compliment aimed at a less-than-desirable side effect of pregnancy…
The result: one punch to the face.
(I am assuming that the male character depicted here would be awkward around women under the best of circumstances, but when he is faced with a woman whose hormones are wildly out of balance, the consequences are disastrous instead of merely embarrassing.)
jp Jan 11th 2009 at 12:24 pm 4
For me, the joke is in panel two: The woman notices The Norm’s black eye, and immediately (and correctly) jumps to the conclusion that he talked to the pregnant woman at work.
Moral of the story: If you’re a male, don’t even think of talking to a woman you suspect of being pregnant — no good can possibly come of it!
-jp
padraig Jan 11th 2009 at 12:28 pm 5
“Wow! Have you been lifting weights? Great vascularity on those calves! They’re really popp- *BAM!*”
Cindi Jan 11th 2009 at 12:36 pm 6
You need to be 100% sure she is pregnant and not just carrying a bit of extra weight in her abdomen - “When is the baby due?”
… “JERK! I am not pregnant!” POW!
Arvy Jan 11th 2009 at 02:22 pm 7
I took it as “wow, a lot of women have problems with varicose veins, but yours are barely noticible!” which, despite the good intentions, would be a cause for a smack.
I like the explanations from “this guy I know” and “padraig” too, though.
NiChrome Jan 11th 2009 at 02:26 pm 8
As jp wrote, the “joke” seems to be that pregnant women are touchy - but wouldn’t *anyone* be upset if somebody “complimented” her/his varicose veins?
Powers Jan 11th 2009 at 03:58 pm 9
I don’t care how insensitive the comment, punching a co-worker is grounds for dismissal and a possible criminal prosecution.
David A. Rooney Jan 11th 2009 at 05:55 pm 10
I think he was being effusive with praise, which was working well until he got carried away - “My you look radiant! There’s a real glow about your skin! Even your varicose veins have this royal blue color . . ” SMACK!
FadedC Jan 11th 2009 at 06:00 pm 11
Powers,
One of the rather ironic rules of comics (and to a lesser extent comedy in general)
Man Violently Assaulting Woman=Horrible and Criminal
Woman Violently Assaulting Man=Harmless and Funny
Annie Benson-Lennaman Jan 12th 2009 at 12:33 am 12
Ok, David Rooney, your explaination was actually a LOL for me. It would have been awesome had that actually been in the strip.
src Jan 12th 2009 at 12:34 am 13
The old line I always heard was “Never assume a woman is pregnant unless you can see the head emerging.”
Pinny Jan 12th 2009 at 02:59 pm 14
I interpreted his “varicose vein” comment to have been along the lines of:
“Wow, your new patterned stockings look great! What? You’re wearing nude stockings? Oops! Sorry!”
William Lynes Jan 12th 2009 at 04:23 pm 15
And don’t compliment a pregnant woman on the (linea nigra) stripe that reminds you of your favorite quarter horse.
Rainey Jan 14th 2009 at 10:50 am 16
FadedC, this rule is not just limited to the comics but holds true in real life as well. It is very easy for a woman to press charges against a man for harassment and assault whether or not he is actually guilty. It is nearly impossible, however for a man to press such charges against a woman.