For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for November 09, 2010

  1. Missing large
    ireg  about 14 years ago

    My son got into bike racing. He had to have a road bike, a track bike, a mountain bike and two cross bikes. By the time he was older I figure the garage had over $10,000 in equipment, bikes and rolling tool box etc so he could maintain them.

    Then he got his cousins into racing.

     •  Reply
  2. B3b2b771 4dd5 4067 bfef 5ade241cb8c2
    cdward  about 14 years ago

    The guy’s a doctor - they can afford it for pete’s sake. I paid for two kids playing hockey on a much lower salary. The schedule is a different thing - but I notice that with other sports the boys have played as well.

     •  Reply
  3. Cathyfacepalm
    gobblingup Premium Member about 14 years ago

    Nostalgia makes a lot of decisions easier.

     •  Reply
  4. Missing large
    ricer46  about 14 years ago

    cdward, He’s a dentist, not a doctor. I don’t think many of them are filthy rich.

     •  Reply
  5. 85687b49dadc69f9a2841bdc1f655d095832d649 hq
    gaebie  about 14 years ago

    @ricer46

    Just for the record, a dentist is a doctor, just as a surgeon is a doctor, optometrist is a doctor, etc.

    Whatever he is, he makes more than enough money for the equipment. The schedule on the other hand is going to be Elly’s to manage, and John is probably going to have to fix a lot of his own meals during the season. The whole family is going to have to adjust to hockey season.

     •  Reply
  6. Missing large
    gabrielh81  about 14 years ago

    Understand - as a soccer dad & mom - the cost was a chunk, but not outragoues, but the time: 2-3 practices / week, 2 games / week! It was worth it however

     •  Reply
  7. Missing large
    dkmfwtx Premium Member about 14 years ago

    Fiscal responsibility? Wasn’t there just a series on her checkbook?

     •  Reply
  8. J0262810
    Wildmustang1262  about 14 years ago

    I rest the case! I am sure Michael will like to play a hockey.

     •  Reply
  9. Missing large
    Comic-Nut  about 14 years ago

    Yup, Dentists make plenty of money. I went to college with a fella who became a dentist. Took a while to pay off his student loans but he started work with a clinic already in operation, and soon became a general partner which led to supreme financial stability.

     •  Reply
  10. Ag prefect
    AgProv  about 14 years ago

    I looked up once what an American dentist can hope to earn - this was in the context of what you might call “different expectations” that the British and Americans have of dentistry (we just want teeth that work, preferably at the lowest possible cost on the National Health Service. You want all sorts of cosmetic inessentials, and are prepared to pay silly money for them). The result was “bloody hell fire!”, as it equated to a yearly income of getting on for £150,000. That’s six times the average British wage. No wonder dentists drive big expensive cars. And no wonder so many British dentists don’t want to work for the NHS any more if they can persuade us to start thinking like Americans and forking out money, hand over fist, for private-practice inessentials….

     •  Reply
  11. Small tower
    RadioTom  about 14 years ago

    OTOH - Dad may well be losing money on this deal, if/when Michael shows up needing dental work from the puck smacked him in the mouth, or he got high-sticked, or…..

     •  Reply
  12. Missing large
    Notgiven  about 14 years ago

    Optometrist is not a doctor, Ophthalmologist is a doctor.

     •  Reply
  13. 200px rorschach blot 01
    ses1066  about 14 years ago

    Remember this is Canada - Hockey is HOLY!!!

     •  Reply
  14. Gedc0161
    gofinsc  about 14 years ago

    Yesterday I thought the reticence was fear of her little boy getting hurt. Today it’s clear it actually is the money. That’s poor.

     •  Reply
  15. Smiley tongue
    Smiley Rmom  about 14 years ago

    Since they’re in Canada, I don’t know what sort of take-home income John has. I am friends with a couple of doctors and their wives - have been friends with them since they were in med school or before. I know it seems like they make big bucks, but with malpractice insurance, school loans, equipment and staff overhead, etc. they don’t bring home as much as you’d think. Still upper middle class, but not rich by any American standard.

     •  Reply
  16. Snoopy   woodstock  hug
    Gretchen's Mom  about 14 years ago

    I don’t know what John earns as a dentist but *my* dentist gets almost $100.00 just to clean my teeth … and even then, she isn’t the one that does it; the hygienist is the one that does it!!! I definitely went into the wrong “profession.” Instead of being a minimum-wage secretary, I should have become a dentist!

     •  Reply
  17. Snoopy   woodstock  hug
    Gretchen's Mom  about 14 years ago

    Meanwhile … I got 2 out of the 3 right that I predicted yesterday regarding Michael wanting to play hockey. Elly was definitely thinking about the money it would cost and the time it would take for him to be involved in this sport. (I just wish she would have been a little more concerned about her somewhat-accident-prone son getting bones broken or teeth knocked out instead.)

     •  Reply
Sign in to comment

More From For Better or For Worse