Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for September 19, 2015

It’s usually implausible for me to agree with Implausible, but in this case, I do. I’m disappointed.

Just look at those wide-open arms and that enormous grin – “9/11! It’s the happiest time of the year!!!!”

I totally disagree. Weddings mean love and life, and 9/11 meant hate and death. Why not commemorate it with love and life, particularly with first responders such as firefigthers? That is not disrespectful at all, it is uplifting. I know this is a contrary view, but let the debate begin.

Yes, whenever I contemplate the death of thousands of people in a terrorist attack, it makes me feel all… romantic!!!

For the wedding ceremony, we’ll lay a commemorative wreath and have a somber prayer of remembrance, then – party time!!!

I’m sure he means well. I’m sure he had no intention of being offensive. But this is wrong on so many levels.

You get the idea. This is is unbelievably bad taste. All I can do is wonder – did team Evans want to make Brad and Toni look like insensitive clods, or do they actually not understand just how bad this appears? The only way of saving the strip is for someone to whom they announce their plans, whether it be Frank, Nancy, Luann, Jonah, or the fire station Captain, to tell them: “Are you totally INSANE???” and then call the whole thing off.

Count me among those who think the idea is in extremely bad taste.

I think maybe there was something in those brownies last week and that Greg and Karen ate too many of them.

No wonder Toni said it was a “crazy-scary” thought.‘Course, we’re going to have to get past this 9/23 in one piece first………

It’s a comic strip, folks. Besides, don’t shoot before you even can see what you’re shooting at. Frankly, I’m disappointed in those who are getting all offended before you know what this is all about. I’d very much like to find something uplifting to think about on 9/11 each year. The ongoing tradition of revisiting one of the darkest days in US history with replays of each terror, while not even remotely considering any story but the “official” one as to what really happened that day, makes me want to gag, not for the terrible thing that happened that day, nor for the sadness or heroics displayed that day, but for our nation’s inability to resume thinking and feeling anything ELSE but the bizarre untruths we are supposed to believe, unquestioningly, about that day. It’s unlikely we’ll ever know the full story, so I’d very much like to move on and learn to approach that day with the same hope and glory we allot the other 364 days of the year. This comic’s story line may well be a new way of putting behind us that particular dark blight on our nation’s past.

So this means their wedding is another year away? It seems like they’ve been engaged for years now. One of the main stoylines just keeps getting pushed back.

So next year?

As much as I understand the original creators’ intention to give another meaning to the current mourning and remembrance day, celebrating the love of a young couple, I really cannot support it. It is too much and too soon. Bad taste indeed.

My brother was born on December 7th 1956, exactly 15 years after Pearl Harbor. That day has never meant anything to me other than his birthday. September 11 is just another day, people are born on that day, as well as other things. There are children who are teenagers who weren’t even born yet. I know this is painful for some people to hear, but in another 15 years they’ll stop observing it as a special day. It will fade away as the memory grows more distant.

I wonder if people get married or have babies on Dec.7th and nobody cares

The choice of what day to hold or not hold a wedding is not the same as staying home in fear of going out to public places because terrorists might be there.

I cannot imagine choosing that day specifically because of the role that the response to the horror played in their lives. If it were chosen because it happened to be a convenient time, no problem. But to deliberately choose it because of what happened on that day? As someone who watched that morning’s horrors replayed on TV over and over and over again — this idea is almost inconceivable.

The worst days to have a wedding on 1.9-11 2. Pearl Harbor Day. And 3.the Boston Marathon Bombings.

I guess we’ll just agree to disagree, then.

It was a turning point in Brad’s life. He began to grow up, and decided to become a firefighter because he was inspired by their sacrifice. To me, some things need to be commemorated on their own, not combined with other commemorations.

This is just a comic strip FFS,.

Make it 9-12. Life goes on and so does resolve.

Today, on “Worst Wedding Dates Ever”…

I really hope this is a trick, but what else can “the date is nine-eleven” mean? Unless they want to get married Nov. 9, and in a country where they put the month before the date (almost anywhere).

