For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for March 30, 2023

have at that, John

That’s why it’s always a good idea to buy Christmas present that “need some assembly” in early ….. JUNE!!!

/SHMIRK/

I see a lot less “Needs assembly” products these days. Probably due to cheap Asian labor.

I agree, those self-assemble devices are real torture

In some ways the progress achieved with internet shopping takes a step backwards. When I was a small boy some 50 years ago my father took me to a bricks and mortar bicycle shop to buy me my first bike and I could choose and pick up an already factory assembled bike that was on a long shelf in front of me.

Wisdom teeth, yet still no wisdom…

The instruction manual sure is miserable.

remember it’s @ before # except after $

We paid the extra $10 to get my son’s put together! Of course that was 34 years ago…

Little kids out grow those bikes fast. So it’s really easy to get one at a thrift store that looks like new and is already fully assembled.

ALWAYS pay for a professional to put a bike together, worth EVERY penny!!

Some people are engineers and some are … not!

Darn it, Elly. I’m a dentist (in my best Dr. McCoy voice)

That is why you pay the helper in the back of the store to put it together.

That would be seen in a later strip where the Pattersons had car trouble. John orders April to bring him the jack

April: “Why not call road service?”

John: “In this family we change tires.”

Fair enough!

Just be thankful the instructions aren’t in another language other then English…or…that John’s not assembling IKEA furniture.

I was 5 when I rode my first bicycle. It belonged to another kid trying to learn to ride it. My mother said, show him how, honey. I did.

We just call our son who, I swear, could put anything at all together including the International Space Station if you gave him the materials.

It’s even harder now. There are no written instructions, only pictures of the stages of assembly

My parents wanted to give me and my brothers bicycles. I asked if I could have a typewriter instead. Many—-many!—-years later, their bicycles are long gone, and I still have the typewriter.

Walmart… they have fully assembled bikes. Borrow a frien’s truck !

It’s even more fun on Christmas Eve when you have to put it together in a hurry after the kids are finally sound asleep(you hope)./

A company I started working at had a charity project. For part of it, they bought a buncha bicycles that needed assembly. The engineers had teams of volunteers to see which could assemble their bike quickest. I arrived too late to join a team. They had to put the wheels, pedals, seat and handlebars on. I couldn’t believe how these young professionals fumbled around. Only one team was even slightly organized. Other than that one team, I swear I could have put one of those together faster all by myself. The all female team (all degreed engineers) was the slowest.

We’ve bought some Ikea or Walmart furniture. It’s always an adventure putting it together. I went around the house the other day and counted. We have more “build-it-yourself” furniture than ready made.

We’ve all been there. Of course, some of us have it worse by having an Elly Patterson in our lives who pretends to help while entitling us to her negative opinion!

You can pay the store to assemble usually. Probably worth the few bucks unless you are a masochist or just very handy.

I’m so glad that I can tell how something goes together by looking at it. Those written instructions never make any sense to me.

assembly of Chinese bicycle, require great peace of mind.

It took me, or should I say Santa, forever to put together a Hot Wheels three story garage with a hand crank elevator together one Christmas Eve.

Spoken like a true parent, although being a dentist, not sure this would apply.

I don’t know about John but when I had to put something together, the package should have read “Some obscenity required.” ;-p

This is a big reason why one should only buy a bike from a reputable shop!