Less Complicated Is Less Likely and Just Less

'Twas a simpler time for fathers in 1953 (actually not, but let's pretend), when this week's objet d'eBay originally appeared. Gibson's ad to sell more it its Fathers Day Cards depicts the family of dreams — not necessarily mine or yours 7mdash; but the dreams at least of the artist and account exec of what the dadcentric family looks like.

Even then such imaginary families were probably only a disguise for complications. The difference appears to be that today the complications aren't hidden. Even a pleasant story about fathers day is complicated, as was discovered by The Columbus Dispatch, which ran artwork for story on this Hallmark (and Gibson) holiday adjacent to the story on the death of newsman Tim Russert (son of big Russ). Apparently, the visual appearance was a message of Happy Fathers Day dead guy to at least one degruntled reader.

But not everyone gets the message that fathers are best celebrated for dealing with and solving complications. Misguided folk keep hoping to create a reality to match that Gibson image by denying the complications. It won't work. People get upset and the kefuffle grows bigger than the problem.

For example, Scottish schools decided to cut out the tradition of schoolkids making Fathers Day cards because not every kid had a dad. And while that might have created more buyers for the manufactured rather than handmade card variety, the hullabaloo still rained down so rather than children encouraged to look for a father figure they were called out as lacking one and needing extra sensitivity.