For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for November 29, 2013

OOPS!

After being married that long, John should know better than to be honest.

I dread to read a particular commentator’s response to this strip…

“To be honest”, I don’t think Elly needs to lose weight.

That is what Lynn is trying to portray. However, there are usually at least two sides to any story – we’re only hearing one side.

Lynn’s Notes:After this scenario occurred, the quote “Sorry, I didn’t mean to be honest” became one of the many inside jokes we shared.

you should know better John!

He ought to go by the rule “Is it true, is it kind and is it necessary?” and if it passes that test, ask if it’s likely to net him another night on the sofa. Then he might keep his fat yap shut!

never tell your wife the truth and if you are being completely honest

Sometimes, honesty is not the best policy.

looks like he’s going to be cut off at the knees

He deserved that.

All Elly needs to do is stand up straight, and quit being a sloucher. Her posture is terrible.

Recent studies report that exercise doesn’t really help you lose weight anyway. So now what?! Ya just can’t win!

Elly is overly sensitive. She is not mature enough to accept constructive criticism…so she is not showing result of exercising…if she were mature enough, she would agree with John and try something else that might work. Or inform him that women have much harder time losing weight and more time is required before seeing results. No need to get upset and yell. A spouse should not have to avoid being honest – that is not a real marriage. Simply honest – not mean honest intended to mock. If you can’t be honest, then you probably don’t have a real relationship – just playing at it.

Many times, you don’t lose a lot of weight…your muscles get bigger; muscle weighs more than fat…but your body is tighter.Guess we know where he’ll be sleeping for awhile.

Wow…to step in it not once but twice! John, the little flags in the dirt are land mines, not markers to place your feet!

The correct sentence is, “Elly, you don’t need to lose any weight.”

20 year marriage. I know.

I wonder, not for the first time, why most of the people (nearly always women) who say they need to lose weight look as if they don’t need to lose weight. And why those of us who could stand to lose a few pounds don’t seem to carry on about it, or at least not nearly as often.

It was a stupid thing to say.

God forbid — the next time that you two are in bed, she’s just as honest asYOU are…