Am I on The View or Oprah? I said this after being screamed at for the money I spend on books. “You have so many books I can’t dust” Books, Yellow book. “Ammunition”, Assault Rifles”, oh, here, “Attorneys”.
Yes, it’s a turntable… and no, it doesn’t mean the strip is outdated. Vinyl’s making a sort of comeback, as a high-end retro niche thing. There are those who still maintain a vinyl record, being analog, gives a more faithful sound than a CD (the CD representation, being digital with a finite number of bits and samples, must lose some information that is at least theoretically in the analog groove). I think they’re indulging a fantasy (the information “lost” by the CD format is below the noise floor of a vinyl record), but hey, records are kinda cool. I still have hundreds of them.
But Elly started this one with her “we already have one” comment. The old stereo is likely a tinny-sounding cheapie they bought right after they got married, before John’s practice was well-enough established for them to afford a good one. And for the last ten years, he’s been gnashing his teeth at the crummy sound, until finally he couldn’t take it anymore…
Of course, had John been smart, he would have arranged an “accident” (like spilling a bowl of New Years Eve punch into the old stereo) to get around the “we already have one” argument…
There’s no reason for this to be updated. The strip takes place in the past. We all know they’re not this young anymore and they haven’t been timewarped into the present.
A simple conversation about it would have saved some trouble. If he told her that he didn’t like the old one and why he wanted a new one, then it could have been a joint decision. Men, you complain when you have to try to figure out what women want. Here is a good example of a man not telling his wife he wants a new stereo.
Any man who comes home to a clean house and dinner on the stove should be aware that there is a cost to that work. He does not share in any of the household chores or spend much time with the kids either. He just screwed up big time. It is time he figured out how much it would cost him to live the way he does without her at home. Maids, cooks and child care are not cheap.
Hope the couch is comfortable! The next few strips should be VERY interesting! John is about to learn some very real world lessons in communication in marriage…
Now my DH comes home with used bulldozers (2 at last count… yep, and one’s broke), a backhoe, a tractor, a trench digger, a wood chipper (VERY LOUD), a skid steer, a HUGE trailer to haul them on (which he is afraid to do) and several other bright yellow and rust color machines sitting here and there on the property. (I tell people it’s an outdoor art statement)
Did I mention that they rarely get used?
When approached he has been known to uttered those immortal words…..”It’s my money”.
I only got rid of the 78s and boxes of Beta videos when moving across the country in ‘98 ;- ) and the stereo I have is JUST new enough to play CDs (at LEAST 20 years old…
“Any man who comes home to a clean house and dinner on the stove should be aware that there is a cost to that work. ”
If the male partner is the breadwinner, he is already contributing to the cost. If the female partner is the breadwinner, he instead will be the one carrying out those aforementioned chores. Those in a partnership where both are working will generally share the domestic chores too. That said, I can’t recall a strip where Elly was carrying out garden chores.
Presuming John is the main breadwinner in this case, what funding is Elly living on exactly? Where does she get the money for her clothing? make-up? The little treats and impulse buys she’ll purchase for herself from time to time? Come on folks, lets get a little less negative here. If John is working hard for that money that keeps her in clothing, meals, etc, is he not entitled once in a while to his own rewards?
If, as catlady said, Ellie is “…the woman who cooks your meals, cleans your home and gave birth to and cares for your children.” that means she’s a traditional, fundie-religion type be-subservient-and-submit-gracefully-and-prayerfully-to-your-husband wife, and she’s just supposed to roll over and let him do whatever he wants. In next week’s strips, she’ll spend six days apologizing and getting counseling from their pastor.
It’s really typical guy thinking about electronics. The whole TV and phone thing hadn’t started yet. Look at what they do now!
I wonder if her poppy bug eyes can be surgically implanted back in her head? They’ve been out of their sockets for so long that they can’t find their way back in without surgery. Maybe they can sew her big mouth shut while they’re at it. This woman only smiles when she gets her way and ruins everyone else’s fun. You know it’s true.
March back to the store and buy the over priced can opener Elly. Since you don’t have a car, you can sing songs that you just heard on the new stereo while you walk. HAHAHAHAHA!
Maybe this is how she finally gets a car from the cheapskate.