I respectfully disagree…in a way it is how in certain religions it is common to name a new born after a beloved passed former relative…to honor, a continuation of..It actually has gotten down to for most using the first letter of if the actual name isn’t what one is comfortable with..Here it is in honor of..a new beginning..a continuation of life and what that life represents..so I can understand the significence of the date and the hobnor of ..in this case for Brad and his detroved..As I said..no disrespect to your feelings..just a difference here in how we look at it..

so…………………….. no sailor can marry December 7th? no soldier can marry between July 1st and 3rd? no one from Oklahoma can marry April 19th? no one working in an embassy can marry August 7th? no teacher should marry December 14th, April 20th…………… and in October 16th, no diner worker can marry

The events of 9/11 were terrible, but the American Emergency Responders proved to be more than heroes. Fire-Fighters, Paramedics, Nurses, Doctors, Surgeons, and many others, including so-called ordinary people, proved that a crisis such as this was could bring out the best of the American people. Yes, it was a great tragedy, and should never have happened. Thousands of people died, were disabled, or injured. Thousands of families lost loved ones. But America was unbowed. We should never forget those that died, those that gave their lives so that others could live. We should also never forget those who prevented it from being an even greater tragedy. These should always be celebrated as heroes.

Concur w/ bird n Lu12 – those of us in my business who’ve been steeped and stewed in death and dying in so many strange places since, look upon the chance to laugh and cry at the same time b/c we’re so inured to the grim part that we can no longer cry unless we’re loose and laughing. then it opens the floodgates. Sad but true.

@Shooshie, exactly, This IS a comic strip! I have two friends who were born on 9/11. I don’t think they have to give up their birthdays because a tragedy happened on them. Lighten up people!

Brad and Toni are firefighters. Brad said he became a firefighter because of 9/11 being a catalyst for change. It led to a story line that makes sense to me.

Given that I think this is a terrible match, that Brad is being hornswoggled by a woman who has no real passion for him, I think 9/11 is perfect.

Their marriage, if it takes place, will start out as a beautiful day, but will end in a long and ultimately futile war.

Don’t ask me what I think will happen to Brad’s tower.

They’re probably using the european version of dates with the 9th day of the 11th month.

Not at all disrespectful!Congratulations, Toni and Brad!

So, you’re all saying that no one can ever get married on 9/11?

1 year in comic strip can be over 5 years sometimes though even though the year between brad "fake proposing and toni proposing was exactly 1 year

Congratulations to Tony and Brad finally setting the date.

Do you remember Fawkes?

9-1-1, as in call 911 for police, might have been what Greg Evans was trying to convey with the event date. After the blow up here, however, he may feel moved enough to explain why he chose the date that appears to coincide with the 9/11 attacks. I don’t think he’s as tone deaf as people here make him out to be.

Well, they won´t forget it at least. Also why are you supposed to remember a date forever due to a disaster event? Is it that hard to try and rebuild for the future, to be happy again – everything has to be glum and stuck in the past? “Never forget” and apparently never move on either …

I completely disagree. There is no better sabotage to the terrorist effort than to trample their day of death with life and joy. I am friends with a family who lost a family member in tower 1 and they fight hard for joy and life in their family.

Hopefully the next few comics will be all about everyone else talking sense into them. How about if the I do’s are at 9:11 instead? Everytime I see 9/11 it feels like a gut punch and I remember staring and staring at the TV trying to figure out where the tower was. I don’t want to feel sick to my stomach everytime I read a comic. Please at least talk to a few firefighters to learn what a bad idea this is and then turn it around.

Everyday is a gift, we all lost someone there even if we did not know them. We should cherish those days, those gifts, including 9/11.

Perhaps many of the objectioneers are not familiar with sensitivities aroused during the Delta cancer story in the late 1990s, because there was no online strip or comment area back then. Greg has tread this path before. It all worked out for the better.

Put me in the camp of seeing nothing wrong with creating something with joy, hope and love on a day that that is otherwise dominated by death, destruction and hate.

Why are you ranting and raving over fictional characters? The truth is people die everyday and that is a tragedy for them and the people they leave behind. Please take a deep breath, take a Midol, take an asprin, and say a prayer. I hope that this will help you to improve your perspective. Do a reality check….this is just a cartoon strip. There are bigger things in life that justify your anger.

it’s because of people like you that the terrorists win. nice work on letting them black out a day of your year for life. I guess you’re pretty screwed when you start putting in every day where there was a loss of life. so much for 12/7 and 6/6 and 8/6 and 8/9 and then there’s 7/27 and dozens of mass shootings, then the days when ISIS beheaded people, then pretty much any day that any American was killed in combat . . .none of those get to be anybody else’s day now, right?they are forever the property of tragedy?

you are a very twisted & sad individual.feel free to “feel offended”.

