Comic phobia

Someone thumbtacked a Dilbert cartoon strip on the notice board of our employee kitchen. I saw it as I was getting coffee after lunch. (caffeine addict, you say?) From where I was standing, I could tell that one of the characters in the cartoon strip was the boss with the hair that resembles horns growing out of both sides of his head. Sorry, but that just makes me nervous. I felt myself shrinking as far away from the bulletin board as I could while pouring coffee.

There is something about cartoons (not all, but definitely some) that makes me a little nauseous. Antique, black and white, animated cartoon short-films are the worst. The tinny music, herky-jerky motion and almost cruel-looking cartoon smiles trigger something in my psyche that I cannot quite identify. I went to a movie theater several years ago that ran an old Betty Boop reel before the feature film. I wanted to evacuate the theater and call for a tank of oxygen. But instead, I sat in my chair gritting my teeth. I think that I may possibly still bear the emotional scars from that incident.

I’ll pass on the Dilbert comics.