For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for February 04, 2010

….feel better now, Mike? :o)

WARNING: UNSOLICITED ADVICE AHEAD

Comment unto others, as you would have them comment unto you.

Before posting a comment, count to three. Read your comment, and ask yourself:

If someone else posted this comment, would I find it offensive? Do I think that other reasonable people would find this comment offensive?

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If you choose to post an offensive comment, remember you are inviting others to:

Comment unto you, as you have commented unto them.

THIS HAS BEEN A WARNING OF THE UNSOLICITED ADVICE NETWORK. IN CASE OF ACTUAL SOLICITED ADVICE YOU WOULD BE EXPECTED TO BE POLITE TO THE ADVISOR AND SOLICITOR. THIS CONCLUDES THE WARNING OF THE UNSOLICITED ADVICE NETWORK; PLEASE RESUME YOUR NORMAL COMMENTS.

maybe i’ll join the silent majority, just for today.

The good and bad

LuvH8, good advice, but I’m curious what prompted it – and at the comic of all places?

We have heard from the supreme comic police, and we must comply…….what was that all about?

I’m curious about where that came from as well LuvH8…

The grass is always greener…

I know this particular comic has some harsh comments sometimes, but was there something that sparked that, LuvH8? Not that we don’t need a reminder every once in a while…

well said, LuvH8.

but will it make any difference???

maybe for a minute

I’m offended by unsolicited advice and long posts. Off with LuvH8’s head!

Whada say? Whada say? Round up the usual suspects.

The trouble with good advice is, the people you really want to see said advice and follow it……..won’t.

Paul Jones: nah, it’s a bit of soap/water on his leg. The ColoUrist got it quite right. :D

Mike is wishing he’d broken his own leg… but MY question is: What is Lawrence doing in the bathroom, while Mike is bathing? At that age, shouldn’t he be outside, talking through the door?

Was it here we were talking last week about the supposed advantages to breaking a limb? All the attention you get in school, people wanting to help you, teachers cutting you slack, people signing your cast etc? But of course the disadvantages like the itching you can’t scratch. Lawrence thinks it’s cool he doesn’t have to take a bath but that would be the worst part for me.

Macushlalondra Yes some people just crave attention, don’t they?

I’m lost. Have pretty much quit posting and reading comments unless the comic is above and beyond.

Oh, sorry, I just commented. Yes there are “adisvantages” to broken body parts.

Broken bones are no fun !!!! jim12345 :^(

Yes, for all the bonuses of a broken leg, there is always the disadvantage. Mainly, it happened to you.

Regarding yesterday’s spellings: It is spelled “surprise” not “surprize” in my 1976 Webster’s New World Dictionary. “Gray” is given as the American spelling for the color, and “grey” is the British spelling, according to the same dictionary. Sorry, I don’t have a British dictionary in print here to use to verify any other spellings, although I’m familiar with many of them. (Such as “colour” instead of the American “color”.)

Everyone signed it but his missing mother.

LuvH8: LOL

It’s interesting that the Connie bashers think they have such a supermajority. IMHO, the supermajority belongs to those of us who enjoy the strip without having to demonize the characters with whom they don’t agree. Granted, at times each of the characters does things that wouldn’t be considered “normal” behavior, but that doesn’t make them demons (my general word for what they are called, not a quote from anyone), it just reflects the fact that this is a comic strip, meant to be humorous. Most comedic humor stems from exaggerated behavior.

I like your post JanCinVV.

I wonder how many FBOFW readers would read the strip every day if John was a perfect husband/father, Ellie was a perfect wife/mother, the children were perfect, and Connie was a perfect mother. A good narrative is based on conflict, and that’s what the strip is — a narrative about the Patterson family and friends.

Agreed JanCinVV. It is strange that the strip is taken so seriously, when its meant to humor us. I laugh all the time at it, and it’s mostly because the charachters are allowed to make mistakes.

@JanCinVV, @sierramadre, @hookedoncomics, Exactly!

:) Just the little bit about kids hating baths…brings back funny memories. (I like showers better) ;-D

Lawrence will get all the attention. Even more after he misses a few baths. ;)

Thank you to anyone who showed your support. This message was prompted by me just being tired of the negative comments some people make (especially those that put down other people).

GuntotingLiberal, Off with my head? No, no please don’t!

Don’t lose your head to save a minute.

You need your head. Your brains are in it.

Thank goodness I’ve not broken myself a bone… leg, arm or full body.

Geewhiz, I gotta start getting to the comics earlier. I’m number 40 today!

I’m glad others dislike the negativity as much as I do. This is so funny as it shows each of the kids learning that the grass is not always greener on the other side. Too cute!!

I’m actually fine with imperfect characters in comic strips and other places. The problem here with FBOFW is that when a main character is wrong, they almost never suffer the consequences of the wrongdoing.

For example, Connie doesn’t come straight home to comfort Lawrence, instead taking several more days of her vacation to visit family, chase Phil, and get a makeover. When she does come home, Lawrence is perfectly happy to see her, and he apparently never suffers any feelings of abandonment or anxiety. I can believe it when this happens the first time, that Lawrence can bounce back. But if Connie is like this in all areas of her life all the time (and this is apparently a very important issue, enough to spend days on) then we should be seeing Lawrence drift away from his mother as time goes by and he learns that his mother isn’t dependable or responsible enough for him. We never got to see any of that because it didn’t exist.

Don’t get me started on adult Mike and what he did the night of the fire at his apartment. Instead of helping his wife and children out of the place immediately, he runs back to the attic to get his laptop, and after he gets rescued by the firefighters, he doesn’t even hug his family; he just tells his wife to take his laptop and keep it safe. There was no fallout from that at all. Not even a discussion or admission about how stupid it was to do that.

These were from the serious storylines too, without a laugh or joke in sight. So it’s not all about getting the laughs there. It’s just bad storytelling.

I’ll also tell you right now, that Lynn used to be good…I’m a former fan, so I would know. It’s the former fans that are so angry at how something good was ruined. FBOFW shouldn’t have ended the way it did, or began again the way it did. It could have been done so much better.

In addition to Ophelia’s 20/20 vision, I agree with what Susan said on Shoe.

Welcome Ophelia!