911. Understand the gesture but disagree,

It’s the perfect counterpoint to terror, to show that life and joy continue.

Let’s hope they have more taste than that Devo singer and his new wife. There are photos online of them cutting into two twin tower cakes with their faces on them. Also every guest got their own box cutter. After the media indignation over their reception, the singer blamed a friend of his for doing it all behind his back (as a surprise). Suuuure….

But I trust this couple will make their 9/11 wedding beautiful and joyful, as Mourdac said, “to show that life and joy continue”.

I just don’t think it’s a good idea to mix mourning and celebration. I would never have gotten married on the anniversary of my father’s passing. It was bad enough to my mother that that day, twelve years later, was my wife’s birthday. (In retrospect, I should have seen that as an omen.)

On 9/11/2002, the old Gil Thorpe strip featured a scene where the Milford hoops team went against another school’s vaunted “Twin Tower defense”, which was two very tall kids wearing numbers 9 and 11. I kind of feel the same way about this strip as I felt about that one. This is sort of like those giant inflatable Titanic bounce toys you see at weekend carnivals…

For the people who think this is disrespectful, you do realize that good things happened on infamous dates, right? What about people who already have wedding anniversaries on that date, or birthdays? Or people who were born since? Should they not celebrate now? If we stopped celebrating things on these terrible days and doing the things we love, then, to be cliche as heck, the terrorists have won.

I guess we could have supposed this was the ‘scarey & exciting’ thought Toni had. Maybe Nancy & Frank will be in agreement or maybe not. We shall see. NCWTS rained out at Chicagoland last niight; runs this morning & I got a soccer game to go to. NXS is tonight. Enjoy 9/19 Cappers!

9/11 was a week ago…

I think Mr Evans means something good came out of that day. Had it not have been for 9/11 they would have never met. so that day brought them together & it’s occasion for a celebration.

People get married on Dec 7. Is that an insult to those who died at Pearl Harbor? People get married on June 6. Is that an insult to those who died at Normandy? People get married on April 19. Is that an insult to those who died at the Oklahoma City federal building? People get married every on every date that a national tragedy occurred in our nation.

Greg Evans strip from Friday clearly said that Brad’s inspiration to become a firefighter was the Heroes of 9-11. The events of 9-11 was death and chaos. Marriage equals new life for the couple. I am sure that Greg Evans will handle this in a appropriate manner.

In today’s “Soup to Nutz” cartoon, artist Rick Stromski was very subtle and clever in his approach to a touchy topic. The Luann strip used a long and cumbersome runway to make its point. And, yes, I understand that they are very different kind of cartoons.

I don’t key in usually, but true 9-11 is a day of tragedy but it is also a day where Americans shown what we can be by the many selfless act of courage and service. American came together more than they ever had in decades. To Brad it inspired him to become a Firefighter thus changing his life for the better.

They missed their wedding by over a week. Sucks to be them.

The strip “For Better or Worse” had a 9-11 wedding as well. http://www.gocomics.com/forbetterorforworse/2001/09/16

Opinions are all over the place on this. We live in a community which lost many on 9/11, so did a number of my husband’s coworkers. Fortunately, we did not but i spent some very fearful hours since i knew my hubby might be there due to appts shifting and could not reach him on the phone. Even among the survivors opinions vary greatly. While some want to always treat the day as a memorial, a great many others strongly want to no longer have their loss renewed each year, and welcome the chance to associate positive things with the date. Huge events just are like that. There always will be and are polar opposite preferences among people, including the survivors. Plenty of aspects tied to wars also create that effect, yet bonding and respect for those differences exists because what is shared is so much larger.Recently i was reading about children born that day. I recall how much happy news at that time helped, but i imagine that families have too often had to find solutions when the day is a birthday or wedding anniversary. For me it is good to remember that life goes on, and since people differ there will be survivors who feel that way, and a number of those who died would have been inclined toward that perspective.

If you look back in history you could find a horrible disaster each day of the year.

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-historyhas a disaster topic. Today’s disaster is:

Sep 19On this day in 1985, a powerful earthquake strikes Mexico City and leaves 10,000 people dead, 30,000 injured and thousands more homeless.