I have 2 turntables, and over 200 albums. I’m not replacing them all with CD’s. I did transfer them into itunes recently though, with a gadget I bought. Albums never went out of style. Kids born in the early 80’s just grew up with something different and laugh at us for owning vinyl, which as someone up there said, IS “making a comeback”, but it always was more preferable to many people, because digital noise is worse than crackling and skipping. Besides DJ’s always used albums, not CD’s. Until the early 80’s, we had vinyl. We didn’t trust CD’s when they came out. Besides, they were $18 each, as opposed to $7 or $8 for vinyl, and 30 years later the prices never really came down as promised. It helps that there’s no new music since the early 90’s to have to buy.
It’s a legitimate response in the setting of a heated conversation. That said, hopefully he would have the sense to take it back when the dust settles. It’s demeaning to the homemaker to imply that her worth/wealth is lower than his.
Springing a $2000 purchase on her is not cool, but that’s what makes the comic interesting. “Oh no, he didn’t!”
Wow, runar…. there are lots of women who are homemakers who aren’t religious, let alone fundamentalist. (And your comment wouldn’t fit the majority of religious-types, either.)
Elly doesn’t go to work until April is almost a teenager. April’s birth is still a long way off.
Burgundy2, I blasted them both. I don’t personally agree with either Elly or John. I tried to imply that with all the sarcasm.They need a cartoon marriage counselor. I agree with you, but we know from some previous strips that that was John’s perception of the money, HIS. I said that when I brought it up about having to ask for money to buy a new can opener. I wasn’t being mean. I was going by what I’ve read here, and today he said it. “MY MONEY”. He’s a very simple minded character. I don’t agree with what either Patterson does most of the time.
I talk about this strip by what happened previously in this strip. A lot of people intertwine their lives in with the Pattersons’. I try to clearly separate it when I add something personal to join the conversation of the day.
My father made the money, my mother spent it, and my father never said a word about it, and when he wanted something, he bought it, and when they had large purchases that affected them both, they went together to buy it, because God forbid he messed up her decorating. They’re still like that.
Runar I’ve never seen Elly be religious in any capacity, have you?
@puddleglum1066 - Very true - Vinyl DOES sound better than CDs; but for the ULTIMATE in better-than-CD-sound, one needs reel-to-reel tape…. OTOH, Yep; John put his foot in it with the ?my money” crack, even if he can sit down with Elly and show her WHY it’s “his” money - as in, budgeted luxury goods. Which I suspect it is; it’s probably something he’s set money aside for.
runar: You haven’t got a clue. Submitting to one’s husband has nothing to do with roll-over-and-play-dead-on-command. It just means that the husband has final authority (hopefully after thorough discussion), not autocratic despotism.
My wife and I are connected by more than words said at an altar. We discuss every aquisition, thoroughly. Nothing is done by either of us without discussion. Even when I have been the primary money maker, the discussion was their.
Yes, John may well be a successful dentist and the money, itself, is no object, however, his attitude does stink. Elly’s response, while not the best, is at least as honest as it gets. My congrats go to Lynn for the reality she gives to a funny and poignant strip.
After a few situations similar to this (but my husband at least was smart enough to not call it HIS money), where I scrimped to build up savings, and he’d blow it on something, we took the advice of a Christian financial counselor (Ron Blue) and changed the way we handled our money. Hubby & I are responsible for the spending in different categories of our budget. I get a set amount each payday, and he keeps the rest for his categories. He doesn’t complain about how much I spend on what, as long as the necessities are taken care of, and I don’t complain as long as he’s paying all his bills on time. This has been a marriage saver!
in this one i kind of admire joihn for articulating out loud what many men in his situation would think but never dare to say.
i also think this is part of lj’s revenge – redoing the strips to make john (and men/husbands in general) look like jerks.
that strategy is really wrong imo on many levels; besides that we don’t need any help or rewriting of history to make us look even jerkier than we already are thank you very much!
Can John say “Woof, woof” because he’s really in the doghouse now!
Thank God my husband and I have always maintained separate accounts when it comes to personal wants and needs because all hell would have broken loose if he had ever said such a thing to me!
way back at the start:
Ocean 17 and Marg: Do you think so? I hope you’re right. I wouldn’t mind this trend to continue, if it is so.
I’d like to see LJ get mid-evil on John.
Regardless of who’s money it is, who should get what for doing what or any of it…
Why did he have to be so seemingly nasty about it?
