For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for September 22, 2023

The world doesn’t revolve around me?  That can’t be right..

Excellent parenting, John. And Liz does look cute in the last panel. If Lynn continues to draw her in this cuter version, she’d be happier – that would mean no more beanie-on-wet-hair- and -hair-drying-thicker-on-the-ends look. Just a simple uniform page boy.

Good, John. Give her a little bit bigger perspective.

It’s just a typical case of teenage self-centeredness, John. Let it go.

At least Liz is starting to see things in their proper perspective.

Remember when Calvin let Hobbes cut his hair?

Reality check.

Don’t listen to John, Elizabeth. You can’t tell someone they can’t be sad because someone has it worse. You can’t tell them their pain doesn’t matter. There will always be someone who has it worse, but that does not mean your emotions and feelings are irrelevant.

I would have gone with a blue Mohawk, but that’s just me.

No, the proper young teenaged girl response here is to huff and walk away.

For heaven sake, shut yourself in the bathroom with a curling iron and find a way to fix it. We’ve all been there and we figured out a way to fix a bad hair cut. About 10 years ago I really got a 50’s housewife cut. I figured out how to curl it so that it looked fine.

Perspective is a good thing. Sometimes it has to be delivered rather than self-administered.

Cold water meet face…..

Go away?! that’s not nice!

Is Elizabeth hoping that if she mopes enough one of her parents will pay for a new haircut?

While John has a point, that doesn’t mean that to Liz this haircut is a disaster. I remember one time a lot of us were shamed when we heard the very tragic story of a woman who lost all 3 of her children in a car accident one day. She was injured herself and her husband had to tell her that all 3 of their children were gone. Just as we were all making sounds of sympathy and “Oh, how terrible!” the person telling us this said “Kinda makes the flat tire you had last week look insignificant doesn’t it?” That’s not really fair since you can’t compare a flat tire to 3 tragically killed children and it doesn’t mean that a flat tire can’t be a bad situation at the time. Some perspective is called for.

If I’m ever that much of a dick to my kids shoot me

I understand that it’s important to you and I can sympathize with that, but look at the big picture, the world around you. One of my dad’s favorite talks.

Well done, Dad!

Glad that dad is in his cheerful mood today! Can you imagine what dad would say if he was morose and sullen?

“Why is this much worse?” “Because it happened to me!”

That is correct.

I rarely comment about the nature of posters, but I will this time.

Please don’t give howtheduck any more dopamine hits. He’s trolling and enjoys the reactions.

I’ve seen his type before in other threads.

(Notice that I refer to him as a male. It seems that females rarely troll.)

You have cute hair that will grow back that your brain doesn’t accept because it is different.

John has a VERY valid argument.

Hair today, gone tomorrow. From the Ozzie and Harriet show.

We always complain about not having any shoes to wear until we see the person who’s paraplegic.

She took that well. Sometimes getting a little perspective is all it takes.

Reality always ruins a good pity party.

Adolescence throws everything out of proportion.

Luckily, I was a perfect angel and nothing bothered me.

Personally, I think it’s all in her head.

Good for Dad…. a dose of reality for Liz…

And in all the years since this strip first ran, nothing has gotten better…

Nothing like a dad to putting it all in perspective.

Panel three seems to be a universal theme of humanity, sadly.

My father reply would have been – are any bones broken, are you bleeding, do you need a doctor? No, then go play…

Here’s one strip that did not need to be updated in order to fit better with the spirit of the age.

Rude awakening, much?

Right between t he eyes with a sledge hammer

My dad would have knocked me upside the head

John, this is 1994. People were being stabbed. not shot!

There should be a strip where the Pattersons are watching TV when suddenly they see a Ford Bronco being tailed by several police cars in a low-speed chase.

Happiness is only a little perspective away.

(She’d make a delightful lead singer…)

Because this is a retread comic from her original publications, it’ sad to realize the things John mentions are still part of our world today :-(

It’s all about perspective.

While John makes some valid points about the bigger problems in the world, he trivialized his daughter’s feelings. Being upset about her hair doesn’t mean she thinks the world revolves around her. A better solution, in addition to pointing out the more serious issues in the world, would be to get her an appontment at a nice hair salon so the cut could be fine tuned to be more flattering. Her self esteem as a growing teen is important to her mental health. Maturity will come later.

Thank you for giving the perspective of her concerns for the real world concerns, but a little sympathy for her poor decision is a Dad’s obligation also……..

A girl going through this needs a parental hug and a kind word. Not “If you think that’s bad!” But something like, “I know you think that this is the worst thing ever but trust me honey, you’ll be glad one day that this is the worst that happened to you.”

A new perspective is often useful.

Nicely played, John.

Elizabeth is sullen that she lost her long hair. What was John supposed to do about it, anyway? Unless suggested a voodoo lady who will shrink Elizabeth’s head, thus making her hair long again.

And what are you doing to help all those people, John? Cleaning all their teeth for free!? Liz is the one person with a problem you COULD help, and all you do is nag at her. I thought that was your wife’s job, and you were the CARING parent!

They both need to develop a tad more perspective.

This is why a large portion of the the world dislikes the Unites States of America and at the same time want to be here. We live in a our own personal bubbles and care little what other plights face so, so many throughout the world.

Okay, Elizabeth has to get over her hair mishap. But that doesn’t mean she has a Warty Bliggens complex.

Full disclosure: Nothing wrong with giving people a little perspective, but it needs to be done after you show some sympathy. The only thing we’ve seen John do is tell Elizabeth to “stop moping”.

Oh, jeez…go back to the salon and have them trim up the sides…that’s all it needs. BOOM…style restored!!

Check out the strip on September 26 2015, dear old dad makes fun of Elizabeth’s ponytails by calling them punytails and make her look like her head has handles. And when she gets upset he tells her she’s too young to be so sensitive.

I get it. Dad doesn’t. He was never a young girl with young girl problems.

This is a lesson that more teenagers – people in general, methinks – need to learn…or maybe it is a lesson that parents need to make a point of teaching

Back in June of 1972 I was a blooming adolescent, with critical, life-changing issues before me, things that I could never hope to overcome, and life was so terribly unjust…well, so I thought.

I was carrying on one evening about, well, something (obviously it was really important if I can’t recall what it was, LOL) and my Dad, the stalwart Englishman that he was, tired after a long day at work, evidently had had enough of my whinging and whining and carrying on. He handed me his newspaper – a day old copy of the Vancouver Sun if I recall correctly – and wordlessly directed me to the front page photo and caption of The Napalm Girl in Trảng Bàng. My Da didn’t say a word, and as immature as I may have been, I got the message and shut the #%$ up.

That image haunted me for years, (and, quite frankly, still does, despite a professionl lifetime of dealing with very similar things) and mostly kept me in check throughout my most demanding and self-centered years.

I’m sure my Dad’s actions would be considered child abuse by today’s standards, but it was one of the most valuable things he ever passed on to me.