Bill Watterson says it best, as always. (Click to see the full sized cartoon)
“Hey mom, can I have a cookie?”, I asked with my biggest smile. “Little Brother wants one, too, and since he cleaned his room…”
Mom hesitated. “Well, I would, honey, but I’m fighting with the cookie jar.”
Little Brother and I looked at each other.
“Ummm, fighting… with… Winnie the Pooh?” I clarified.
“Yes,” Mom said amicably as she meandered through the kitchen, putting away dishes. “I came into the kitchen this morning, and he didn’t say ‘hello’. It was rude.”
“Does he normally say anything?” my brother responded, with a silly grin and the universal hand gesture for you-are-crazy.
I nudged him. I knew my mom. We solved this game, or we didn’t get a cookie.
Who knew that this was the face of war?
We began asking careful questions and 15 minutes into our analysis of the situation, Dad came home with Big Brother. We explained the circumstances, hoping for sanity, but instead they both jumped into the fray.
Dad said he didn’t necessarily agree with Pooh, but he wasn’t about to let Mom force her values on him. Big Brother said that this was just typical of Pooh, not partaking in the customs of a global world. He suggested that my mom simply break the cookie jar into a million pieces.
Cookies were in that pot, so Little Brother and I began immediate action.
An hour into the mess, complete with individual peace talks and a few truce agreements, we were able to resolve the situation.
We plopped down with our giant chocolate chip cookies– trophies well-earned. In the middle of our feast, my mom sat down with us and asked what we thought of the game of war.
Even in the midst of enjoying the spoils of victory– with faces covered in chocolate and hands covered in crumbs– little brother and I were on exactly the same page.
“Isn’t it easier just to try to get along?”
* * *
Years later, I’d see the Calvin and Hobbes cartoon and remember that fateful day and how close we came to losing all those cookies. I’d remember how out of control it all spun, over something silly, and how easily everyone became threatened and offended.
Bill Waterson’s Calvin says it best. The breaking down of peace for no reason but conflict– well. It’s kind of a stupid game.
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Did you have to earn your cookies? Do you love Calvin and Hobbes– and if you have a favorite strip, which is it?
The cartoon is for B4Peace’s September Quote challenge! Have you linked up yet?
Claudia posted a cartoon, too. FishOfGold represented Carl Sagan, who is one of my favorite people ever. GrandMalin reminded us the Desiderata, which has a sort of permanently serendipitous presence in the corner of the blogosphere where I reside. Indira reminds us how peace starts in our heart. And a bunch of other people had wonderful things to say, too! Check them out here: http://www.inlinkz.com/wpview.php?id=312147.
I’m also linking this to the Moonshine grid over at YeahWrite because anything goes! Be sure to stick around their site because the Speakeasy re-opens this week– that means there’s room for fiction again!