I’m aware it’s simply a comic, but through out time comics have stood as symbols for true societal behavior.
Being the case, it would stand to reason that in this day and age, people treat their spouses like crap.
And I think we can all look around and see that’s true.
But why? Why do we treat those we are suppose to love the most like garbage?
I have been married to my high school sweetheart for almost 16yrs and he is the absolute love of my life, soulmate, life partner, insert whichever sappy statement you prefer.
I could never imagine saying, or him saying, something like that.
She didn’t go to school for 8 years and then have to pay off the loans for going to school and pay for his wife and childrens bills and the dogs bills and the house bills and the electric and the phone and the medical bills and the and the and the……………. HE DESERVES TO SPEND SOME OF THE MONEY HE WORKED HARD FOR!!!!!
When I saw this strip in the morning paper I knew to schedule an extra half hour to read the comments. You did not disappoint!
When my generation (essentially the same as John and Ellie’s) was setting up housekeeping for the first time the number one purchase was the biggest, baddest stereo money could buy! Food and shelter came a distant second.
I don’t contest his ‘right’ to buy the thing, but in my house we discuss big dollar purchases before we get them, especially when it is an upgrade. And that is for items over $200 let alone 2 grand!!!
I don’t think Lynn has to work too hard as far as “making John look bad.” This is what women put up with until they fought for equal pay in the workplace and the right and abilities to go to work. Last time I checked for the Women’s Studies courses I teach, the worth of a housewife is around $130,000/year – if they had to pay a maid, driver, laundry person, cook, baby-sitter, sex goddess etc. Most guys get off really light in that area if they are the main breadwinners – and today, most women are working too.
All those who said they should have discussed it first are right – yes he does have the right to buy something he wants, but it shouldn’t be a surprise if it costs that much money. And btw, no man will ever have “final authority” in my household – that’s what the Promise Keepers nonsense was all about. Wouldn’t last 5 minutes at our house.
It doesn’t matter if he can afford it or not, if you are married it is no longer your money or her money, it belongs to the family regardless of who earned it in the work place. Seperate accounts, hiding money from eachother, seperate budgets and “responsibilities” are all ways of saying that you don’t trust or respect eachother. If you do not have harmony in finances it will be very hard to have harmony with the rest of you marriage, all the money goes into one account and you both agree on a fixed budget and do not make impulse or surprise purchases, everything must be agreed on or it shouldn’t be done, it is very disrespectful and irreponsible to not include and consider your spouses opinion on these matters.
I have been in an equal partnership marriage for 30+ years. I would not even have dated someone who believed in gender roles, let alone married one. My mother used to serve my father food as he wanted it, getting up throughout the meals to do so. He never reciprocated. I said as a child “I will never do that.” My husband and I have supported each other financially and emotionally, with no struggle over who brought in more money.
This is a little late and will probably not be read by many. But…..
John is not at fault here, he is only lines drawn on a page. Lynn is the only one to blame here, She has had men problems in her life and uses this strip to portray men in a negative light
It’s frustrating when you are the wife and denying yourself things that would make life easier, only to have your husband indulge himself. Like when he goes out to lunch with his friends when you pack yourself a tuna sandwich every day.
Jaeldid66, that’s true, and that’s where women start setting the boundaries in the relationship, otherwise they accept the situation by not addressing the unfair issues, and their misery becomes their own doing, which is usually what Elly does. Stays miserable.
ALSO… I think all the people here who constantly tell everyone else to “shut up”, “get a life”, and/or “lighten up” need to “shut up”, “get a life”, and/or “lighten up” themselves. People have a right to comment, as long as they aren’t being vulgar, even if you don’t like what they have to say.
It reminds me of Stan Freberg’s “Herman Horn on Hi Fi.”
Herman Horn said, “All women are trouble makers and would rather see their husbands suffer with equipment that has been obsolete for at least a week, and squander it away on homogenized milk, shoes for the the children or perhaps a second dress.”
1000 vinyl 12-inch maxi-singles (extended remixes) and 200 albums. One turntable. All transferred on disk.
I miss the days when I would buy 2 or 3 at once, open them one-by-one, not look at the timings until I got them all opened (I loved the mystery), and that whiff of air from the sleeve.
Those were the days.
