Gil Thorp by Henry Barajas and Rachel Merrill for May 11, 2020

Welp, I guess “Gonzo” can go back to being “Z” now.

Is this in fact a policy in any American public school system? Feels like the death penalty for a minor traffic violation.

If district policy is that unwavering, he is lucky then police officer assigned to the school is not placing him in handcuffs under arrest.Further, this should have been defused by the stick up the butt teacher, confiscating the knife in the classroom and warning such an act could cause legal problems was a lost teachable moment.

Hope none of the girls on the softball team have nail files or cuticle scissors. This could get ugly.

Dr. Pearl needs the Moon Man to give her a wild ride..so to speak. Talk about overkill.

Job Interview scenario:

So son “why exactly were you expelled from school”?

“For possession of a knife to spread peanut butter on my bagel’

“You’re shitting me right?”

Time for the entire student body to go on strike until he’s reinstated and his record cleared.

P1, Well, to be fair Mr. Mayor you were also trying really hard to get Phoebe to spread for you.

P2, Gil does not look pleased. Obviously The Mayor was a star in the showers.

P3, This looks like a job for Hadley V. Baxendale!

R.I.P. Jerry Stiller aka Frank Costanza.

Looks like The Mayor will soon have plenty of time to enjoy a traditional breakfast.

“And now, Mr. K, please accompany these two men to the quarry.”

Justice would be for Mike to receive full scholarship to St. Fabian’s, return to Milford and launch 4 HRs. Or join army and earn Medal of Honor. Or use time at home to develop cure for virus. Where is Hadley V. Baxendale when you need her?

Having worked at a HS for 30 years I would guess this is what would probably happen. School Board has to approve the expulsion, which it will. Then he’d be put on a performance contract. This would say he gets another chance but can’t have any further disciplinary problems.

P3: Hit the road, Mike & take those head lice with you!

P2: Gil looks like he’s ready to kick some Mr. Rooney ass. Hopefully he knows when to fold ’em, and knows when to run.

Has Southern Living heard about this!

Wow! Called this one! I was just kidding…

Is Tiki still enrolled at Milford? Maybe Mike can take Tiki’s place in the high school that he’s supposed to be attending, but isn’t. A simple player trade, such as happens in sports all the time!

During the the ensuing court room drama over the Mayor’s butter knife, Hadley calls Crocodile Dundee as an expert witness in knives . Crocodile examines the Mayor’s knife and loudly proclaims That’s no knife Mates this is showing his K Bar killing knife ! Hadley jumps up and says We rest our case.Later that night Teddy Demarco uses a butter knife sharpened razor sharp to slash all the tires on Mr Rooney and Dr Pearl’s cars and justice is served, in all reality !

It can’t be this easy to end this story. We can’t be that lucky.

Both my daughters teach in Christian schools…. although they could make more money in public. They wouldn’t change. Actually both my daughters taken classes to carry a handgun in class room. Do I see that in public schools

Expelled for a butter knife…I guess this makes sense…I heard they told an elderly man walking the beach by himself with no one in sight that he had to leave right away or get arrested…they told him to go to Walmart, that was open. Don’t people realize the constitution was written to constrict government to only those very few things that we need government to do. When it expands beyond those areas the opportunity to misconstrue or for corruption expands exponentially. It’s really sad that in the USA we have no knowledge of why the original constitution and bill of rights was designed the way it was.

We only get 3 new panels a day. Why repeat one from Yesterday?After a day off

P 3: “…. finally!….. I’m out of this strip….”

Two questions still bothering me. One, what advice did he ask of Kaz at the beginning? There was no point to that day’s strip if we never find out. I’ll keep asking this until this story is over! And probably even longer!

Two, what was mom going to say when she said “Mike, did you…” on April 28th and he cut her off. And don’t say it was “…did you take my butter knife.” Again, what was the point of that?

And speaking of points, make it a point to read today’s Mopped Up Thorp: https://moppedupthorp.wordpress.com/

Also, I’m sad that the 10th fell on a Sunday this month and I couldn’t make the hilarious “they rated today’s strip a 5/10” joke.

What’s really stunning is that Gil isn’t sticking up for the kid.

That teacher who ratted him out really hates that kid, doesn’t he?

This isn’t over yet. Remember, mom said dad was on his way several strips ago. So my prediction is that dad shows up tomorrow and launches into a tirade. And either he is a lawyer, or he hires one. Unfortunately it is not Hadley V Baxendale, and it can’t be settled with stupid logic that frightens the School Board. So it ends up going to court or a School Board meeting. The Mayor gets vindicated during the anti-zero tolerance speech, and the expulsion is overturned. Mayor McCheese gets to play in the season ending meaningless game, which they win to break a 10-game losing streak that started with his expulsion. After the game he gives someone a hilarious stupid nickname, and everyone laughs together as the closing credits roll. Then it’s off to the country club. Granted this will take 2 months to play out.

Bank on it! Because my predictions are almost always right. Would you believe it? Almost always. Well would you believe 90% of the time? Would you believe 40%? How about one time I got a minor detail correct?

And this folks is what happens when the population starts thinking they can make money off of sueing anyone anytime over anything. Also the lawyers of the country are more that happy to oblige. Prior to the late 1960s we didn’t have ridiculous laws like these. The school principals would judge things case by case, enter some that tended to judge one group harsher than another and the knee jerk reaction were these Draconian rules.

This is just too much like real life for a comic.

This just gets stupider.

Hey- I never voted for the guy.

If this were a Silver Age DC comic, this would be the Secret Origin story of a new super-villain.

Beware the Wrath of Nutso!

Can I be the first to say that it’s ridiculous to expel Mike for bringing a butter knife to school?

Mike won’t get a Milford H.S. diploma! That will limit his future job options to… hey, does anyone need a pool boy?

The Mayor gets off on a minor technicality. The Code of Conduct isn’t posted. In Milford ignorance of the law isn’t only an excuse, it’s a way of life.