24 Comments
User's avatar
henriette mantel's avatar

I knew Bob. But his name was Billy.

Expand full comment
Merrill Markoe's avatar

haaaa. He often went by an alias.

Expand full comment
Dave's avatar

Perhaps pathetically, I want to know what happened to Stanley. Did he rebound from your rejection, or spiral into dissolution?

Expand full comment
Merrill Markoe's avatar

He went on to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in...

Actually I never saw him again.

Expand full comment
Chris Stanton's avatar

Getting "Society Is Fuck" t-shirts made. Who wants one?

Expand full comment
Karen Schultz's avatar

Oh this hurts from laughing so hard, and from remembering my own naive, blown-out-of-proportion, cringeworthy teenage experiences with boys I hardly knew if even that. Wonderful piece!

Expand full comment
Cat Cafe's avatar

omg Merrill, this is so horribly resonant of THAT AGE and how we thought and acted, I think it was probably even harder if you/we were articulate, smart, thinking, because our need to study, decipher, and analyze SO EXCEEDED our ability to emotionally understand anything going on in our lives hahaha --- I especially love Present Day You visiting Younger You and how annoyed Younger You is, and I mean, the whole story, the sleeping Bob, DYING LAUGHING HERE -- PP

Expand full comment
Merrill Markoe's avatar

Also, if you accept stuff for what it appears to be, then it is over. There is nothing more to say. But if you believe there are hidden layers you do no understand, then you can hold on to a fantasy that remains alive in a way that is about to deliver something special. Its the core premise of almost all rom-coms. I think girls are raised with this myth.

Expand full comment
Cat Cafe's avatar

Yes! Also the whole ruinous "Heathcliff" "I alone understand him" myth that drags women into terrible relationships.

Expand full comment
Mavis Jukes's avatar

Merrill - you are too funny. You get me laughing at my phone. Snorting, actually.

I love that Old Dan Tucker washed his face with a frying pan. That’s a dang good trick. It cracks me up imagining it.

Oh yes, yes I know Dan washed his face in a frying pan, but with a frying pan? That is a huge improvement on the original lyric.

Expand full comment
Merrill Markoe's avatar

It was good for exfoliating. Everyone said Old Dan Tucker had the most beautiful skin. You couldn't even see his pores.

Expand full comment
Mavis Jukes's avatar

😂

Expand full comment
kathy4ta's avatar

you were very hip if you were listening to Bob Dylan. He is still my boyfriend to this day. (50 years)

Expand full comment
Rose Marie Holt's avatar

I don’t know exactly what did it but I busted out laughing, which I’m WAY too tired to do ❤️& nearly woke up the hounds

Expand full comment
Heather Murray's avatar

So incredibly funny and en pointe ! Your illustrations and personal stories are so genuine and relatable!(The frontal lobe development part is completely understandable regarding our teenage selves ) I recall the "dating game' was a favourite of mine at age 13.. The stakes were definitely lower!

Expand full comment
Amy's avatar

Oh you really are so perceptive and funny. That’s why I didn’t watch Love is Blind but chose to read you. I like my choice because got to laugh 😂

Expand full comment
Amy's avatar

I was going to watch Love is Blind but I decided to read you. Much better. Of course I’m hung up on the Golden Bachelor show after just one episode because I cannot believe ... if you watch it, please share your thoughts. It’s too late for me to be articulate

Expand full comment
Noodles & Cabbage's avatar

It took me several more decades to learn that I was Bob.

Expand full comment
Merrill Markoe's avatar

I trust you figured out that you needed to date girls who had

expensive carpeting!

Expand full comment
Merrill Markoe's avatar

By the way, we have noodles and cabbage for dinner here at my home A LOT!

Expand full comment
Noodles & Cabbage's avatar

I am jealous.

Expand full comment
Carolyn S. Truscott's avatar

I love this! I can totally relate because my column "Vivi's Vortex" is about exactly the same thing, where angst meets brilliance. As a mother, how do you foster brilliance and angst, all the while being "not liked" by the brilliant kid?

Expand full comment
Merrill Markoe's avatar

Haaa, That's probably why I never had kids. I spent too much time in that vortex.

Expand full comment
Hogan's avatar

Bob was a schmuck. Not Dylan.

Expand full comment