You can still get the vinyl at online record shops. Major cities still have record STORES.
carmy over 14 years ago
Hang him high and go get the fancy can opener.
bluetopazcrystal over 14 years ago
Oh oh! I think John just inserted his foot into his mouth!. It’s HIS money indeed! This is probably why she went to work, to get HER own money.
margueritem over 14 years ago
ocean17 neither do I. This must be payback….
HeckleMeElmo over 14 years ago
I _do_ remember this one from the first time around. They eventually worked it out – be interesting to see if the outcome is any different this time.
kvrabelova over 14 years ago
oh no, he did not…
longandgreen over 14 years ago
Dead man walking/talking…
Donna White over 14 years ago
Uh Oh. Fatal words to say to the woman who cooks your meals, cleans your home and gave birth to and cares for your children.
doublepaw over 14 years ago
So much for the worse, when does the better start?
lewisbower over 14 years ago
Am I on The View or Oprah? I said this after being screamed at for the money I spend on books. “You have so many books I can’t dust” Books, Yellow book. “Ammunition”, Assault Rifles”, oh, here, “Attorneys”.
sabbathunter over 14 years ago
Is that a turntable I see John holding in panel 3 and in the background of panel 2?
That is something that should have been updated
puddleglum1066 over 14 years ago
Yes, it’s a turntable… and no, it doesn’t mean the strip is outdated. Vinyl’s making a sort of comeback, as a high-end retro niche thing. There are those who still maintain a vinyl record, being analog, gives a more faithful sound than a CD (the CD representation, being digital with a finite number of bits and samples, must lose some information that is at least theoretically in the analog groove). I think they’re indulging a fantasy (the information “lost” by the CD format is below the noise floor of a vinyl record), but hey, records are kinda cool. I still have hundreds of them.
But Elly started this one with her “we already have one” comment. The old stereo is likely a tinny-sounding cheapie they bought right after they got married, before John’s practice was well-enough established for them to afford a good one. And for the last ten years, he’s been gnashing his teeth at the crummy sound, until finally he couldn’t take it anymore…
Of course, had John been smart, he would have arranged an “accident” (like spilling a bowl of New Years Eve punch into the old stereo) to get around the “we already have one” argument…
Gigantor over 14 years ago
There’s no reason for this to be updated. The strip takes place in the past. We all know they’re not this young anymore and they haven’t been timewarped into the present.
Jascat over 14 years ago
I agree with Gigantor. Lynn should keep it original imho~~
klamarre over 14 years ago
A simple conversation about it would have saved some trouble. If he told her that he didn’t like the old one and why he wanted a new one, then it could have been a joint decision. Men, you complain when you have to try to figure out what women want. Here is a good example of a man not telling his wife he wants a new stereo.
Any man who comes home to a clean house and dinner on the stove should be aware that there is a cost to that work. He does not share in any of the household chores or spend much time with the kids either. He just screwed up big time. It is time he figured out how much it would cost him to live the way he does without her at home. Maids, cooks and child care are not cheap.
Artrina over 14 years ago
Hope the couch is comfortable! The next few strips should be VERY interesting! John is about to learn some very real world lessons in communication in marriage…
Nighthawks Premium Member over 14 years ago
I think he better stay outside a while a play with his trains
summerdog86 over 14 years ago
Hah! She’s lucky it’s only a $2,000 stereo.
Now my DH comes home with used bulldozers (2 at last count… yep, and one’s broke), a backhoe, a tractor, a trench digger, a wood chipper (VERY LOUD), a skid steer, a HUGE trailer to haul them on (which he is afraid to do) and several other bright yellow and rust color machines sitting here and there on the property. (I tell people it’s an outdoor art statement)
Did I mention that they rarely get used?
When approached he has been known to uttered those immortal words…..”It’s my money”.
vldazzle over 14 years ago
I only got rid of the 78s and boxes of Beta videos when moving across the country in ‘98 ;- ) and the stereo I have is JUST new enough to play CDs (at LEAST 20 years old…
Brother_James437 over 14 years ago
Ooops, Not a good little answer John. Infact it might be the worst one you could have given.
natvold over 14 years ago
He’s going to pay for that unconsidered remark…again and again and again!
darrenmparr over 14 years ago
“Any man who comes home to a clean house and dinner on the stove should be aware that there is a cost to that work. ”
If the male partner is the breadwinner, he is already contributing to the cost. If the female partner is the breadwinner, he instead will be the one carrying out those aforementioned chores. Those in a partnership where both are working will generally share the domestic chores too. That said, I can’t recall a strip where Elly was carrying out garden chores.
