Unqualified Offerings

Looking Sideways at Your World Since October 2001
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August 31, 2006

When the Going Gets Tough, the Weird Turn Cardboard

A story too weird to do more than link. To tease out the symbolism explicitly would be like stomping a puppy to death.

Via Amygdala.

Posted by Jim Henley @ 6:55 am, Filed under: Main

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15 Responses to “When the Going Gets Tough, the Weird Turn Cardboard”

  1. Comment by matthew hogan —
    August 31, 2006 @ 7:37 am

    Wasn’t that in “The Lonely Guy” with Steve Martin?

  2. Comment by Brian C.B. —
    August 31, 2006 @ 8:53 am

    We’re one step away from that classic SNL “Daddy Replacement Insurance” sketch. I mean, why settle for a cardboard version when you can hire some unemployed, er, three-dimensional stud for twenty-four hour duty? Mostly, it’s just sad. And, no lie, what happens if Dad gets blown up keeping the Badr Brigade from killing the Mahdi Army? Does the cardboard cutout attend the funeral? This will not end well, mark my words.

  3. Comment by Eric Scharf —
    August 31, 2006 @ 9:01 am

    At first reaction was to wonder how anyone could derive any comfort from such a surrogate, but then I remembered that a lot of these same people seem to have gotten along fine since President Clinton left.

  4. Comment by theophylact —
    August 31, 2006 @ 9:07 am

    Do they count for HOV lanes? That would at least be a benefit.

  5. Comment by BruceR —
    August 31, 2006 @ 9:10 am

    I could sort of see this as potentially therapeutic if the family had kids aged 3 or younger. It can be really heartbreaking to hear from soldiers about how their 2 year old daughter thought they were a stranger when they came back in the door.

  6. Comment by Brian C.B. —
    August 31, 2006 @ 9:42 am

    I suggest sending the cutouts over there and keeping the soldiers over here. I understand that the New Iraqi Army is cutting edge in its use of cardboard enlistees. Why should our allies have all the fun?

  7. Comment by theCoach —
    August 31, 2006 @ 11:07 am

    I am terrified of what Tom Friedman is going to do with this.

  8. Comment by el s —
    August 31, 2006 @ 11:44 am

    between this and the assorted books written to help spouses deal with the grief of their SO’s being gone and/ or dead, this might be the growth industry that america needs to kick start the economy.

  9. Comment by Jason Kuznicki —
    August 31, 2006 @ 3:16 pm

    Please tell me this was a hoax. Please…

  10. Comment by Doctor Slack —
    August 31, 2006 @ 4:48 pm

    I’m just disappointed to see that they were too cheap to spring for Inflatable Daddy.

  11. Comment by Madeline F —
    September 1, 2006 @ 2:26 am

    Hey, it’s odd, but who are we to mock it? Easy enough to mock the war without bothering people highly affected by it.

  12. Comment by matt —
    September 1, 2006 @ 8:36 am

    Flat Daddys? What do they call cutouts of female soldiers?

  13. Comment by Jay C —
    September 1, 2006 @ 12:22 pm

    Right, Jim: this IS too weird for words: which is why, I guess, the comments are do thin.

    PS: matt: the article says that there are “Flat Mommies” available for the dependents of our brave gals Over There as well - no sexism in THIS person’s Army: no sirree!

  14. Trackback by Inactivist —
    September 1, 2006 @ 12:25 pm

    Cat On A Hot Tin-Type…

    From the Boston Globe:
    “I prop him up in a chair, or sometimes put him on the couch and cover him up with a blanket,” said Kay Judkins of Caribou, whose husband, Jim, is a minesweeper mechanic in Afghanistan. “The cat will curl up on the blanket, an…

  15. Comment by Nell —
    September 3, 2006 @ 1:18 pm

    The program could certainly be expanded.