For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for June 14, 2009

Hey, clean up, don’t clean up, if they are friends, they know you anyway. Relax.

I think it’s an automatic response sometimes.

In “How to Irritate People,” John Cleese said that women say that as a way to get people to say how nice their place looks. He also said that the best response is to say, “Not at all, I can do with a bit of squalor.”

Edcole1961 said, 16 minutes ago

In “How to Irritate People,” John Cleese said that women say that as a way to get people to say how nice their place looks. He also said that the best response is to say, “Not at all, I can do with a bit of squalor.”

I LOVE John Cleese! His humour is optimal. I should give that response a go some time. LOL. Imagine the reaction it would get….

A too-clean house freaks me out. Add a little (or a lot of) cat hair and some books on the arms of the couches, maybe a stray toy tucked into the couch and I’m happy.

Cleaning a house while the kids are still growing…is like shoveling the walk while it is still snowing.. Ann Landers said that…I think.

Cleaning a house while the kids are still growing is like nailing jello to a tree-Phyllis Diller

A woman apologizes for her house because it’s a reflection on her. What if you were invited for dinner by a couple and the house was a mess? Are you going to blame the husband or the wife? Housework is still looked upon as woman’s work and people will assume a messy house is her fault, not her husband’s.

Anne however should understand since she has kids.

a home is supposed to look lived in, not a show place, especially if you have kids

ejcapulet is right—cat hair and books abound here and if someone doesn’t like it, the door goes both ways. My only exceptions are the kitchen and bathroom, they have to be clean and neat. But we live here and not in a magazine pic

I’d rather my place look like I spend time there and people can relax in it. Nothing wrong with some friendly clutter.

I just started reading FBOW here after many months of not reading it. Have a question: it seems that these are reruns of old strips, not new. “The world has watched the Patterson family grow up in real time, and to many readers, the Pattersons feel like family! ” Where are they now? What happened? Last I knew Michael was grown and married (to a girl named “Sobieski” and I’d like to know what is happening.

Hey Tom, Lynn has semi-retired. The strips are all new/old. The old strip has ended. You can buy the FBOFW book with the very last months of the old strip to the end if you want. It has the wedding of Liz and Anthony in it. You can go to the FBOFW web site and get LOTS more info there.

Is it me, or do the ladies in today’s strip look a little…er…not as pretty as usual? Must be old one, untouched up.

Burgundy2 I agree with you ‘Thank God I’m not alone!’. If you have access to BBCA (A British channel geared for Americans, but with British programing), try to catch ‘How Clean is Your House’. I always feel better after watching that. If you don’t get BBCA, watch one of the Cops shows. 90% of the homes they have to go into are disasters and make me feel much better.

I think Tom missed more than a few months. We’ve been living with these reruns for nearly a year now.

I’m trying to remember the story, but the family had a “living” room that was kept spotlessly clean. The kids could play anywhere else in the house - but the “living” room was absolutely off limits. Actually, it was off limits to adults also. In fact, in order to keep the “living” room so spotless, it was never used at all.

Tom: Deanna’s maiden name was “Sobinski” – one letter off from yours.

http://www.fborfw.com/features/mikedee/

@Stuart - I think the concept came from the days that large houses had “parlors”. Parlors were close to the front door, and that is where callers were always taken. This room was not generally used unless company was present.

Michael needs to get up off his lazy butt and answer the door. :-p personally, I miss the old FBOFW comic strips. I was really into the story line, but I still enjoy the new/old ones. RRAmom: you have a really cute baby pic there.

Thanks to all for the information. It seems I left off somewhere in early 2008 and missed the end.

Note to Ellie – go to your pastor, priest, or rabbi, or seek counseling. Everybody ought to have one good friend who is not a jerk or a psycho. Surely you can do better.

used to have a cartoon that said, “Excuse the look of the place, but I live here.” since i have far more books than shelf space (and now CD’s and DVD’s as well) clutter is inevitable. there’s a pile for everything - and everything’s in the pile.

I don’t clean well and I don’t apologize. If you don’t give me warning, yes there will be cat hair on the carpet and the bathroom sink will look messy… but ya know… if you care that much about it, goodbye.

I don’t like how my best friend house-cleaned (in that she didn’t) but while it did make my inner clean-freak cringe (I don’t clean but I at least have things put away), I looked past it because I wanted to be with her.

Women, STOP apologizing. Especially if your house LOOKS clean. I’ve walked into houses and am impressed at the cleanliness only to hear, “Excuse the mess.” It’s rather annoying… when it’s done with a CLEAN house, it’s rather rote and seems insincere.

“Excuse the mess” is not hospitality, it’s pathetic self-esteem issues.

If I think my house will be judged, I don’t invite those people over.