Second Hand Comics

Image by Yeonsang Hwang

“Okay, in this one, there’s this guy standing in the corner, and he’s thinking to himself. In walks this other guy and says, “Hey, why the long face?” Then the other guy looks up and… “

Being a dad brings many wonderful, and weird, moments. One that occurs on a regular basis in our home is a phenomenon I like to call “Second Hand Comics Reading.”

My kids tear through the Sunday paper in search of the ever-illusive comics pages. They pull them out and, while on the way to church, will read through them silently in the back of the van, periodically laughing out loud. In those moments, they invariably say something like, “Listen to this!” and proceed to try and read the comics to us.

It doesn’t work. Too much is lost in the translation.

In fact, if I grab the comics page myself and attempt to reclaim the humor after they’ve attempted to read it to me, it just isn’t the same. What could have been funny winds up being only mildly amusing - much like reading a book that your friend has just told you the ending to.

Communication is so many times like ‘second hand comics.’ We spend most of our time focusing on getting out things from our point of view, with little to no regard to how the other person is taking things in. Many times it doesn’t work. Too much is lost in the translation.

First hand experience is always better than second hand narration.

It may not always be, but most of the time it is possible to simply ‘hand them the comics’ and watch their face as they enjoy a shared experience. What we consider to be a service to those around us (saving them time or effort) many times is simply not worth the time shortcut.

What are some ways today that you need to ‘hand them the comics’ instead of ‘reading them the comics?’

Posted 04.28.2010

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