For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for October 19, 2023

Very well said, Gordon. You deserve your success because you will earn it.

No, John! No! Let Gordon stay as a good, honest mechanic. Don’t lure him away with your promises of another profession.

Such a nice young man to have come from chaos and indifference.

You make it sound like being a mechanic is a bad thing! It’s not. We need them. The fact that Gordon wants to be an honest one is much to be commended.

Gordon must clean up his speech. Always saying things like “gonna, wanna, ‘an, hasta, hafta”, etc., makes him look childish, low-brow and foolish. It’s like someone writes emails but can’t be bothered to use proper capitalization, punctuation or sentence structure. But, what am I thinking, this is Gordon we’re talking about.

At least he didn’t choose politics!!

Doctors have a practice, because they are practicing till they get it right, or you die with them trying.. An honest lawyer or accountant in what realm of reality is he living? That only leaves the mechanic.. so he chose the correct path plus he loves the work and you do not need a decade of studies or any continuing educational credits!

Kind of funny that the Doctor P. is offering to help Gordon go into another smart profession (I imagine such as a doctor or lawyer) while just a week or two ago the Dr. P’s wife (Elly) lacked recent work experience to get a job at a department store!

Heart warming.

AH. The SNOBBERY of the College educated. Trades are much more valuable to society than another “Gender studies” graduate.

Besides, a good mechanic is worth their weight in platinum.

I was a mechanic for 52 years. We put my daughter through college and my grandson. It was honest dirt under my finger nails……

And dentists Gordon. You want to trust your dentist too!

Good on you, Gordon!

He’s a good one.

Everyone wants to trust anyone in a professional capacity. That’s why the untrustworthy are so despicable.

Maybe an accounting class or two and check out if the local JC has any courses on how to run a small business. Don’t feel you have to follow any and all suggestions, but there might be something there.

Good luck and good fortune to you, Gordo. Thinking it thru, doin’ it right : )

My son is having customer problems. They bring in a dead 30 year old classic motorcycle and scream when the parts cost $2500 dollars.

It’s great to have the support of family. Blood, and made! Not everyone is cut out for University.

Too bad more kids aren’t like Gordon!

As long as we are on the subject of mechanics, I have to give a shout-out to the female mechanics of the world. I think every male mechanic (and quite a few female mechanics) has wished their hands were smaller. Robotic assembly lines can assemble things that are beyond the reach of most of us. Two of the most common phrases in the world of repairs are “I can touch it but I can’t turn it” and “I can see it but I can’t touch it.”

From Lynn’s Comments: More and more, Gordon’s life and philosophy was based on a neighbour who owned a small auto body and repair shop. Gerry was honest and kind and so good at his job. It was a privilege to know him, and a pleasure to have him work on our vehicles. The time I spent at Gerry’s Garage is reflected in the stories I told about Gordon Mayes.

Well said Gordon. Even better said by you John.

My father got pretty well-to-do doing just that.

AMEN!!!!

Dr.P is showing an all-too-common and perhaps unconscious prejudice: that mechanics, tradespeople, and general labourers are somehow less intelligent or less educated than, say, white-collar (“professional”) workers.

i’d experienced that prejudice first hand, having been in building maintenance & trades for over 40 years.

Sounds like an episode of The Simpsons where there is a school presentation of yo-yo tricks, which enthralls the kids.

Miss Hoover: “I have serious doubts about the educational merit of this presentation.”

Miss Krabappel: “Heck, it’ll be one of their fondest memories when they are pumping gas for a living.”

If I knew a trustworthy mechanic, the last thing on Earth I would do is encourage him or her to change fields.

He forgot to mention that you want to trust your dentist too

Wow. Such a good man. I think we all could learn from Gordon. <3

Gordon has the right idea and is on the right track.

It is nice to see someone like Gordon apply himself in all aspects of life. Too many parents have attached education to all aspects of their childrens’ existence, such as telling them all their problems would be solved if they were doing well in school.

Cars are so complicated now with all the computers that general mechanics are hard to find. Most everyone is specialized in certain types of cars

Whew!!Whatta load of words!

And that gas station will get bigger and bigger every time John passes by it

High praise from a professional.

Great values indeed. Too bad they seemingly are only in a comic strip and are not values aspired to among today’s youth…..

Love it! This is true contentment. That’s something we all need to aim for. Well done!

This was the first sermon I heard from a female pastor, and I think it bears fruit on today’s strip:

There was a woman who raised her daughter well and saw that she got the best possible education. The daughter graduated college and dated a professional, who was a doctor in an established practice. When the boyfriend proposed marriage, the mother could not have been happier. They had a fairytale wedding where after a nice honeymoon in the Caribbean, the daughter came home to see a beautiful house with a sports car in the driveway and her name on the pink slip. The mother was even more proud, saying everything paid off. No other mother could boast of having their daughter marry into such money or achieve this success.

Several years into the marriage there were profound economic problems and the hospital the doctor worked for had gone bankrupt. The married couple lost a bundle. The son-in-law took what savings and assets he could salvage and put a down payment on a new house, a small home in Appalachia. He also got a new job as a family physician. While he kept busy, the income from his practice was meager as he was treating mainly low-income people. During this time, relationships between mother and daughter were strained. Phone calls home often turned into harangues about her daughter married a go-nowhere who was treading water. When the daughter announced she sold the sports car to get some badly needed capital to stay afloat, the mother thought this a foolish move.

Question being: Did the mother really give away her daughter’s hand in marriage? Did she bless this union?

When I was away at sea, my wife was having some problems (gremlins must know when I’m away). She was having some car problems and my sister some unsolicited advice, namely that auto mechanics always “rip you off”. Having no experience and going by what my sister said, she turned the car into a Firestone automotive repair shop and asked the mechanic “You’re not going to rip me off, are you?” My wife instantly realized what a fool she was to listen to my sister. She was new to the U.S. and didn’t know to ignore my sister. We laugh about it today.

Gordon is doing well; though there is one path in life that is superior to college or apprenticeship.

Military service.

You can bet if Michael was the one to be working at the garage that Elly would be pacing the floor in the middle of the night, worried sick that her son is a go-nowhere who is treading water.

I’m reminded of an old Carol Burnett sketch set in Transylvania:

“We have no mechanics here. We try to keep the bloodsucking to a minimum.”

Gordo… the brightest, most ambitious, and down to earth member of Mike’s crew…

And you’ve a head start on your friends who just started college! My son was a good, honest mechanic… that’s what his bosses didn’t like about him! They liked the good part, (Actually he did go to school for it) but the honest part didn’t bring in more money!

Once Gordon got past the teenage idiot stage, he became a hard-working, honest, reliable person. Good on him and good on Lynn for creating him.

While I appreciate all of today’s comments in praise of Gordo, I wonder why praise of good mechanics is partnered with putting down those of us who chose to go to college and follow a profession requiring a degree, such as teaching.

Your dentist

What a great story arc ♥♥

does he let Gordon work on his sports car?