Moment of silence for remembrance, then continue your life.

It’s totes inapropes!

My son’s birthday is on April 20. Does that mean, esp. since we are here in Colorado, that we should not celebrate his birthday because that was the day of the Columbine shootings?

I’ll have to echo other posters, this was not well-thought out. Of course people are free to marry on whatever day they want and historical significance means little – my parents were married on Valentine’s Day and their marriage lasted barely three years. But to marry purposely as a commemoration of that tragic day leaves me feeling a little nauseous. I live in DC and had a friend on the plane that crashed into the Pentagon plus casually knew someone else that died in Shanksville. Maybe this is an East Coast vs West Coast, where the tragedy was not as close, kind of thing. I hope the DeGroots can talk Brad and Toni out of this ill-conceived idea.

On 9/11/2001:A baby was born,A child joined a soccer team,A kid hit a home run,A girl received her first kissA boy got his first driver’s license,A girl got her first job at the neighborhood ice cream shop,A young adult entered college,An adult graduated college,A couple got married,A very old man passed peacefully with his large family in attendance.A baby was born,

Life goes on. Celebrate the date for the good that happened on this date. For the good which happens on the anniversary of this date. Remember and honor the date. Don’t celebrate it for the bad.

Uh not a good idea

I’m most likely out of it, but I confess that the pro-con arguments didn’t enter my mind when I read this strip today. I kind of see both viewpoints now, but will inject the “if we can’t get married on that date, then they won” argument.

I challenge anyone to find a single day on the calendar that hasn’t witnessed tragedy and loss. Unless you reclaim days from sorrow, we won’t have any days of celebration.

So what about the people that got married before 9/11/2001 ? Or have a birthday on 9/11? Pick any day and one can find a tragedy that happened on that day in history.

You’ve thought this through, but only from one perspective. Just wait.

Brad looks too happy considering that he has to wait nearly an entire year…..

I notice you overlooked the fact that both Toni and Brad are firefighters and fire captains. It is natural they want to pay respects to NYFD for their roles in 9-11. I wouldn’t be surprised if they get married in their captain uniforms (wow – save hundreds to thousands on bridal gown and tux rental). Perhaps some organ music about 9-11. A brief speech to commemorate 9-11 at the altar. The best man and grooms probably will wear fire hats. The maid of honor and bridesmaids wear 9-11 brooches. Simple but sincere tribute to 9-11 by the wedding couple who are firefighters. I don’t think it will be a circus of a wedding because that is not who Brad and Toni are.

This is not a commemoration of 9/11. It is a personal celebration of it. “This is what inspired me to become a firefighter! What better day to choose for the most joyous day of my life? Let’s sing, drank, dance, and have a good time! We’ll have a 9/11-themed wedding! We’ll get married in our uniforms, at the very hour the first tower fell!” Then off to the honeymoon suite!!!-Well, there’s really no more to be said, so any further posting on this subject is pointless. Either you see what’s wrong with this, or you don’t (or you refuse to, because Greg Evans did it, and it’s critical to your own belief system that he can do no wrong). Let’s just see what happens when the newspaper readers of America see this strip at their breakfast table. I suspect they will not be pleased, especially the firefighters.

Apparently anyone born on this date isn’t allowed to celebrate now. Why shouldn’t this date also be associated with love instead of just hate? Get a grip people.

Oh, please folks, every day has bad connotations if you investigate. At least Brad will be able to remember his anniversary.

I guess the strip is trying to indicate that this marriage will be a disaster?

9/11/2016 has an added advantage: it’s a Sunday, so we can see it in color

That’s my friend’s wedding anniversary. Although they married in 1999, before the attack.

If memory serves, not only it’s Talk Like a Pirate Day, but also the wedding of amputee YouTuber Josh Sundquist.

OK, I do not have time to read all 90-some comics right now. But here is my two cents. If you are going to say that people should not get married on 9-11 just because so many died on that day, the terrorists have won. There is no reason that Evans should not have them get married on that day. Remember, Brad said that 9-11 is what INSPIRED him to become a fire fighter. It is unfortunate that it took such a national tragedy to inspire that, but it inspired other great things as well. I think that anyone who wants to get married on this day, should do so, and show those terrorists that if they want to win, they are going to have to do a LOT better than that. You know how all the flights were grounded for several days after? I think they should have allowed air travel right away to show them that they can’t bring America down. I would not have been afraid to fly the very next day if they had allowed it and I had someplace to fly to.

