LETTER: Problems with ad remind reader of joke

Dear Editor,

I will admit that I missed last Monday’s edition and so I missed the advertisement that has caused all of the recent fuss. Reading the letters in the editions of Wednesday and Friday, I was beginning to think I had an understanding of the situation. Then came Monday. A cartoon? Are you serious? (By the way, is it the same one that Persian Peacock has been running since then?) It reminds me of a joke from What About Bob. WARNING: this movie was rated PG and therefore might be inappropriate for some of your readers.

A man goes to a psychiatrist and says, “Doc, I have a problem.” The psychiatrist shows him a picture of a tree and asks, ” What do you see?” The man replies, “Sex”. Next a picture of a car is shown. In response, the man again says, “Sex”. Pictures of a soda can, a horse and a book all elicit the same response. The doctor says, “I think you have a preoccupation with sex.” “What do you mean?” the man asks. “You’re the one showing all the dirty pictures!”

Hear, hear to letters from Professor Byrne and Richard Epperson, as well as the article by Aaron Falk. Oh, and wasn’t that pawn on page 7 of today’s issue a little phallic? That alone could have sent someone confessing to their bishop, but I also noticed on page 14 an ad that referenced “Harry Potter” (we all know how subversive HE is). On page 15 there is a Quigmans cartoon with winged insects that are clearly unclothed. The crossword features answers of “wino” and “bar” as well as a clue of “crystal balls”. The Dilbert cartoon on the back page has a woman in an inappropriate position atop a man, and of course there are PHOTOS of naked belly buttons on the FRONT PAGE and page 5.

None of this offended me.

Tom Atkin