For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for February 12, 2021

I’d go back to Gordon’s house and return the gloves to him before his parents use that as another excuse to beat him bloody.

not a helpful comparison, John (who said ’twas a comparison?)

Why wear a hat you hate, John? Unless it was Elly who gave it to you and you had to wear it on that trip? And “forgot” it on purpose?

What does this mean?

Is Elizabeth saying that because Elly ratted him out to his parents, Gordon might not ever want to come back to their house if it weren’t for his gloves?

OR is Elizabeth saying that because Gordon left his gloves, that’s a sign that his parents will not kill him and he will one day return alive and well?

OR is Elizabeth sad to have to say all this nonsense in order to set up John’s lame joke?

Take the gloves back. It gets cold in Ontario, Canada. Plus you can check up on Gordon without seeming to be checking up on him. You are just returning his glove aren’t you?

“Moose Jaw saw you knew somethin’ too! Runnin’ back to Saskatoon…”

SPOILER ALERT.SPOILERS BELOW...This may also explain why Anthony (Granthony, Dopethany, Whinythony, Pastythony, Grossthony, et al, etc) will be excessively hanging around the Patterfoob house in the not-too-distant future..

I remember one Christmas my siblings and I chipped in and bought our mother a pillbox hat since she was a fan of Jacqueline Kennedy, and our father a tie with broad green and gold stripes. They looked like the standard “Elly bug-eye fourth panel look” when they saw them. However, that night after we went to bed and I had to get up to go to the bathroom, I happened to overhear my parents.

Dad: “I know the kids meant well, but I would not wear that tie to a dog fight. And that hat looks like something that the girls at the strip club wear.”

Mom: “I am going to wear the hat in public and you are going to wear the tie to work.”

Dad: “But what will people say when they see us wearing those?”

Mom: “I don’t give a rats ass what our friends, or anyone else thinks. The kids bought us these gifts because they love us. We are not going to hurt their feelings.”

Dad: “Well, no, but I completely understand if there is some bad weather or I get messy at work.”

I never told my siblings about that because as kids, that was good money spent on those gifts. I also feigned disappointment when my mother ruined that hat the first and only time she wore it in a rainstorm which ruined it, and my father got ink all over his tie the second time he wore it.

Ahh, Moosejaw in the spring….

Now to rack my brain trying to remember what comedy team originated that joke. Except they didn’t use Moosejaw but some hicksville like Mayberry or Cookamonga. The Marx Brothers? Milton Berle? George Burns and Gracie Allen?

Lynn’s Comments:

The way to write a story, using one statement a day, is to include valuable information in dialogue that is crafted as a joke. Here, we get the joke about the hat, but it’s connected to Gordon’s gloves. He needn’t have left his gloves at the Patterson house, but by having this happen, I was both confirming that Elly had intervened and that Gordon liked being in the Patterson home. This works as ongoing information without having to delve into the difficult storyline again.

If he had a dad like mine he’d never go home!!!

I wonder if people do unconsciously leave their clothes some place just for an excuse to go back, or at least contact the host again? As for me, it only means I was in a hurry to leave.

….”beat him bloody”…in that case explanations are needed!

my dad wore the worst ties, so one year, as a joke, I scoured the charity stores for the most ugly tie I could find. he loved it and wore it to work, until I owned up and told him where I’d bought it from

Nice to know where you are loved…..

Somehow I suspect that’s part of why the Guess Who connected Moose Jaw and Medicine Hat in song in Running Back To Saskatoon.

That’s experience talking from the HAT!

I’ve been to Moose Jaw https://youtu.be/1LLdBMAxmR4