Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for July 02, 2011

Hey, once you’re on a roll…………

Man, Toni’s got really big hair today….

Greg, this is better, but why not carry this to the next level. He has gone from being a couch potato to being a fine young man. Now is the time for him to become career oriented – look for a job, actively enhance his skills, maybe go back to school — you can do a lot at your local community college. Let him stand out as a positive role model, someone to make you proud. That will add more “yes” responses to his questions.

He’s doing that!

Panel 4, Toni: “Cos….um…. you want me to make you a sandwich? Oh, that’s not it?”

Actually Brad was trained as a paramedic before he became a firefighter. He did save a life during that brief stint and those jobs pay well and are in demand in the private sector.

Easy, Brad. Don’t press it too far. This is the time for you to get serious!

Yes, we all know what his next question is (Time to get on one knee, Brad.), but I wonder about his preamble. Is he saying that he is not going to even look for another fire fighter job? Some people were saying that Brad should join the military. I don’t think he is good enough. The army motto is “Be all you can be.” A guy who goes from saving lives to asking “Would you like fries with that?” is not trying to be all he can be. He doesn’t seem to care what he does for a living, as long as Toni is securely his. A little short on self improvement drive.

Brad has decided that the best he can ever achieve is to be the “Mr” to Toni’s “Mrs”. Beyond that, he doesn’t seem to have a desire to achieve anything. She should make her next words, “Hold that thought. While I don’t care what you do for a living, I’m curious as to what you want to do for a living? I’m sensing a lack of ambition, here.” She doesn’t seem as adverse to his proposal as she used to be.

It all goes back to what I said 2 days ago. Brad doesn’t plan. He has nothing but his very next move in his head. Girls, on the other hand, usually have their entire life planned out by the time they reach 16. If you’re going to ask that next question, Brad, I hope you have a plan.

Brad’s a cad if he actually follows that intro up like we think. Still, lousy intro aside, if she turns him down again after all her protestations of “love, despite it all”, gonna leave him totally crushed.Heh, might Brad actually be setting Toni up for a bit of mom-istic judo? The ham-handed approach, suddenly changing the topic of conversation when Toni is anxiously bracing herself to let him down again, leaving her off-balance and fretting over how she was sure she was gonna totally crush him this time? Setting her up to stew at her own insecurities while he studiously avoids any pressure or even mention of his wish to marry her, just making sure he’s notably noble about everything so that she sees he’s a totally wonderfu guy she really should marry?Pfft. Yeah, right.

Give the guy a break! He’s not saying he’s not going to try to stay a firefighter, he’s just asking hypothetical questions to reassure himself that Toni still loves him even though he just lost his job. It’s a natural response to the shock of being laid off — a sudden wave of self doubt that can be very damaging. I’ve been there.He has plenty of ambition or he wouldn’t have worked so hard to become a firefighter — but he also displays a willingness to do whatever it takes to stay employed in the short term.That’s more than I can say for a lot of unemployed people who wallow in self pity while refusing to even temporarily accept anything “beneath” what they had before. Yes, he can go to another town to look, but a firefighter would be well aware that many counties and even states can’t afford essential services right now, and he might need a contingency plan. Nothing wrong with making sure Toni would be on board.And besides, as far as we know, he’s only been unemployed for one day.

I’m not sure what strip some people are reading.

Are you sure? Given all the needless cynicism (directed at the cartoon, the cartoonist, and the characters) that shows up here day by day, you’d think Greg was a political cartoonist. I wouldn’t blame Greg if he shut down this board or eventually hung up his pen; it would be the fate a lot of his readers deserved and it would be a whole lot easier on him.Brad’s present predicament reminds me very closely of one I faced in real life and hanging back on the poor excuse of my job situation proved to be one of the very worst mistakes I ever made. Go for it, Brad – you’ll do better with her than without her and the statistics back you up there!

Gee, Brad I HATE to spoil this moment but I’ve just heard that Your former Fire Chief just HIRED a couple of guys YOUNGER than You! I know a good shyster lawyer….,

Here is what I am afraid will happen. Brad decides to become a policeman and goes to police academy, and who happens to be his new classmate?

Toni’s eyes look sad as she answers, “yes” in the last frame,

Brad has pulled things together well and had – has – a plan. In the economy of the past couple of years, it amazes me that anyone can call him a loser or plan-less for getting laid off. He’ll be back in the game.

why is it that there are so many shows/stories/comics where there’s some beautiful and sweet woman who inexplicably likes some average guy? If looks didn’t matter then why is the woman always beautiful?

Ok. ’Bye!

