Arlo and Janis by Jimmy Johnson for May 23, 2012

The phone’s ringing, maybe a lead-in to what’s going on?

i’m guessing that Gene’n’them are expecting. hence the need for more education, he thinks that he’ll need a better job. his girlfriend probably has other ideas

Yeah, Ashburn… I came in here to ask whether Jimmy goofed or meant it as a joke…living “precariously” would imply a bit more danger….like, in a cabin on the edge of a cliff, or trying to exist on a part-time minimum wage job.

Then again…. Janis is teetering….

I see great follow though, in the education field and in his life. He can still marry anytime he wants, anyplace he wants. Janis just wants to stick her fingers into other peoples business.

Go ahead Janis. Admit it. YOU want grandkids!

Hey, Janis didn’t want him to drop out of school or get so serious so fast…but he DID.He gave Mary Lou a family ring, invested in a house with her, and he’s been letting Meg call him “Dad,” and think of Arlo and Janis as future grandparentsIt’s not that she isn’t glad he’s going to finish school, but she wonders about his commitment and his resolve…She’s his mother!She knows, too, that he’s had an off and on crush on Mary Lou since he was a kid …. albeit with a long period in which he didn’t see her.

She doesn’t like to see him running away from problems.He’s given no indication Mary Lou is OK with his plans, although he did state cryptically they hadn’t completely changed…How can she help wondering whether she’ll lose Mary Lou and Meg, of whom she’s grown very fond.

What rusty gate said. The phone!

in Janis favor in addition to being concerned about her child’s choices and the impact on himself and others i.e. Meg there is the issue that she and Arlo are funding Gene’s education and Gus is providing assistance to Mary Lou so the “kids” don’t get to withhold info and act independent if they are not paying the bills. i expect the phone call may answer some questions if it’s not a political robo call or wrong number. JJ could be teasing again.

janis may also know that the projection is that 50% of this years college grads won’t be able to find work and you don’t need big student debt to work on a farm or in a restaurant.

I can’t predict, but I don’t believe Mary Lou’s pregnant. Gene says she’s intense, not foolish. She knows a second child at this time in their lives would probably push her father to an early grave.

A “Crankshaft-worthy” quote.

This is the sort of playing with language we used to get in Pogo. Thank you for sparing us the corn-pone dialect, though, Mr. Johnson.

That “precariously” is worthy of Crankshaft!

I should hope I wouldn’t be as tacky as Janis is being (yes, I saw the arguments in her favor, and I think they have merit), but I do know that when you get an idea stuck in your head (like helping mastermind a fancy wedding), it can be pretty hard to dislodge.

What IS Arlo doing with the phone in panel 3?

of course he meant precariously. evidently you are not senior citizens with “grown” kids who are still living on your checking and savings accounts.