Presuming John is the main breadwinner in this case, what funding is Elly living on exactly? Where does she get the money for her clothing? make-up? The little treats and impulse buys she’ll purchase for herself from time to time? Come on folks, lets get a little less negative here. If John is working hard for that money that keeps her in clothing, meals, etc, is he not entitled once in a while to his own rewards?
dkmfwtx Premium Member over 14 years ago
He should not of said it, but then she shouldn’t have been yelling at him.
This is classic misplaced anger. She is mad that she didn’t get the electric can opener but is blaming him for spending money on the stereo.
runar over 14 years ago
If, as catlady said, Ellie is “…the woman who cooks your meals, cleans your home and gave birth to and cares for your children.” that means she’s a traditional, fundie-religion type be-subservient-and-submit-gracefully-and-prayerfully-to-your-husband wife, and she’s just supposed to roll over and let him do whatever he wants. In next week’s strips, she’ll spend six days apologizing and getting counseling from their pastor.
mrslukeskywalker over 14 years ago
Told ya so! HIS MONEY! (refer back 2 days)
It’s really typical guy thinking about electronics. The whole TV and phone thing hadn’t started yet. Look at what they do now!
I wonder if her poppy bug eyes can be surgically implanted back in her head? They’ve been out of their sockets for so long that they can’t find their way back in without surgery. Maybe they can sew her big mouth shut while they’re at it. This woman only smiles when she gets her way and ruins everyone else’s fun. You know it’s true.
March back to the store and buy the over priced can opener Elly. Since you don’t have a car, you can sing songs that you just heard on the new stereo while you walk. HAHAHAHAHA!
Maybe this is how she finally gets a car from the cheapskate.
I have 2 turntables, and over 200 albums. I’m not replacing them all with CD’s. I did transfer them into itunes recently though, with a gadget I bought. Albums never went out of style. Kids born in the early 80’s just grew up with something different and laugh at us for owning vinyl, which as someone up there said, IS “making a comeback”, but it always was more preferable to many people, because digital noise is worse than crackling and skipping. Besides DJ’s always used albums, not CD’s. Until the early 80’s, we had vinyl. We didn’t trust CD’s when they came out. Besides, they were $18 each, as opposed to $7 or $8 for vinyl, and 30 years later the prices never really came down as promised. It helps that there’s no new music since the early 90’s to have to buy.
delaterra over 14 years ago
Next day he’ll buy her the electrical can opener! lol.
Shikamoo Premium Member over 14 years ago
Ouch! Is that what men really think? No wonder Ellie wants to work.
gene2u over 14 years ago
It’s a legitimate response in the setting of a heated conversation. That said, hopefully he would have the sense to take it back when the dust settles. It’s demeaning to the homemaker to imply that her worth/wealth is lower than his.
Springing a $2000 purchase on her is not cool, but that’s what makes the comic interesting. “Oh no, he didn’t!”
LornaP over 14 years ago
Wow, runar…. there are lots of women who are homemakers who aren’t religious, let alone fundamentalist. (And your comment wouldn’t fit the majority of religious-types, either.)
mrslukeskywalker over 14 years ago
Elly doesn’t go to work until April is almost a teenager. April’s birth is still a long way off.
Burgundy2, I blasted them both. I don’t personally agree with either Elly or John. I tried to imply that with all the sarcasm.They need a cartoon marriage counselor. I agree with you, but we know from some previous strips that that was John’s perception of the money, HIS. I said that when I brought it up about having to ask for money to buy a new can opener. I wasn’t being mean. I was going by what I’ve read here, and today he said it. “MY MONEY”. He’s a very simple minded character. I don’t agree with what either Patterson does most of the time.
I talk about this strip by what happened previously in this strip. A lot of people intertwine their lives in with the Pattersons’. I try to clearly separate it when I add something personal to join the conversation of the day.
My father made the money, my mother spent it, and my father never said a word about it, and when he wanted something, he bought it, and when they had large purchases that affected them both, they went together to buy it, because God forbid he messed up her decorating. They’re still like that.
Runar I’ve never seen Elly be religious in any capacity, have you?