Seems most people shun 9/11 for a wedding!http://www.northjersey.com/story-archives/solemn-date-for-solemn-vows-1.934796?page=all

A great many more beautiful, awe inspiring things happened before, and will happen again, on some September 11th than a man made disaster in the US. In the big, long story of human experience it was a local event.

Calm down folks. Perhaps it’s a way of saying that, instead of using the day to dwell on the failures of the past, it’s a way of using it to mark a happier, more hopeful future.Of course, Trump is still a frontrunner for the GOP so maybe all you folks south of the border can recognize is fear and negativity.

The date of 9/11 should command the same respect as 12/7/1941. Pearl Harbor. Over three thousand lives were lost to the treachery of the Empire of Japan. So too should we hold 9/11 in our hearts and keep that date sacred.

I guess the banquet halls were already booked on December 7th.

On the side of the ‘this is tasteless’ viewpoint.

So a whole ’nother year then.

’cmon guys. I was around for 9/11. Like all other tragedies, it happened. stop being jerks about it. You know I never hear these sort of things over pearl harbor or the holocaust.

Tuesday’s “We don’t respond to cat calls” strip now makes sense to me.

Change of focus: I’ve been waiting a long time to see Toni Daytona in a filmy negligee, and now I have to wait another year? Rats! I’ll reserve judgment re 9/11, but clearly it was a day that brought Toni and Brad together. Thus THEY find it a day that led to their joy.

I was married on 9/11/99. I can tell you 16 years later it is miserable trying to celebrate an anniversary when everyone is moping around watching footage all day of the tragedy. It is the worse day of the year. From waitress apologizing for the date to trying and have fun on a day of disaster. For Gods Sake, change it.

I’ve enjoyed Greg’s work on Luann for 30 years. I’m going to let this play out completely before making any judgements.

I agree with why Evans is doing this. I think he’s trying to prove that even though the day was dark for everybody in the country, he wants to prove that you can find the smallest of light (i.e Brad and Toni’s wedding) on the darkest of days. I can understand why people would have reserve judgement, but I like the idea.

You said it so well. I totally agree with you on every point.

Plus the real killers haven’t been brought to justice yet.

Hey everyone, would it be terrible if we talked about people born or married, or whatever on February 29th. That only happens once every four years, so the remaining three they have no DATE on the calendar to celebrate, feel sad about, happy about, or remember. God,or the universe (to cover those of faith and those of agnosticism or atheists -:) gave us each date, and we never get them back. Maybe life and love can always continue no matter the date, that happened in the past. Sorry I was trying to be humorous but this subject is so significant, we can all agree it means a lot

I simply will not believe this will go through. One can NOT turn 9/11 into something good. Not now, perhaps not ever. September 10th would be a better choice, so they can then do a local Fireman’s Climb (in full gear- look it up) the next day for charity, maybe get the wedding party to join in, if they physically can. (maybe not full gear for non-firefighters)

Gunther might be a father, twice over, by next Sept. He might even see a little action with Sun and Viper………that cad.

Wow, how tacky, poor taste, insensitive to everyone who lost a loved one on that day. Surely Evans will come to his senses and scrap this terrible plot.

There are 365 OTHER days of the year they could get married. Obviously many people are offended by someone who would pick 9/11 to have a happy celebration. Just pick another date for the wedding. It would be different in 30 or 40 years, but not 15. Way too soon.

Their was a story in the newspaper not too long ago about a wedding on 9/11 the couple had their wedding cake look like the twin towers.

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with being born or getting married on 9/11. My brother was born on Dec. 7th, and we’ve always celebrated his birthday just fine. BUT it is weird and creepy to select the date because of the tragedy that happened that day. If they were getting married on 9/11 because that was the most convenient day or commemorated something else in their lives by coincidence, it would be fine. But I’m in the “not a good idea” camp.

So people with birthdays on September 11 shouldn’t celebrate?

My son was born on December 7. Not planned that way, but it does rather redeem the day. Tragedies need redeeming.

I can only hope that next week someone will explain to Brad and Toni how mind-boggling stupid and tasteless this idea is.

