For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for April 10, 2012

Careful you don’t get her opinion wrapped around your head.

Like I said… :P

Ellie didn"t deserve that insulting diatribe; gad, John even snickered at her necklace. I don’t imagine her clothing allowance is anything to speak of. John has been hanging around Ted far too much and is even beginning to talk like him.

Ellie should dress up and go for lunch and a drink with some sympathetic gal-pals. She definitely needs a shoulder to cry on.

John, your luck just ran out. Now Elly is purposely going to take an excruciating long time to get ready.

Why do women always ask the question, if they never want to get an honest answer? (John, it’s true that it was only YOUR opinion, but it wasn’t the opinion that Elly wanted to hear. When are you ever going to learn that any time a woman says she wants your honest opinion about what she’s wearing, she really means that she wants you to lie through your teeth, but in such a way that she’ll never suspect that you’re lying!)

geesh is not like she is wearing a sock for a dress. would it have killed him to just say you look lovely dear, lets go enjoy ourselves?

Hope he wasn’t wearing those shoes in the barnyard- open mouth, insert foot. And… she looks prettier and perkier than usual. Never good to swap a night on the couch for the couch for the night.

I would said it looks good on you ,honey.

No wonder they got a divorce. That is when the comic strip ended and the rerun began. Wouldn’t if have been fun to see how things went when they had grand kids?

How long has the guy been married?

Some men might think it, but I can’t see MY son telling HIS wife something like that…..with a LAUGH yet!

Honey, does this dress make me look fat?

There are 3 answers to this question, only 1 is correct:1. No, it is your fat that makes you look fat.2. Compared to what?3. Of course not! You look mah-velous.

Why do you ask?

Perhaps John was a bit harsh in the third panel, but he was giving an honest opinion. If you don’t want an honest opinion, don’t ask. If you ask, be prepared to hear something you don’t like. And why on earth would he sleep on the couch for answering her question?

Cad.

He needed to be slapped! Elly looked very nice!

It’s true that it’s best not to ask for an opinion if you don’t want honesty, but if the man never says that his wife looks nice, never suggests she buy something because it would look great on her, etc., that’s when the fishing for compliments gets bad.

It doesn’t state that she’s going to intentionally take her hurt out on him, though that often happens that way. When I accidentally hurt people’s feelings, that’s usually what happens, at least. Men being human, it happens to them too. If he built a train layout and she laughed at it and said it was stupid, he’d be just the same way.

He went too far. He could have said that he preferred another outfit or find a kinder way to say “his opinion”.And that’s BS about how you shouldn’t ask for an opinion if you don’t want honesty. It’s one thing to get honesty and another to get insults. You can give your opinion while being mostly honest. If any of you can say that you have ALWAYS been 100% honest when giving your opinion AND you still have friends/family who still like you, you’re lying. Any of us who are married know that you can give your opinion while being kind and considerate at the same time. Sure, in your mind you may dislike what they’re wearing, but you just need to say it in a less insulting manner.I would also never ask any question like “does this make me look fat?” and I only sometimes ask my husband what he thinks about an outfit, but I always know that he would give me a kind, yet truthful, answer.

Poor Elly. Stupid John. I could dig something out of the rag bag to wear and my hubby would look at my face and say “You look beautiful as ever.” He’s a smart guy. LOL

They got a divorce? Wow, I think that is incorrect.

But when I saw this strip, I had a very strong name for John in my mind that starts with A.

I think the whole outfit is great. So naturally the dufus’ taste is all in his mouth.

John was wrong! It was not just his opinion. It’s MY opinion too! I can’t believe Elly (or anyone else here) thinks that looks good and would go out in it.

Jeez, what a jerk! My dad used to hurt people, unintentionally, by “being honest.” Sometimes you have to shut your mouth or tell a little white lie.

You can have endless fun with wives like that. My personal best is to have induced five changes of blouse.

just wear what you left on it would be an improvement

Cruel, John, cruel. Even if it is just YOUR opinion, to her it’s the only opinion that matters.

Poor John… Questions like this are called rhetorical, as in NOT meant to be answered honestly! Right up there with “Do these jeans make my butt look fat?” Learn from your errors, my child… know when to speak and when to KEEP YOUR BIG MOUTH SHUT!

Besides, Ellie actaully looks very good in those clothes . . .

I dress to please myself; I always knew if I was looking good and both first and second husband always confirmed that for me. I never asked for their opinion, I knew by the way they looked at me when they didn’t like it. A woman who is confident in herself will radiate those positive vibes.

Women are crazy and men are stupid and the main reason women are crazy is that men are stupid. – George Carlin.

What an idiot! Hey, if you can’t say something nice…

Womankind is grateful you live alone – you are clearly incapable of sharing your wonderful life.

And this is why I don’t ask a guy for his opinion on my outfits!

My dad used to do this to my mother when she got dressed up to go somewhere. She would just change or leave the clothes on. John and Elly never divorced, they just became old together.

Personally, I thought Elly looked pretty the way she was . . . it’s her jackass of a husband that’s the problem!

No matter what all the men here think or say, John absolutely could have handled his so-called “opinion” much better than the way he did if he had really wanted to. Look at Elly’s face in panel 3 . . . the cruel, mocking way he talked to her, making fun of her taste in clothes and jewelry . . . she was absolutely crushed! While he was at it, why didn’t he tell her that her up-do only accentuated her “turkey neck” and that her shoes made her look like she had clown feet?!?! That would have just been the cherry on the sundae of her life at that awful, humiliating moment in time.

Why would anyone speak that way to someone they’re supposed to love??? You can give your opinion and still be kind and considerate when you do without being mean and cruel. My husband has never done or said anything insulting like this to me in all the 23 years we’ve been married and I can’t imagine him ever doing anything like that to me in the future. But then, my husband and I have a lot more respect for each other than John and Elly seem to have (for each other) . . . most of the time anyhow.

NO man married for more than 3 days would give an opinion like that…

Honesty is one thing. Tact is something completely different. Women want honesty, not ridicule. Yes men, there is a difference.

He could easily have softened the comment — c’mon pretend it was your secretary that asked, John. Personally, I don’t see where it is “gaudy” and it looks good on her (and the fashions are from 30 years ago). If she liked it, she should have just ignored the ignorant comments.

My wife would A) not have worn something that antique and B) would only have to look at my face to know she was WAY OUT in left field. That outfit looked like something from Little House on the Prairie.

John wasn’t in the wrong. Come on, she asked for his opinion. What was he going to do…lie? Of course he was going to tell her what he really thought. It was up to her how to take it. Obviously…she didn’t take his opinion very well. But John’s right, it was only his OPINION. ;)

That’s a rookie mistake, John. Sheesh. Repeat after me, “You look great, Elly! Oh, we better get going soon.”

John and Elly didn’t get divorced, but I believe that Lynn and her husband did divorce.

John, you are so dumb. LOL!