For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for April 08, 2010

And the coupon for $5.00 off if you spend $50.00 now comes to………………

and those were 1981 prices .. where is she shopping Beverly Hills?

casserole SCISSORS?

really that should all add up to maybe 35 bucks make sure you check the receipt Elley

I guess there’s still no decision on what year this is supposed to be. The original had the final price at $43.90:

http://catalog.fborfw.com/indexid.php?q=126&Submit=Search

That’s still a fairly close price to what those items would cost today. The official website says that the strip is taking place in the current day (see the Q&Eh? section in Behind the Scenes) but Lynn has also answered queries in the Coffee Talk “blog” to say that it’s 30 years ago. Either way, that’s a huge shopping bill for those items! Perhaps today’s strip is taking place 30 years in the future amidst a great paring knife shortage and scissors rationing.

Unfortunately, I can relate to Elly in this one! I have gone into WalMart several times for one or two things, and came out with many more. Now I take a list and try to stick to the list. And, I can see those items she purchased being that expensive…if she bought the higher end items, such as Paderno or some other classy brand. However, I would not have gotten on my self-righteous soap box and boasted about curbing unneccessary spending and saving $20 knowing I had bought five or six other items in place of the savings.

So in 1981 it was what…$3.50 US?

New subject: Who doesn’t have a backup can opener in the first place?

Only Elly Patterson!

And what kind of friend is Anne that she couldn’t just open the can for her, instead of tagging along on the emotional rollercoaster of irrational face making and righteous indignation?

Rac… I don’t remember what the exchange rate was, but in 1981, $143.90 Canadian was worth about $185.00 US. (I used to sell electronic components, and one of my accounts was a Canadian aeronautics company, when I worked for my father after school.)

Canadian money was worth 20 - 25% less than USD.

According to Lynn’s web-site, the strip is supposed to be taking place thirty years ago. So why bother with inflation? Especially as nowadays, using the condescending term “lady” and having a big bushy moutasche can get a cashier in trouble with management, so reports this former cashier.

wow a story arc about a can opener and discussion about which year it is and the exchange rate. great stuff. what is it about this lame comic that keeps me coming back for more? must be to see the next dose of lameness along with too much time on my hands.

HIJOLE! $143.90! R u crazzy! I would not PAY for that cost.

Ji2m: missed that little comma, thanks. but now i wonder. what would casserole scissors look like?

Don’t worry Mrs. Patterson. I get that way too when I am in an electronics store. ;-)

O__O Elly, some bargaining you did!

Good knives, scissors, and some brands of casseroles dishes can be quite expensive, but wouldn’t Elly be outraged at their prices before picking them up?

marvee: I know I’d be outraged!

And I agree with gillbillvolume1’s assessment as to where Elly must be doing her shopping. Definitely not Wal-Mart, that’s for sure!

I find it absolutely obscene that any store anywhere would charge such an outrageous amount of money for so few inexpensive-sounding items … and I think it equally obscene that anyone would part with their hard-earned money that way too!

The cashier’s sentence at the end comes off strange, since it has to impart so much information to the reader. Cashiers don’t list the items you bought and then tell the total:

“OK, so that’s ex-lax, prep-h, canned beans, and a box of matches… looks like you have quite a weekend planned, sir! That will be $18.46, please.”

I’d suggest that the ages of characters is relative to the original story line of 30 years ago. That doesn’t mean prices (or external events) would necessarily come from 1981, US or Canadian.

It also implies that Elly is a young mother, as this is where she finally purchases her backup can opener, now that the wedding gifts are beginning to wear out. Nice to have a friend along for the ride!

Isn’t that always the way? Go in for one thing, come out with a shopping cart!

@MrsLuke

I knew it was something like that, but occasionally during the 80’s I would REALLY bug my Canadian friends when they came to my area about the exchange rate. At one point the rate was changing so fast that the store I worked at wouldn’t accept CAN $.

gene2u, too funny!

LololoLMAO, Susan, the wind force (as typically seen in cartoon screaming) from the irrational screaming over a can opener in the middle of the store slammed Anne’s eyes shut!

Rac… You’re right it changed kind of drastically on a daily basis back then. No offense to the Canadian commenters here, but still today, we cringe when we realize we were given Canadian change, we have to try to unwittingly pass the stuff off to someone else without getting caught, and we cheer inside when we get away with it. Even machines reject the stuff. Again, no offense. that’s what Obama’s doing to the USD now, so…

is there supposed to be a shelf drawn in panel 2 because it looks like that coffee pot thing is just floating in mid air was there more background drawn into to this episode in the original .. the whole store is pinked out

Sounds ‘bout right for a trip to the hardware or department store – especially if you’re distracted by kids & friends & not paying attention to the price of anything. I’ve often been surprised at how much a cart full of nothing can cost.

I’m glad to see I’m not the only one who thought the total was way high for what she bought.

Mrs. Luke Your third last word should be “more” signed math problem proof reader and luckily not math problem prover.

I finally figured out that if I use one of my reusable grocery bags for gathering the few things I need to purchase, I don’t end up with a cart full of stuff I don’t really need right now. It only took me 59 years to figure this out……