Is this is the ‘interesting development’ that a week of odd wandering conversation was to lead up to, I’m flabbergasted..I can’t believe Gregg is writing this. So sad..If somebody thought that drawing poor Sun was politically incorrect, this is 1000 times more incorrect. .It is really incorrect.

@kenhense said, So next year? . . . . . -————————————————No, it will be 9 /11/ 2111Why put it off over a year OUR time? That is a LONG time in the Luanniverse..9/11/2016 in the Luanniverse will have Brad ready to retire from firefighting.

I guess that means that all children born on 09/11/2001 are not allowed to celebrate their birthdays with cake and parties as it is a sign of bad taste.

Hooray!!!!!!!!!!!!

They’ve picked a date but haven’t picked a year yet. Might be many years in our universe.

And when the big day arrives, there will probably be something to prevent the wedding from actually going through, like a big general-alarm fire that has all the firefighters – including Brad & Toni – scrambling and abandoning the ceremony.

Sorry, Sheriff, this whole arc was not IMO a good example of storytelling. It had been vague and wandering. Now it has turned absurd. .Absurd, but not funny. Not instructional either..Who would want 9/11 as their wedding anniversary? Ghouls? Terrorists? Who? Will there be frosting images of the twin towers on the wedding cake? Let’s hope not..Trivializing the date 9/11 in this way is unfortunate. Are we now to turn 9/11 into simply a convenient date?? A sequence of numbers easy to remember. Nothing beyond that. .Maybe we can have big sales at Macy’s every 9/11? Fire sales should be popular. Hoo haa haa!!.This use of the tragic date in this strip is pointless. It can develop no audience understanding of Luann or her friends’ teen-age issues. .It cannot serve to highlight the character development of anyone in the strip. It teaches nothing. (The cancer story did!!) It advances nothing in the plot — perhaps promises to further delay some of the action..Are we all now supposed to look forward to the next 9/11 with happy anticipation for this joyous wedding? One whole year more of cleaning up the warehouse?.Moreover, are actual dates now to become predictable in the Luanniverse? If not, the blissful event may be six years or more years away..Meanwhile, there are tales to tell. Luann has been more that a year in college and we know almost nothing about her experience (beyond Zebo’s antics). Not even what her intended major is.

philip brett said, So, no one can get married on 9/11? . . .-————————————Of course, . . . especially if the little lady is expecting on 9/12.

Then stop repeating yourself. You’re obviously not going to change our minds anymore than we’re going to change yours. I’m sure you have a million other things to do than continually debate others on a message board. Since you’re talking about honoring that day, how about honoring the freedom we all have to express our opinions? Put your money where your mouth is and respect that freedom or just shut it.

I wonder if it really is an East Coast/West Coast thing? I’m a New Yorker (but from a different town fairly far from the City), and I remember the horror of that day so personally. It wasn’t just a terrible news, it was personally terrifying. And every plane (usually military that day) that flew overhead, I was sure our town was next, plus I have friends and family in NYC (one distant cousin died at the WTC). I was at work, and I remember answering the phone and the guy who was calling wanted to talk about our product like it was a normal day, and I had to tell him, “I’m sorry, i haven’t heard a word you’re saying; I’m listening to the radio.” And he was from California, and he had no idea what I was talking about. He knew what was going on, but to him it was just another work day with some bad national news. So, maybe to a Californian it’s more like, “let’s honor that important day when people did heroic things,” and less, “let’s have a party to remember that day we spent terrified and crying and frantically calling our loved ones in panic.”

@reindeerlover2: no, not at all. I’m in California and everybody here was just as horrified and stunned as anyone. I can only guess the guy you were talking to had just gotten an erroneous early report that an accidental plane crash had happened in NYC—still, if so, that was unbelievably insensitive of the guy. At my kids’ high school the TV played it all day in all classes—this was our Pearl Harbor, this was history, this was happening to all of us, life had just changed everything they knew about their world and their teachers wanted them to know it.

I’ve never seen Brad with a happier expression than in the second panel today. “9/11 – it’s the new Christmas!!!”

I was a soldier who joined the army due to 9/11 and I have no problem with this.

Thank you for your perspective! (And, of course, your service.)

Excellent wedding date. My parents would have been married 60 years this 9/11.

So glad at the end of the day to read so many positive points of view.

My friend has been a fireman for over 25 years and he didn’t have an adverse reaction when I asked for his opinion. He didn’t have issue with it.

