For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for January 12, 2025

Being stubborn lets you freeze.

Make mistakes to learn from them, and nice to have someone there when you fall to help you up.

Back in NYC, I saw grown men wearing shorts in that kind of weather. Figured it was just a “macho guy” thing.

Liz would rather freeze her tail off than be nagged by her mother!

NOT FOR ME! I HAVE NO DESIRE TO BE A POPSICLE!

Yes. . . That kind of temperature makes your face hurt !

It’s a young girl thing. Every year I see some of them walking around on a cold day, under-dressed. Often with bare midriffs and a light jacket.

I never wear a thick coat if it isn’t far, far below freezing. Also will have my coat open most times, unless there’s a very cold wind blowing. My mum used to nag me about it, but I just hate(d) being all buttoned/zipped up. The less I can wear and still be warm enough, the better I like it.

It was 9 F degrees the other day. I saw a lady in a parking lot with a big bulky sweater, stretch pants and sandals. BRRRR

In January 1970, it was -21º three mornings in Mountaintop PA when I delivered the Wilkes-Barré Record (ended publication in February 1979). (It was so long ago, I was still using -5ºF.) I wore two sweaters under a coat, long underpants, and thermal socks. I should have had a ski mask back then with the wind, and when I delivered the Times Leader in Wilkes-Barré in 1985-6, I wore one. The coldest I remember was around -15º (I metricized in 1976, when we were supposed to do so.) (5º F) It is rare for it to get to the minus double digits in suburban Philadelphia.

Yeah… We do have a thing called “wind chill”!

Of course, that would -4 degrees fahrenheit.

You get similar things here in Spain, the locals wearing trousers and coats, the tourists in shorts and t shirts because they “are on holiday”!

It’s nice to see Liz recognize she was a bit of a PIA and apologize to her mother.

As usual, the female race will go against logic!! I should know, I’ve been married for over 30 years!!

Gotcha!

There are “strange” days. It may be 35 F in the morning, then get to 70 in the afternoon.

Yeah, Michael got her conditioned. Poor April will have no new situations for Ellie.

When I was a small panda, I had a big winter coat. With my hat pulled down and my coat on, I’d be OK. Some of the kids would rag me about my coat…“Hey, are you cold?” et C.

I had to grow up to realize, they didn’t have warm clothes.

My kids always had enough clothes to weather a New England Winter.

I grew up in Buffalo—but I was NEVER used to it!

As Sheldon would say: Bazzinga!

Teen age girls, gotta love em

Canada uses Celsius. 20 degrees Celsius would be 68 degrees Fahrenheit. For 68 degrees Elizabeth is overdressed.

She could have at least put her hood up. That would have helped a lot.

In high school in the mid-60s, I seem to recall an inverse relationship between temperatures and hemlines. I swear, it seemed to me that as the temperature went down, the girls’ hemlines went up. Never did understand that.

You can teach another person, but you can’t learn for them.

Just once I’d love a flashback run with Ellie and John as teens doing the same things their kids are doing now.

Exactly!!!

There’s a killer on the road

She looks like a toad

Make that gate lock stay

Don’t let your children play

If John kept up his fly

Farley would still be alive

Killer on the road

Okay, if this strip is set in Canada, wouldn’t it be 20 degrees Celsius? If so 20 degrees Celsius as actually 68 degrees Fahrenheit. Not cold at all

A thing to remember: Lynn is Canadian. Canada is Metric. -20C = 4F. Not quite as cold as we non-metric folks would think, but still….

BTW: I’m in MN and am frequently astounded by people walking outside in shorts and light jackets in 20° F weather.

Slow learners. I especially dislike the women who complain about the cold while walking outside, but cannot be bothered to button the sweater they are wearing.

In Huntington Beach, CA over the weekend. We saw a number of guys in jackets, shorts, and flip-flops. Welcome to a Southern California winter!

I thought the Pattersons lived in Canada. Doesn’t Canada use C? 20 is room temperature.

A mother is always used to the tantrums of the kid.

When I was 32 I moved from NYC to Upstate New York 50 years ago. I learned that my mother was right. You wear a hat, scarf, gloves, earlaps, warm underwear, layers, a long down coat, and overshoes. You don’t fool with Mother Nature! (PS I’m in FL now, and she’s still right.)

The other day, I saw two college students wearing shorts during a snowstorm. The third had on long pants.

As I always say … “It’s college. Whaddya expect—intelligence?!”

Shocked the grump right out of her, you had it coming babe ! ;-)

How can ANYBODY live in Western Canada? or Buffalo,NY?