For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for January 06, 2016

My brother and I’ve been adjusting just fine with a stepmother and five stepsisters.

I remember vertical holds. And horizontal, which was less active for whatever reason. None of that anymore…now we get a black screen (and no audio) telling us our signal has been interrupted. “Progress,” it’s called.

Ahh, I miss the days of frequent aerial adjustments.

Not.

Kids today would have no idea what that means! Certainly mine don’t.

The answer is that every kid is different. To some your take would be nonsense, but to others it would be exactly what they’ve gone through. That’s the reality of life with real people.

I remember we had an antenna on the roof…Dad hooked up a motor to it so that he did not have to climb onto the roof to adjust the antenna.

No Lawrence, you are not a TV. But you are being remotely controlled !

Change is hard.

No 12 year old boy alive today, even in Canada, has ever had to actually adjust the television. You can’t even tune the stations in any more.

I thought it was against the law to turn the tv on before noon.

“Normal” is just s setting on the dryer

There is no one “proper” living situation. Granted Lawrence is still young, but he will probably realize soon enough that only one thing in this world stays constant, and that is change itself.

Gammaguy’s response to you is the reason we ask that you bold Lynn’s comments. Gammaguy thought this was YOUR comment instead of Lynn’s.

Lynn’s Notes:I wanted to see this situation through Lawrence’s eyes, to put myself in his position. Mentally becoming a male child with a problem on his hands gave my imagination an ample workout. Would I be able to write and draw a believable situation? Would a boy Lawrence’s age accept my dialogue and expressions as true-to-life, or would he say “This is an adult pretending to know how I feel”?

I had a vertical hold problem a few days ago. No adjustment possible, just turn off the set, turn it back on, and it is magically repaired.

I don’t miss “turning” the outside antenna, either! I grew up in the hills and hollers of Appalachia. We had a black and white TV that got two channels. One from Huntington, W.VA, and one from Columbus, OH. Had to go outdoors to turn the antenna just right. I have cable now, and rarely watch anything! I think we enjoyed the two channels a whole lot more come to think of it!

Yeah… if only it were so easy!

Did Lawrence have any brothers? If what you say is true, then he probably got his start in a group, not as solo. Of course, he could have been in a group with Brian, Gordon and Michael. They could be called something such as the “For Better of For Worse 4” :)