For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for January 03, 2012

Still won’t do it. Gonna take a few days.

Elly has quite conveniently forgotten that it was HER Idea to host an Intimate New Years Eve Celebration of a Dozen or so People. John Told her he wasn’t Comfortable with that, had a little too much Holiday cheer to help him relax and one of that Dozen or So Guests decided to get Intimate On New Years Eve…..So, Naturally, Elly blames John. Conclusion: Elly Is NOT Crazy. She IS However, a Typical Woman.

It’s when she tells you to pack YOUR bags that it’s time to really worry.

1) At no time was it said that John kissed the “Mystery Woman”; SHE kissed HIM, and considering his state, it could well have been Farley, and not a she.2) John had told her in so many words that he would prefer an intimate evening together to any kind of party.3) She forged ahead with her plans for the evening and found him on the floor behind the bar only after another man she was talking to asked where the “bartender” was.Therefore: Elly spoiled whatever plan John had for an intimate evening together, went ahead and did what SHE wanted to do, and now is blaming him- not for spoiling the party, but for getting himself kissed by somebody else. Verdict- guilty until proven innocent; if proven innocent, still guilty. Been the law of the land since B.C.; right or not, the man is always guilty. Especially if the couch is hard, lumpy, and too short.

And they say elephants never forget. Hah!

There is no mention in the previous strips of Elly having a hangover. One of the commenters assumed that she did; not the same thing at all.

Hey a good fight is healthy once and a while, we are human.

Wimp!

Hi – you seem a lot more relaxed this year! Nice. Happy New Year…

Leave it alone John and enjoy the silence. She’ll start nagging again soon enough.

smh who kissed him?

That’ll teach you to have a New Year’s Eve get together!!

I could not agree more!

Is she mad because someone else kissed his glasses or because he got drunk at her party?

You’re about five years early for that. April won’t be born until Elizabeth is around nine and Michael is around 14. Besides, she’ll be born in April, not October (because she’ll be named for the month in which she was born.)

Of course John’s right, and of course Elly’s being irrational. Which is the whole point: a recurring theme in this strip is Elly’s feelings of inadequacy—she’s too fat (she thinks), she’s not a good enough cook, she’s not supporting the family because she’s at home all day, blah, blah, blah… She’s practically as neurotic as Cathy (it’s worth noting that in her books, Lynn Johnston has listed Cathy Guiseweit (sp?) as a major influence). The real question she’s been asking throughout this series is, “John, do you really really REALLY love me?” It’s been a series of tests: “John, do you love me enough to submit to MY vision of a New Year’s Eve party instead of what you wanted?” “John, do you love me enough to (violently, if necessary) push away a drunken woman who’s trying to give you a New Year’s smooch?” “John, do you love me so much that even though you’re clearly in the right and I’m acting like an insecure lunatic, you’ll still apologize and buy me flowers and take me out to a fancy dinner like you did when you were courting me?”.And John, being a good guy, will do these things. Looks like he’s figured it out in the fourth panel.

what a bunch of jerks

When your marriage lasts as long as theirs (or my parents or mine, for that matter) you’ll have room to make that comment. The divorce rate is so very high because people can’t get past the fact that sometimes we are all irrational. If Ellie’s behavior were grounds for divorce, then I should have been divorced from M about a dozen times now (both his behavior and mine). Somehow the fact that we love each other overwhelms the problems, and with a little work and cooperation we get past it. Marriage is hard work, but man-oh-man is it ever worth it!

I don’t agree with all the Elly bashing…yes, maybe she’s now carrying this a bit to far, but if you look back to the first strip in this story line, Elly was planning the party because John wanted it. She had to ask him what he meant by a “party” and when he said an “Intimate Party for two” it was to late because she’d already invited the 12 guests. Just MHO,

Woman wants to be that way, F- it, go watch football dude. Give the silent treatment right back at her. Women need the conversation more than dudes do. She’ll give up and start yelling at you eventually. Whatever, don’t need this crap. It’s Bowl Season.

There are two major theories on understanding women.Neither work.

bluskies: Law since BC? That would be 1870 and besides they are in Ontario.

Neo: Bowl season? The Grey Cup was a month ago.

This is Canada, you know.

wow you all take a comic strip so seriously!

Just accept John’s apology, Elly. He’s being sincere. In the future, don’t have these parties.

John “caved”!