Let’s correct this misconception right here: THIS IS NOT A 9/11 THEMED PARTY. It may just happen to be a party which will occur on 9/11. Since you seem to understand the difference, why do you continue to conflate the two?

Two additional things:

1. Brad’s parade for saving Zane from the book store fire took place on 9/11/2002, so the precedent for celebrating on what everybody seems to insist be a day or mourning has already been set, and I don’t see where anybody here right now complained about it.

2. Think for a few seconds about all of the weddings and other joyful occasions that were scheduled to take place in the days and weeks immediately following 9/11/2001. I’m betting a great many of them went on as scheduled, since weddings in particular can easily cost over $10,000 to hold. Should all of those people have cancelled their parties and lost all of their money because there were still smoldering ruins in New York and Washington? It would have been an unreasonable expectation then, and that was in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy. It’s been 14 years. Life goes on, as it must. Stop your ridiculousness.

And I’m going to tell for the second—and the last—time: since you seem tired of telling us your ad nauseum-repeated diatribes, then don’t repeat yourself. Far from being a patriotic American, you’re a narrow-minded, ignorant American who’s all too willing to shut up and insult anyone who doesn’t agree with you. So please, if you can’t at least respect our viewpoints, then please just shut your trap and get out of here.

Likely meant “911” as in what you call for an emergency.

You guys are missing the obvious. They’re American fireman, their phone number is 911.

Anyone catch Chris Rock’s monologue on Saturday Night live? A rerun of 11/01/14. Hard hitting humor about 9/11, the Freedom Tower, etc. Right there in NYC.

My younger brother was born December 6; my older son was born September 11. We don’t stop celebrating their birthdays because o the horrors that took place, but despite them.

This is getting out of hand, repeated use of the “h-word” (hornswoggled) will result in contacting the moderators, as it is a violation of the TOS, and will not be tolerated.

2To me, I do not think Greg nor the characters are meaning any sort of disrespect. That said, I think the risk is too high that the date & reasons for choosing this date could too easily be felt as disrespectful by a large percentage of folks.My opinion is that Toni & Brad choosing this date signifies THEIR focus on the event being a HOOPLA event meaning OVERDONE and OVERBLOWN, and not focused more on their FUTURE day-to-day love. That is something I dislike.

I disagree. A great way to honor those that died wrongly, is to celebrate life, in their honor.

So, here’s what’ll happen. Maybe. Evans will consume some space and time with characters going over whether taking a national tragedy as a touchstone for a personal, cherished milestone. Or, the wedding will go on as planned, but an emergency will occur, Brad and Toni will step up heroically. Tragically, Toni will Perish. Or maybe not.

Wow lots of Gripes about 9/11. Its a day in history. there are only 365 days a year. What, because something bad happened on a particular day it is simply anathema?

So Does that mean December 7th is off limits as well? Lots of people also Died in a Terror attack in 1941.

How about 7/7? is that off limits as well?

If you research your History well enough, you will note that many good and terrible things happened on 9/11/????. But to the CHARACTERS Its an important day that means something to them Both. Sure, Greg writes the characters but it fits within the scope of the characters. Give the man and the story a break.

While I am not pleased with Brad’s delivery, I respectfully disagree with many here, as if one looks at their decision (OK, the cartoonist’s decision) from a particular perspective. If it is done properly, the ceremony, as a solemn yet joyful union could be utterly appropriate.

Consider the following: Two First Responders, motivated by the tragedy/atrocity to choose the life of service they are living, are brought together BY their choice of service motivated by 9/11. A formal union, and possibly spiritual union of these 2, could not only be done partly to honor their fallen brothers and sisters, intrinsically linking their solemn commitment to each other with the spirit of dedication and sacrifice the fallen lived by until “their last full measure”, but also could act as an “in your face” affirmation of a loving and flourishing way of life that those who planned and carried out the attacks wished to destroy or mutilate.

It really depends on HOW this would be carried out. On the other hand, Mr. Evans’ plans may include a thoughtful discussion, through the vehicle of Toni, Brad, and Brad’s parents, as to the full ramifications of their decision, should they follow through on this.

To all here who were born on, or have a relative born on, 9/11, I demand that you all go back and be born on a different date!(Sheesh!)

