For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for February 03, 2021

the silent treatment sure can be scarey

Your mom has every right to be angry at both of you, this is one of the most irresponsible things you have ever done!

Yep. Silence is worse. I can attest to that. You feel way worse by the silence than yelling. At least with the yelling, you can wait for the person to cool down and then you two can talk. With silence, you are frozen out until the person is ready to talk, and in the meantime, you obsess on the silence and your thoughts run in all directions. Nah, I rather the yelling. It is short-lived and burns quickly. However, Gordon’s mom’s kind seems to border on abusive.

They deserve everything they get and Mike must be grounded for 3 months. He will get his permit but not be allowed to drive the car.

I sense a real grounding coming up

Mom’s expression in the last panel says it all—“Where did I go wrong? How could I have raised such an irresponsible son? Will he ever be mature enough to survive in the adult world? My baby could have been killed!!” Alas, the agonies of parenthood.

I feel sorry for her. Just look at her. :’~(

Think it is time to join the French-Foreign-Legion? :-)

Yeah, when I am really really mad I go silent. I don’t want to talk. I am trying to process the situation and decide next actions. To move away from my initial reaction of wanting to lash out at the source.

You know things are bad with Elly when she takes off her socks and shows her bare feet.

On a logarithmic scale with 1 being normal and 5 being homicidal, I’d say she’s at about an 8. Good thing she’s holding off on talking about it at least until she gets down to 6. It’s a good idea to wait before you mete out consequences anyway. The suspense feeds the remorse and gives you time to craft a punishment that fits the crime

The ironic thing about this here is that Elly is ALWAYS yelling and screaming when her kids misbehave in other strips, lol. Only HERE can we see her be all pensive or glowering in silence, ready to lower the boom. I have friends who get angry this way- just shutting down almost trying to bottle up all their fury.

Of course knowing Gord’s backstory we’d see the discipline is a tad worse in his house than he’s even letting on here.

My husband’s like that. If he’s yelling, he’s only mildly angry & just needs to let off steam. If he’s really angry, he talks in a slow, low tone. If he’s REALLY angry…he’s silent.

She should be on the phone with Gordo’s Mom right now.

Silence is much worse. My dad was angry with me once over something that really wasn’t my fault, and he wouldn’t speak to me for nearly 2 years. When you’re only 14, that’s really bad. Nothing I could say or do made any difference to him. My mother was annoyed and disgusted with him, but couldn’t talk any sense into him either. It wasn’t until after I turned 16 and started working full time (while still going to school) that he spoke to me again. Then, he acted like nothing had happened and we just carried on from there. Weird. It continues to baffle me. :P

Lynn’s Comments:

This suggests the kind of home Gordon comes from. I knew myself what his life was like. I never got to show the readers more than just a glimpse of it.

Silence is golden, unless Mom is mad.

When my daughter worked at the county jail there was in inmate who was being held for domestic violence. He had yelled at his teenage son with his wife present. The wife called the police and insisted he be arrested. (Flagstaff, Arizona – probably a state offense.) The wife refused to put up the modest bond, forcing him to stay in jail as he lost his job and house. My daughter said the wife visited regularly just to taunt the guy.

The state statute defines domestic violence: “Domestic violence” means any act that is a dangerous crime against children…. I doubt the charge would result in a case against him; prosecutors have the ethical responsibility of presenting only cases that have a good chance of resulting in conviction.

Oddly, I don’t see any language that applies to violence against adults. I must be missing something.

https://www.azleg.gov/ars/13/03601.htm

Ten or 20 or 30 years later this incident will be part of the family lore. Remember when….

My head would be on the table, and I would be crying. For several reasons.

If Brian Enjo was the one to steal Elly’s car, then his parents would have handed him a knife and say “You have dishonored the family. Shame on you! Take this knife and cut off your pinky finger!”

My mom would slowly wind up & then not quit for what seemed like hours… never really yelling, but she knew what buttons to push…

This is all on Gordon, period. All Mike was doing is listening to the radio.

She’s thinking what else to add to the one year no driving probation. The other parent will now be involved, he will have to tell his parents what he did…

My dad gave the silent treatment, it was worse than the punishment.

Good job Michael and Gordon. Make her blood pressure sky high and she is ready to blast off. Spoiler for tomorrow…headlines will read…

ELLY PATTERSON FIRST CANADIAN ON THE MOON!

If it had been Lawrence, his punishment would be no trip this summer to Fire Island.