History Main / ParentNeverCameBackFromTheStore

'''Candy''': But Todd, You don't smoke!

* Subverted in one of WebVideo/StuartAshens' videos about [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byHbd_1NVu4 cheap Fathers Day gifts]]:

->''My mom already left for the diner and dad went to the 7-Eleven to get scratchers. I guess he won, 'cause that was six years ago.''

* Parodied in {{WebComics/Cyanide and Happiness}}: [[http://explosm.net/comics/4901/ The father just needed to get enough cigarettes for everyone.]]

* Parodied in {{WebComics/CyanideAndHappiness}}: [[http://explosm.net/comics/4901/ The father just needed to get enough cigarettes for everyone.]]

* This happened with Creator/StephenKing's father when Stephen was two years old. [[ParentalAbandonment He didn't]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_King#Early_life come back.]] King later joked he must have been looking for a rare brand.

* {{Inverted}} on ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddparents''--since [[MyBelovedSmother Mama Cosma]] didn't approve of Wanda, Cosmo pulled this trick when the two got married. To be fair, he ''did'' come back...9,975 years later, when he mistakenly believed that Wanda had forgotten their anniversary.

* Richard's father, Frankie Watterson, in ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'' said he was going to get milk when he left. Richard, being the ManChild that he is, is in heavy denial about this even into his 40s.

** Nelson's dad went to the store a few years ago and never came back. It is later revealed [[spoiler:that he didn't intend to disappear, but he ate peanuts that caused an allergic reaction which got him abducted by a circus passing by, to be used in a Freak Show.]]
** In episode "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS16E15FutureDrama Future Drama]]", Future Nelson pulls the same trick on his two wives.

* Richard's father in ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'' said he was going to get milk when he left. Richard, being the ManChild that he is, is in heavy denial about this even into his 40s.

[[AC: Literature]]

* This happened with Creator/StephenKing's father when Stephen was two years old. [[ParentalAbandonment He didn't]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_King#Early_life come back.]] King later joked he must have been looking for a rare brand.

-->--'''Harley Keener''', ''Film/IronMan3''

When a parent decides to leave their family or breaks up with their partner they'll make the excuse of GoingToTheStore, but they never actually come back. Other times it's a excuse made by the childs family in order to soften the trauma or shield the kid from the issue. If the child is young or naive enough they will believe that their parent really ''did'' go to the store and are just taking a really, ''really'' long time coming back.

* ''Series/{{Friends}}'': Phoebe's dad for his 2nd family. He went to the drugstore 4 years ago, so he should be back any minute now.

* This was how Series/PunkyBrewster wound up living alone before being found at the beginning of the series. Her mom had gone to the store and never came back. In a slight twist, Punky and her dog were waiting outside the store instead of at home. The mystery of her mom's fate served as an occasional plot point for the rest of the series.

-->''And that same year, on Christmas Eve, Dad went to the store.''
-->''We checked his room, his things were gone.''
-->''We didn't see him no more.''

-->'''Mario:''' [[LampshadeHanging ...It took you a year to go to the grocery store?]]
-->'''[[spoiler:Nancy:]]''' [[BlatantLies It-it was--It was VERY hard to find.]]

-->Black Dynamite's Daddy: ''Now I could lie to you and say, 'I'm just goin' out for a pack of cigarettes.' But the truth is, I'm leavin' you to raise eight-year-old Black Dynamite by yourself. Now dig it while you can, because the light just turned muthafuckin' green. Bye, bitch!''

* In some countries like UsefulNotes/{{Chile}}, the phrase "my dad went to buy cigarrettes and never came back" is a common joke used even by comedians.

* Will's dad in ''LiveAction/TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir'' disappeared when his son was five and used this excuse.

* '' ''[[Series/ThirtyRock 30 Rock]]'':

!!Examples

* [[ParodiedTrope Parodied]] in the final episode of ''[[Series/ThirtyRock 30 Rock]]'' when Tracy Jordan's father returns from the store with cigarettes....about thirty-five years after he went out.

* In some countries like UsefulNotes/{{Chile}}, the phrase "my dad went to buy cigarrettes and never came back" is a common joke used even by comedians.