For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for April 29, 2023

I love this arc

These days he could just get a microwave

When it’s your first place, a dump can look like a castle in the sky. Then in a few months you gradually come back to Earth.

I remember a couple from high school who got married at 16 and had an apartment for themselves. It freaked me out the way Mike and Lawrence seemed to be freaked out here.

Considering what Gordon left, that dump is Paradise!!

Your first place is always a palace. No parents, you can go to bed when you want, eat what you want…our first Apt.was 650 sf. We thought it was wonderful. Even tho we had to cram our bed against the short wall, because our neighbors had screaming fights right on the other side of the wall our bed was originally on. And they were newlyweds like us.

Every time I look out the window over the kitchen sink, I see the back yard we worked so hard on (1/2 of a 1/3 acre lot), the new deck we put in, the pots I planted. It is like I am seeing a flower garden mixed with a garden of delightful flowers and bushes. Makes washing dishes a happy time.

Hafta. Hafta. Hafta hafta hafta.

Assume “scrapyard” is Canadian for “junkyard”…

IMHO, this world needs more Gordons

I wonder if they tweaked the rent amount from the first time the strip ran. $500 sounds pretty steep for an “apartment” where you have to add your own walls.

I give him a lot of credit, he’s got drive and potential unlike my girlfriends son, who is 35 years old and still depends on Mom for everything, money, clothes, car, gas, she even gave him a credit card. And she only gets Social Security, He’s a lazy Mooch who doesn’t even have a girlfriend( I wonder why) He’s a Loser so I’m getting out of this relationship, I don’t want to be stuck with him in my house. He also lives with his Mother, and he’s not handicapped, just Lazy, but he’s good at video games,,,LOL !!!

The fumes from the gas pumps/garage should be an issue

He’s gonna need a fridge.

your home is thee jobsite… :\

Might as well be!

Gordo is nesting. Good on him. Sometimes we don’t “leave home”, we escape.

And a safe space of his own.

My first penthouse had a glorious view of one of the busiest freeways in northern CA

Aah, the good old days when you could get an apartment for a song! I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: I am blessed with my landlord, been here 8 1/2 years and never a raise in rent.

The floodgates of freedom open. Gordo seems to be in a good place about it mentally.

And it’s not costing Gordo’s parents $thousands per year for a Dorm room at that expensive college…

Yeah, a view of a junkyard…

That looks like a child-sized shower.

It may not be much, but it is Gordons. Something that can’t be said about a lot of kids his age, either when this strip was written or his his age today. Gordon will do well in this world, with his drive, ambition, and good sense.

Gordo giving this place more tlc than his dad ever gave him

I love this! He’s not looking back.

It thought just hit me about Gordon’s “new” sofa. Our city will pick “bulk” items on trash collection day when one places a request through the Public Works website. Many times we’ve left beds and other furniture out on the side of the road for pickup but by the time these guys arrive, it’s already gone. We’ve got a few scavengers who ply the streets with an open bed trailer and place this new found “treasure” in it. Some folks don’t bother to call and count on them to pick it up. I have to admit that I got two large Sony floor speakers with 15" woofers in great condition. I’m still scratching my head why they chucked them out. The bass is outstanding!

One of many he will possess. Future ones will be real penthouses…..

Causes me to have so many memories. Out of high school. Heading to college and being on my own for the first time. New roomates, new state, new studies, and just being on my way to being an adult. So much transpires in those early days after high school, whether you start a job, join the armed forces or some other organization, go to college, or take a gap year somewhere. No matter, it’s a new beginning and an inflection point in life on the path to adulthood and all that it brings. 75 now. It’s been an amazing journey with two wives, five kids, nine grandkids, and counless pets. I can hardly wait to see what comes next.

I was looking at the last panel again, and the lines “remember whenever you’re down and out the only way is up” came to mind.

Oh, the mind of an optimist.

Sounds like this joke:

The Obamas are driving in the country when they get a flat tire. AAA comes and the driver puts on a spare.

Michelle: “I don’t believe it, I knew the truck driver from high school. We went to the prom!”

Barack laughs to himself

Michelle: “What is so funny?”

Barack: “Talk about being one to luck out. That guy was your prom date but you ended up marrying the President of the United States!”

Michelle: “Wipe that smirk off your face, Barack. If I had married him, then he would have gotten elected President!”

Lynn’s Comments:

In doing this series, I was able to remember some of the crazy spaces my friends rented after graduation. Any habitable space they could afford was like a palace. I stayed in my parents’ home when I went to art school and didn’t move out until I married. I was just 20. How I wished I’d started with a place of my own.

Source: https://fborfw.com/strip_fix/saturday-april-29-2023