I don’t know why I can’t reply to Susansunshine’s excellent post, but I think she’s RIGHT ON TARGET! It’s apparent that Toni’s glance aside is expecting a follow-up question on marriage and she’s still not ready to deal with THAT. And we know that Brad wants to ask. But I believe that Brad is too smart to bring this up when he’s just lost his job – he’ll get a pity response; not what he needs or wants. More likely, he was going to compliment her with something like, “…because you are so important to me that I’ll always want to be a person you approve of.”

Ok I am enjoying the suspence of this now. Keep it rolling Greg. Now we have to wait till monday to see the next step. I bet he doesn’t ask her but Greg wants us to be on the edge waiting. Good job and I agree folks it is just a comic strip with a few real life things thrown in. Makes it a great read.

I thought the glance down might be shyly awaiting the next question which she is now ready to answer. Or not. She may want to avoid that question and it doesn’t seem the smartest move right now. I’m sure Brad will be looking for a job related to his chosen career, but might take a lesser one to pay the bills.

One other cmment as far as real life stuff. He got laid off and will be rehired when the next dude retires or leaves for any reason could be just a month or two. He will be REHIRED FOLKS. Ok folks have a great Fourth and week end. Heading for the St Joe River. Catch some Pike and maybe a nice Large mouth or two.

gotta give it to Brad if he asks that question now he is brave….. especially without a job right now….

Hmmm..Weenieworld..now I’m craving a chile dog.

If you don’t like it don’t read it. There are plenty of funny strips for you to read.

I am amazed by the artwork. There is such a subtle difference between panel 2 & 3, and yet Toni takes on such a change in emotion. As a non artist, WOW!

So, what’s so wrong with being a career firefighter?

Knock it off Brad!

Greg has done a great job of showing Brad turn his life around. I for one would like to see him hit the gym a bit more, because with some effort he could buff up some. Still the things hes done with his personal life and career has shown outstanding growth, discovery, and enlightenment. I once thought Toni would be nothing but a short term character (many years ago), I’m truly glad to see that I was wrong. I’m also finding I’m more interested in Toni/Brad arcs more so than the Luann ones. Lastly, its nice to see that sometimes, the nice guys dont finish last.

okay Brad,….now tell us what your goals are.

Boys just like to hear girls say ‘yes’ ! Natural, I assure you !Marriage may not be the only question. Some would see the logic of Toni moving in with Brad. Save a bag of money.

If Nancy is now conservative and disapproves of such, then he should just move in with Toni. None of Nancy’s business. Toni was willing to say yes to that idea at one point. [ I miss the archives. ]Nancy was not so conservative when she was Brad’s age. We have seen plenty evidence of that. [ I miss the archives. ]

Please note that I’m’ not talking of political views here, but social ones.

I think Independence Day is a poor choice for the day you tell someone that you plan to give up your independence.

Like I said in yesterday’s forum. She has a thing for Dirk and refuses to accept he is an abuser. Toni said it. Greg said it. I think she rather see a strip where he actually hit her. There was one where he grabbed her arm and tried to pull her against her wishes. I guess she doesn’t consider that abuse – just Dirk being assertive and macho and male. She is into that type of guy.

Go ahead Brad, pop the question.

You wouldn’t believe how many women look as beautiful as Toni without a bit of make-up. Not to mention, all that hair does fit inside the fire suit.

Toni committed herself to Brad sometime back while he was wounded, on crutches. Also, IMO. she made “a gift of herself” to him at Christmas..She has also invited him to move in with her — when he had his fire. (It was TJ’s fire, really) .What was implied by that invitation, we do not know. .[ I miss the archives. ].

It sort of SOUNDS like Brad will pop the question, but I doubt it. Knowing Brad, he’ll want everything to be perfect if/when he proposes to Toni (of course, seeing as this is a comic strip, things will go hilariously wrong anyway). He knows Toni would love him no matter what, but he would still would want to be able to contribute to the new family. Also, I predict that before Brad proposes to Toni, we would have months, make that years, of Brad shopping for an engagement ring (and Luann and TJ inviting themselves along for the trip), Brad nervously wondering what to say, listening to advice from friends and family, Nancy’s attempts to talk him out of it, at least one TJ scheme, and a lively debate among Luann fans at the Comics Curmudgeon over whether TJ should be best man or bridesmaid. I’m kidding, of course. The Comics Curmudgeon board would unanimously declare TJ Toni’s maid of honor. And they would pick out the dress.

This sounds serious. Brad is once again close to popping the Question; in which case, Brad’s mom had better come to terms with Toni as a prospective Daughter-in-law.

In talking about Nancy, and how conservative she is. Anybody ever wonder why Luann is the only blonde in the family? Where did that come from?

