best-things
Original: best-things on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Panel 1:
Child: Dad, are the best things in life free?
Dad: Yes, but only in an accounting sense.
Panel 2:
Dad: Love is "free" unless you count the enormous amount of time and effort that goes into sustaining it. The smile on a child's face is "free" as long as you don't associate it with the cost of healthcare, shelter, nutritious food, and entertainment.
Panel 3:
Dad: It'd be more accurate to say "the best things in life are extremely costly plus you're socially prohibited from buying them directly with money."
Panel 4:
Child: (looking unimpressed, says nothing)
Panel 5:
Child: I'll give you a dollar to tell me this was a special father-son moment.
Dad: No!
Dad: See what I'm saying?
Votey:
Dad (speech bubble): Special moments are $5 a piece, minimum.
Child: Dad, are the best things in life free?
Dad: Yes, but only in an accounting sense.
Panel 2:
Dad: Love is "free" unless you count the enormous amount of time and effort that goes into sustaining it. The smile on a child's face is "free" as long as you don't associate it with the cost of healthcare, shelter, nutritious food, and entertainment.
Panel 3:
Dad: It'd be more accurate to say "the best things in life are extremely costly plus you're socially prohibited from buying them directly with money."
Panel 4:
Child: (looking unimpressed, says nothing)
Panel 5:
Child: I'll give you a dollar to tell me this was a special father-son moment.
Dad: No!
Dad: See what I'm saying?
Votey:
Dad (speech bubble): Special moments are $5 a piece, minimum.
Alt text
A five-panel SMBC comic. Panel 1: silhouettes of a small child and a tall parent standing on a hill against a purple twilight sky. Child: "Dad, are the best things in life free?" Dad: "Yes, but only in an accounting sense." Panel 2: close-up of the bespectacled dad in a green shirt holding up a finger as he explains: "Love is 'free' unless you count the enormous amount of time and effort that goes into sustaining it. The smile on a child's face is 'free' as long as you don't associate it with the cost of healthcare, shelter, nutritious food, and entertainment." Panel 3: the dad continues: "It'd be more accurate to say 'the best things in life are extremely costly plus you're socially prohibited from buying them directly with money.'" Panel 4: the child stares back flatly, unimpressed. Panel 5: the child deadpans, "I'll give you a dollar to tell me this was a special father-son moment," the dad replies "No!", then adds "See what I'm saying?"—proving his point that you can't buy the moment with money. Votey: an extreme close-up of the dad's face as he adds, "Special moments are $5 a piece, minimum."
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.