Another great 'Hagar' moment

The best of all, in fact.

Hagar, voyaging further afield than usual, happens upon a desert island - a typical cartoon-strip depiction of one: just a small mound of sand in the middle of the ocean, with one or two coconut palms growing out of it.

On the island is a castaway: again, a steretypical figure with ragged clothes, long, unkempt beard, and wild, staring eyes.

Hagar attempts to make small talk. "So, how long have you been on this island?"

"Twenty years!" groans the poor wretch.

"Wow, that's a long time!" observes Hagar, sagely, as he takes in the desolate scene, the sparse vegetation. "What did you eat?"

"Well, mostly," replies the castaway,"I ate the rocks."

Ah, so the man is obviously mad - but Hagar still tries to humour him. "The rocks, you say? I bet they taste pretty bad, don't they?"

"Oh yes," says the castaway, "but they're easy to catch."


Some years later, when I shared this story with friends at University, the word 'Rockeater' became a popular slang term amongst us to denote someone who set their sights deliberately low in dating, in order to minmize the risk of rejection. A useful concept.

Me, I've always been at the opposite end of the spectrum: too proud to "eat the rocks", I endure years of starvation.