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Editorial: Psychiatric Help 5¢

By Tracy Crook. Originally published in Rotary Aviation News, Issue 4, 1999/2000

Psychiatric Help - 5¢

Nothing in the world of aviation has touched any raw nerves lately but I did want to comment on the importance of one’s attitude (for lack of a better word) on achieving success in aircraft building, or most any aspect of life for that matter. This train of thought was kicked off by the avalanche of news stories about the retirement, and almost simultaneous death, of Charles Schulz, creator of the “Peanuts” comic strip. It was never one of my favorites but I usually ended up reading it during my morning coffee and newspaper wakeup ritual.

There is always a specific pattern to the way I read the comics. This is an area of life where I demand instant gratification so I’m unwilling to wade through a lot of the junk that gets printed (does anyone really read “The Phantom”?). First strip to read is Calvin & Hobbs followed by The Far Side then Dilbert, Doonsbury and Foxtrot. (Watterson & Larson have departed the comics biz which knocked off my top two ) Following this, I scan the rest of the offerings to see if anything looks promising enough to read. Peanuts sometimes made it in this last category, depending on how tight my schedule was. Lucy at her psychiatric help stand or Snoopy flying his doghouse was sometimes good for a chuckle but in general, the strip had a vaguely depressing quality to it.

Comics not being one of life’s greater issues, I didn’t give this a lot of thought until the recent stories on Schulz’s retirement. This has been front page news in the local paper since he announced it a month or so ago. The pundits have gone on and on about how and why this strip “touched so many”. Mostly, it boiled down to how Charlie Brown’s frustrations mirrored the everyday lives of real people and how they dealt with it. Schulz himself said that this is how he saw life and besides, “Guys who get to kick the football just aren’t funny”.

This reminded me of another comment Schulz made, back when Watterson retired. Watterson told the press that while he had thoroughly enjoyed doing Calvin & Hobbs, it took a lot of time, energy and effort and that he was ready to move on and pursue other things. Larson’s (The Far Side) retirement announcement was almost identical.

While the published reaction of other cartoonists to Schulz’s exit can be summed up as ‘You’re the greatest and we’ll miss you’, Schulz was a bit critical of Watterson’s retirement. His comment at the time was something like “Good grief, it’s not that hard to do a comic strip”. The unspoken remark that sprang to my mind was, “ Well, Chuck, in your case it shows.”

So what does all this have to do with building airplanes? In answer I would say that I’ve seen a lot of failed airplane projects (and lives) which I would attribute to the ‘Charlie Brown’ syndrome; the acceptance that life is ultimately destined to end in failure and frustration.

I can’t claim to fully understand how people come to this acceptance, but it happens all too often. I tend to think it is the result of countless choices people make all through their lives. Could the choice of comic strips be one of them? If so, I would recommend to you Calvin’s unrestrained enthusiasm, imagination and joy in life over Charlie Brown’s pessimism. You do not always have to loose the baseball game. If Lucy won’t let you kick the football then go play with someone who will. Your Sopwith Camel does not have to end up going down in flames. And furthermore, sharing the company of the little red haired girl is not too much to hope for. You too can be Spaceman Spiff!