227 comments thus far about whether or not 9/11 is an appropriate date. Betcha the writers are pleased. And betcha Mom, Dad, Lu, Qu, and the lettercarrier are all going to have opinions to express. Hoo boy.

How about looking at the wedding as a way of showing terrorists that the 9/11 attacks that were supposed to destroy America and American values failed miserably? NEVER FORGET but don’t let it destroy what America is all about…FREEDOM. My dad was born on 9/11/28 and did not let those cowardly acts rule or ruin the day on his few remaining birthdays after 2001. He celebrated with fireworks and flags on his cake and all around his house.

I really don’t get the lead-up to this decision and announcement. 1. scenes from meetings at the firehouse, 2. lots of yuk yuk and talk about not much. 3. on the way home Brad wonders why he chose to be a firefighter. 4. he recalls that 9/11 was the motivating factor. 5. now Brad and Toni will get married on 9/11. Will their marriage on 9/11 (next year albeit) cause Brad to have some re-kindled commitment to his job? Somehow A+B+C+D does not totally add up

Night-Gaunt49 said, about 21 hours ago Only more time passes for us than them. We see only snippets, seconds usually with wide gaps. It is continuous for them. . . . .-———————————-So you feel that 9/11 was not 14 years earlier as Brad and Toni make this decision? Maybe this is taking place in 2005?,Yet we have already had Obama elected (to his first term) since Brad became a fireman, and that was long ago in the strip as well — the high school trip to DC with Delta, etc.

I spoke to a firefighter yesterday who went to the Flight 93 crash site on 9/11. I asked him how he felt about this. He sees nothing wrong with it because of the reason they are doing it.

And for the love of God, if you think about it, something bad happened every day of the year! It may not have been a a national tragedy, but think about it……no matter what day you choose, a family member probably died, a friend might have gotten arrested, you might have lost a job, your parents may have divorced, your first love broke up with you….if people didn’t get married because something horrible happened on that day, no one would ever get married! Or if no one did anything fun on a certain day, they’d live a miserable life! Would you stop celebrating your birthday because on one of your birthdays, a close friend or relative died? I would hope not! We buried my dad on my mom’s birthday and we still celebrated by going to breakfast that very morning. Would you not celebrate your birthday or your wedding anniversary because it was on 9/11? I would hope not. So why shouldn’t anyone get married then?

They would have been in Kindergarten or Pre K. This is just too bizarre!

I would wager the 343 Firefighters would rather have their memories celebrated with happiness rather than sorrow. We celebrate how they lived rather than how they died.

I agree that the date of the attacks commonly referenced as “9/11” should be given in full (I wish some folks would not refer to the attacks their selves as “9/11” or by any other form of the date of the attacks at all).

And did the folks or grandfolks get married on December 7? WHAT a tradition!

9/11 is a tragic date for many — I knew personally two who died there, — but Brad and Toni are also saying that for them (especially for him) it’s also a time to celebrate the heroism of those who responded to the emergency. Maybe even a statement that they will defy the threats of the attackers by starting a new life (perhaps in more senses than one) on that date.

….@ implausible – this is a freaking comic strip, not the real world, get a grip !!!

I personally don’t understand the need to “celebrate” 9/11 every year, they are celebrating that Terrorists WON…..Many who lost loved ones, don’t attend these celebrations, they don’t want to live that day over every freaking year……..let these people move on with their lives………If you lose a family member in a car accident, do you celebrate it every year, I doubt it, not many people want to celebrate loss of loved ones in a horrific manner……there is something in history every day of the year in the USA, does that mean we can’t have weddings, anniversary parties, birthday parties etc on those days because somewhere in history, people died. If government insists on celebrating 9/11, it should be very low key,laying a wreath at the memorial sight…..family members can visit if they choose too, but for those that are still having a hard time with loss from that day, it’s like rubbing salt in the wound………If a survey was done of everyone in US that was old enough to remember 9/11 – I think you would find most people would think laying a wreath and offering a mass for those who wish to attend would be sufficient – rerunning the news from the day – Unless you are mentally ill, who the hell wants to watch what happened that day all over again, all day, every 9/11 – this country has moved on from previous attacks, they need to move on from this……….moving on is NOT being disrespectful to those who lost family and friends – it is a fact of life

I almost never comment on here but I had to now – this is tasteless and weird. I don’t get it.

Why did they do it on 9/11? On all days to get married, why that one