Sideshow, I could not agree more. Brad will not ask “The Question”. He’ll say that she knows that he wants to move the relationship to deeper comminment, but with the situation as it is now, if would be unfair to her.

That having been said, he’ll say that once thing are normal again he might want to ask “The Question”, but not now. This will cause Toni to hug the stuffing out of him.

Toni is not to be trusted.

What strip are some of you people reading? I don’t remember any part of the comic that says he has no future or that Toni is a goldigger or worse.

this has always been one of my favorite strips but people, you are turning it into a soap opera!

Well, I personally find this strip very educational. About people’s attitudes to being laid off / unemployed, that is.

Is it just me or is it ackward that there standing like face to face?

I’m surprised, at the last panel, if she did know ‘the question’ (if that’s what it is) she didn’t seem very thrilled…

Toni’s eyes are lowered in the last panel. She is either turning shy, or is worried that she may have to say ‘no’ to the next question. .I doubt if we will know more on that by Monday. I expect another arc to begin then – one without Toni and Brad.

Maybe we will get Luann and Quill, or Knute and Crystal. or something involving Jonah and/or Shannon. It’s been a long time since we saw Gunther and/or Rosa..I hope it will not be Frank and Nancy or TJ rehashing things. .

I strongly suspect that this very same scenario has been…and still is…playing out for tens of thousands of people… young and old… all over the world. Everyone wants to hear the right words spoken..yes, I still love you even though you’re unemployed. Toni and Brad will be okay as both have years ahead of them to accomplish personal goals.

Dirk no longer has a hold on Toni so no point intimating that he does. I think she has personal goals of her own that seem to be holding her back from commiting to Brad once and for all. She’s a modern female who has other goals over and above the desire for marriage yet she doesn’t want to lose him either. Time will soon tell.

One thing that I can add to this is that I am one of those that proposed (and married) while unemployed. Looking back, there is no way that I felt that it was some sort of personal reassurance nor affirmation. I felt that I was presenting myself to my One True Love in a humbled way, showing her that I was offering everything I had, and that I wanted her to be part of the new life that we had to create together.

Now that I think about it, my Father had done the same thing. And both of us then left our home country immediately.

I’m wondering if Brad can go back to being a paramedic. That’s what he was before he became a fireman. But with city budgets being the reason he lost his job, probably not.

No one seems to be wondering why Brad got laid off. Didn’t he and Toni finish firefighter school together? So they were hired around the same time. Also Toni is newer at THAT station than Brad, since she got transferred over to it. So why didn’t Toni get laid off? Oh, I know, it’s a comic strip and story lines go where story lines want to go. Just curious that no one has caught on to that one.

She is formerly known in the old forum as a prolific multi-username personality and she is still doing it in here if you care to observe her writing style and topics and her pet peeves. Old timers recognize her despite her attempts to hid behind many usernames, including male names. Anyway, she has a thing for Dirk, hates Bwad the Dorkboy, Luann, and feels sorry for Tiffany. She thinks Bwad the Dorkboy is a big loser and Luann a catty meanie. She is not sure what to make of Toni going for Bwad the Dorkboy when she could have Dirk, the muscular, lean goggled macho – and nice – man. She asserts that Dirk never touched Toni – which is why I suspect she rather see Dirk hit her before she will concede. She asserts Dirk was just protecting what was his and Toni was his, and Bwad the Dorkboy stole her from Dirk. So that is the basic idea of her alternative universe of Luann’s characters. She believes Toni will dump Bwad the Dorkboy because he is so homely, lazy and selfish and go back to Dirk. In the older strips, Dirk did not appear to have a job, and some fans suggested he might be a drug dealer. He dressed like one. She got upset about that, and when Dirk went to jail for assault on Brad, she denied him ever going to jail. I am not sure if Greg did draw Dirk in a jail cell – can’t seem to remember any strip featuring Dirk in jail. Just getting arrested for his assault. There were strips talking about Dirk, the charges against him, and his eventual sentence. But she denies all that. When he came back recently, she suggested that he was going to police academy – Dirk who served prison time and has a record? So you ARE right – she is in another universe.

Have you ever notice when there is a fire-run, the ladder, engine and paramedic units all respond, in order to run up the call stats service, gotta have high stats to save your job.

She puts pieces of herself in each of her other usernames and I’ve seen them in here. The username we first spoke of is the only one you responded to hence your bafflement. If you were in the old forum, you’d know what I was talking about. But, basically, you got it right that she is in an alternative universe who goes under the bridge when she comes in here.

It is still my guess that we begin a new arc on Monday. Wild guess — Gunther and Rosa..I’d prefer Luann and Quill, but that is probably also going to be set out to cool off.

Brad…don’t push it