LadybugMacon over 14 years ago
Doesn’t a man know that when he says ” I Do” that means that he no longer owns his pay check..
RadioTom over 14 years ago
@puddleglum1066 - Very true - Vinyl DOES sound better than CDs; but for the ULTIMATE in better-than-CD-sound, one needs reel-to-reel tape…. OTOH, Yep; John put his foot in it with the ?my money” crack, even if he can sit down with Elly and show her WHY it’s “his” money - as in, budgeted luxury goods. Which I suspect it is; it’s probably something he’s set money aside for.
JanLC over 14 years ago
runar: You haven’t got a clue. Submitting to one’s husband has nothing to do with roll-over-and-play-dead-on-command. It just means that the husband has final authority (hopefully after thorough discussion), not autocratic despotism.
Wildmustang1262 over 14 years ago
Elly should have her own checking account so she can spend her own money whatever she wants to buy.
My mum and pop had two accounts. They had one account for paying bills and etc. My mum had her own account so she can buy something she need.
pawpawbear over 14 years ago
My wife and I are connected by more than words said at an altar. We discuss every aquisition, thoroughly. Nothing is done by either of us without discussion. Even when I have been the primary money maker, the discussion was their.
Yes, John may well be a successful dentist and the money, itself, is no object, however, his attitude does stink. Elly’s response, while not the best, is at least as honest as it gets. My congrats go to Lynn for the reality she gives to a funny and poignant strip.
Smiley Rmom over 14 years ago
After a few situations similar to this (but my husband at least was smart enough to not call it HIS money), where I scrimped to build up savings, and he’d blow it on something, we took the advice of a Christian financial counselor (Ron Blue) and changed the way we handled our money. Hubby & I are responsible for the spending in different categories of our budget. I get a set amount each payday, and he keeps the rest for his categories. He doesn’t complain about how much I spend on what, as long as the necessities are taken care of, and I don’t complain as long as he’s paying all his bills on time. This has been a marriage saver!
billdi Premium Member over 14 years ago
thanks ribbie – it is amazing.
in this one i kind of admire joihn for articulating out loud what many men in his situation would think but never dare to say. i also think this is part of lj’s revenge – redoing the strips to make john (and men/husbands in general) look like jerks. that strategy is really wrong imo on many levels; besides that we don’t need any help or rewriting of history to make us look even jerkier than we already are thank you very much!
Gretchen's Mom over 14 years ago
Can John say “Woof, woof” because he’s really in the doghouse now!
Thank God my husband and I have always maintained separate accounts when it comes to personal wants and needs because all hell would have broken loose if he had ever said such a thing to me!
rowena28 Premium Member over 14 years ago
JanCin VV said: “It just means that the husband has final authority”
That is the most repulsive, sexist nonsense I have ever heard. The only response to a man with that attitude is DIVORCE.
atowe575 over 14 years ago
sound like someone is sleeping on the couch tonight
brewwitch over 14 years ago
C’mon people it’s just a comic strip.
Second point: we all have probably done worse to our partners without knowing it at the time. Maybe we still don’t realize it.
Lighten up.
Reddheadd over 14 years ago
@billdi: History was not rewritten. John said the same thing in 1981 - see http://catalog.fborfw.com/indexpanel.php?q=It%27s+my+money&Submit=Search
littledutchboy over 14 years ago
way back at the start: Ocean 17 and Marg: Do you think so? I hope you’re right. I wouldn’t mind this trend to continue, if it is so. I’d like to see LJ get mid-evil on John.
ribbie149 Careful. I notice you’re here, too!
Circleoffire over 14 years ago
Da mn straight, John! You Tell her!!
traciann76 over 14 years ago
Regardless of who’s money it is, who should get what for doing what or any of it…
Why did he have to be so seemingly nasty about it?
I’m aware it’s simply a comic, but through out time comics have stood as symbols for true societal behavior. Being the case, it would stand to reason that in this day and age, people treat their spouses like crap. And I think we can all look around and see that’s true.
But why? Why do we treat those we are suppose to love the most like garbage?
I have been married to my high school sweetheart for almost 16yrs and he is the absolute love of my life, soulmate, life partner, insert whichever sappy statement you prefer.
I could never imagine saying, or him saying, something like that.
