Bonus Belated Valentine’s Day CIDU
Cidu Bill on Feb 17th 2010
Elias Peter: I’m not sure why Daryl would be disappointed in getting a useful tool as a gift. Shouldn’t this be remembered as a landmark moment when two spouses exchanged perfectly reasonable gifts?
Filed in Baby Blues, Bill Bickel, CIDU, Valentine's Day, comic strips, comics, humor | 23 responses so far
Catelli Feb 17th 2010 at 12:05 pm 1
A Pipe Wrench ain’t high on my list of tools.
Cue Tim Allen - Needs more Power!
Elyrest Feb 17th 2010 at 12:08 pm 2
I have to say that I agree with Elias Peter. I couldn’t understand why Daryl wouldn’t like his wrench either. Was he looking for something more romantic? I personally don’t find necklaces romantic , but that’s me. Maybe she didn’t spend enough?
Rainey Feb 17th 2010 at 12:57 pm 3
Daryl should just be glad he got anything.
Keera Feb 17th 2010 at 01:37 pm 4
In a reversal of the stereotypical gift-buying habits of the two genders… naw, still can’t find the joke.
Folly Feb 17th 2010 at 01:51 pm 5
He’ll think of her everytime he …screws something. No wait… wrenches something. No wait…
Dan W Feb 17th 2010 at 02:15 pm 6
Personally I’d be excited to get any kind of tool for V-day (or any other day for that matter). As it is, I got a gift card to Home Depot, which is just as good
Tom Feb 17th 2010 at 02:19 pm 7
1) a wrench, unlike a necklace, involves very little thought about the person you’re buying it for. There are minor variations in style and color, sure, but nothing that makes it a “personal” gift.
2) If he has any kind of workroom or toolbox at all, he probably has all the wrenches he needs.
3) Sometimes it’s nice to feel a little pampered. He got his wife something purely for her delight, while she got him something practical. Boring!
Nicole Feb 17th 2010 at 02:26 pm 8
Maybe it is me, but I think he WAS looking for something more romantic. A wrench is a very practicle gift. Imagine her reaction if, for valentines day, he had gotten her a set of knives … there would be no chance of any Arlo action for a long long time.
ty Feb 17th 2010 at 02:29 pm 9
Despite the denial, Keera’s got it. According to convention, the clueless guy, and all married guys are clueless, gives his beloved a vacuum cleaner or an ironing board. Does the joke work? Depends on how you feel about simple stereotype reversal as a comic device.
Dan Feb 17th 2010 at 03:22 pm 10
The necklace makes Wanda look/feel pretty, and Daryl might have been expecting something similar, like maybe aftershave or a nice tie, or cufflinks.
DifferentPatrick Feb 17th 2010 at 04:27 pm 11
The wrench means Wanda wants Daryl to do more work arounds the house. Daryl doesn’t want to do more work around the house, so he wears the wrench like an albatros hanging from his neck.
David Feb 17th 2010 at 05:23 pm 12
Wanda’s statement “I thought you liked tools” is the giveaway that she doesn’t understand. I’ve gotten present along those lines before - “I know you like books, so here’s a book that I grabbed at random.” I have in fact gotten tools chosen almost at random, but they were all-purpose useful tools, and from a relative giving them in a non-romantic context.
There are tools, and then there are “sexy” tools (sexy in the engineering/programming sense). The question Wanda should be asking herself - Does Darryl want a pipe wrench? Has he been looking wistfully at pipe wrenches? If I got my wife an ugly necklace because I know she “likes jewelry”, that would indicate I hadn’t been paying attention to what she likes. She’d probably think of me every time she wore it, though.
When buying a tool for a man who “likes tools”, the key descriptors are things like “Lithium-ion” and “60,000 rpm”. This may apply to women who like tools too, but I don’t have enough info to make that call.
Nate Feb 17th 2010 at 06:24 pm 13
I think there’s a monetary element here, too. How much did Daryl blow on the jewelry versus what Wanda spent on a fairly basic household tool? It’s petty, maybe, but I think Daryl feels shortchanged.
The Bad Seed Feb 17th 2010 at 11:23 pm 14
Everyone of every gender likes a nice romantic gifty-gift sometimes. Sure, I’ve asked for car tires for Christmas and been ecstatic to get them, but wouldn’t it be a bummer if I was hoping for jewelry or flowers?
Rainey Feb 17th 2010 at 11:36 pm 15
The Bad Seed, I never want romantic gifts. I’m not romantic at all.
Nicole @#8, Are you hinting at Wanda using the knives to remove part of Daryl’s anatomy?
The Bad Seed Feb 18th 2010 at 09:30 am 16
Rainey, you never want a personal gift that someone who knows and loves you deeply picked out especially for you? You only ever want wrenches and tires? I don’t mean necessarily lingerie and jewelry, just something personal and meaningful and sweet, whatever that might be to you.
chemgal Feb 18th 2010 at 12:07 pm 17
Nicole @8: personally, I’d prefer the knives, and have, in fact, received some very nice knives for gifts, but then I’m not a typical female when it comes to wearing jewelry.
Dan V Feb 18th 2010 at 06:18 pm 18
I don’t give my wife jewelry often, but it’s always a winner when I do!
Jeff S. Feb 18th 2010 at 11:34 pm 19
It’s a long running gag where a man gives a woman a vacuum cleaner as a romantic gift, while she gives him something well thought out. This is just a reversal of that joke. This time, the husband gives the great gift, while she gives him a wrench, which is the male version of a vacuum cleaner. Here… go do work.
Morris Keesan Feb 22nd 2010 at 09:02 am 20
I’ve never gotten the concept of exchanging gifts for Valentine’s Day. When my wife and I have given each other things, they’ve always been little romantic tokens, like flowers or chocolates (and these days, we don’t bother; why should someone else get to tell us when we should be romantic?). But I understand Daryl’s reaction. Valentine’s Day is not Christmas/birthday/generic-gift-giving-day; if you’re giving someone something on V-Day, it should be at least a little bit romantic, and wrenches are about as far from that as you can get (unless the Baby Blues couple is a lot kinkier than I imagined, and I don’t really want to think about what they’d use the wrench for, in that case).
Todd Feb 24th 2010 at 03:48 pm 21
I surprised no one saw this the way I did. Darryl works in an office where he’s expected to dress up most everyday. That means he wears a tie. He’s wearing the wrench like a tie. He was hoping for a nice silk tie.
The problem could be that the tie is the stereotypical fathers’ day gift, not the stereotypical female-to-male Valentine’s day gift.
Steffen Feb 25th 2010 at 06:17 pm 22
He’s tying it around his neck - is this even a real wrench, or did she get him a decorative necklace that looks like a wrench?
paperboy Feb 25th 2010 at 06:53 pm 23
Steffen#22- Yes, it’s a real wrench and, yes, he wrenched his neck.