Circleoffire over 14 years ago
She didn’t go to school for 8 years and then have to pay off the loans for going to school and pay for his wife and childrens bills and the dogs bills and the house bills and the electric and the phone and the medical bills and the and the and the……………. HE DESERVES TO SPEND SOME OF THE MONEY HE WORKED HARD FOR!!!!!
JP Steve Premium Member over 14 years ago
When I saw this strip in the morning paper I knew to schedule an extra half hour to read the comments. You did not disappoint!
When my generation (essentially the same as John and Ellie’s) was setting up housekeeping for the first time the number one purchase was the biggest, baddest stereo money could buy! Food and shelter came a distant second.
CeeC over 14 years ago
I don’t contest his ‘right’ to buy the thing, but in my house we discuss big dollar purchases before we get them, especially when it is an upgrade. And that is for items over $200 let alone 2 grand!!!
lindz.coop Premium Member over 14 years ago
I don’t think Lynn has to work too hard as far as “making John look bad.” This is what women put up with until they fought for equal pay in the workplace and the right and abilities to go to work. Last time I checked for the Women’s Studies courses I teach, the worth of a housewife is around $130,000/year – if they had to pay a maid, driver, laundry person, cook, baby-sitter, sex goddess etc. Most guys get off really light in that area if they are the main breadwinners – and today, most women are working too. All those who said they should have discussed it first are right – yes he does have the right to buy something he wants, but it shouldn’t be a surprise if it costs that much money. And btw, no man will ever have “final authority” in my household – that’s what the Promise Keepers nonsense was all about. Wouldn’t last 5 minutes at our house.
towman01 over 14 years ago
It doesn’t matter if he can afford it or not, if you are married it is no longer your money or her money, it belongs to the family regardless of who earned it in the work place. Seperate accounts, hiding money from eachother, seperate budgets and “responsibilities” are all ways of saying that you don’t trust or respect eachother. If you do not have harmony in finances it will be very hard to have harmony with the rest of you marriage, all the money goes into one account and you both agree on a fixed budget and do not make impulse or surprise purchases, everything must be agreed on or it shouldn’t be done, it is very disrespectful and irreponsible to not include and consider your spouses opinion on these matters.
Reddheadd over 14 years ago
I have been in an equal partnership marriage for 30+ years. I would not even have dated someone who believed in gender roles, let alone married one. My mother used to serve my father food as he wanted it, getting up throughout the meals to do so. He never reciprocated. I said as a child “I will never do that.” My husband and I have supported each other financially and emotionally, with no struggle over who brought in more money.
gaebie over 14 years ago
This is a little late and will probably not be read by many. But…..
John is not at fault here, he is only lines drawn on a page. Lynn is the only one to blame here, She has had men problems in her life and uses this strip to portray men in a negative light
runar over 14 years ago
JanCinVV: How long did it take you to get permission to type that?
jaeldid66 over 14 years ago
It’s frustrating when you are the wife and denying yourself things that would make life easier, only to have your husband indulge himself. Like when he goes out to lunch with his friends when you pack yourself a tuna sandwich every day.
mrslukeskywalker over 14 years ago
Jaeldid66, that’s true, and that’s where women start setting the boundaries in the relationship, otherwise they accept the situation by not addressing the unfair issues, and their misery becomes their own doing, which is usually what Elly does. Stays miserable.
ALSO… I think all the people here who constantly tell everyone else to “shut up”, “get a life”, and/or “lighten up” need to “shut up”, “get a life”, and/or “lighten up” themselves. People have a right to comment, as long as they aren’t being vulgar, even if you don’t like what they have to say.
Charles Weir over 14 years ago
It reminds me of Stan Freberg’s “Herman Horn on Hi Fi.”
Herman Horn said, “All women are trouble makers and would rather see their husbands suffer with equipment that has been obsolete for at least a week, and squander it away on homogenized milk, shoes for the the children or perhaps a second dress.”
kboone4 over 14 years ago
1000 vinyl 12-inch maxi-singles (extended remixes) and 200 albums. One turntable. All transferred on disk.
I miss the days when I would buy 2 or 3 at once, open them one-by-one, not look at the timings until I got them all opened (I loved the mystery), and that whiff of air from the sleeve.
Those were the days. You can still get the vinyl at online record shops. Major cities still have record STORES.
coffeeturtle over 14 years ago
open mouth. insert both feet, dummy :-D
feefers_ 11 months ago
Wow. Epically stupid remark