Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for September 07, 2014

In the world we live in, today, that list seems as though it’s outdated. But there’s always a diamond waiting, in the rough- in the midst of a ton of rock… if you know how to look for it….. – To some, certain things may seem like it’s all “out of touch”, but it isn’t always that the “older folks” are “too far behind”- Sometimes , it’s that some people are just "too far ahead " – Kinda like fast forwarding too fast on the VCR and missing the good part. Or that new digital “doohickey-thingy” that records programs onto the "whozawhatzit"….

Cribbed straight out of Reader’s Digest circa 1966.

" Sage Advice And A Grain Of Salt "“A Letter Of (Good) Intent”" Gifts For The Present "“Out Of Touch,But Not Out Of Love”“Cutting Your Teeth On Wisdom”

“Out Of Touch, With A Touching Touch”“An Old Song For New Strings”or “Out Of Touch And Go”

Since we have seen Luann’s room, we realize that she does indeed need to take Home Economics, but it would not serve her well, since she would get an “F”. “Good boys” are in math club? Oh right, Gunther is a grandparent’s role model of a “good boy”. So is Puddles, for that matter. And wearing a wristwatch would have eliminated last week’s strips, so that won’t happen, either. The last item is of course a desperate plea to keep newspaper comic strips in business. Sorry, Greg, but that’s about as likely as Luann’s earning a 4.0 GPA.

I forgot to ask: “What’s a newspaper?” – Actually, maybe I’ll Google it. After I’m done with the LA Times online crosswords… I wonder if I can find out on thier site?

1 dress simple yet stylish, never wear last year’s fashion2 take computer programming, should serve you well3 never forget to spell check before printing your homework essay4 is hard to get a good boy that is also popular, if you find one (coughQuillcough) never lose him5 always have a good email service and a good skype 6 always keep your cell phone to know the time7 read the latest on the web news

“Paper lasts longer than a battery.” ^But not longer than a rock! Or some scissors…

Sweet list – and sweet of Luann to recognize that!

It might be outdated but at least a couple of these things are still useful

“Home Economics” (as a name for a program) no longer exists at some colleges. More trendy, “up-to-date” names have replaced it, and the programs themselves have been retooled to fit the times….But the grandparents’ advice list is more suited to their own times than to Luann’s 21st Century world. Electronics, especially smartphones, have made much of their advice obsolete.

I wear a watch. You wouldn’t believe the number of youngsters asking me for the time because their phone battery is dead.

What a nice list. I wish my grandparents made one for me.

8. Settle for a self-important “nice” guy, no matter how tiresome, just because he thinks he’s nice.

It doesn’t sound that out of touch really, it just sounds like Luann and her mom are being rude and mean.

A “Typewriter?” How “Quaint.” Good Luck FINDING One, Lu.

If You Do, Type a Letter to Grandma and Grandpa ask ‘em If Typing’s such a Big Deal, then how come THEY Didn’t “Type” THEIR Letter?

PS: What’s This “BOY” Stuff???

Oh DON’T Get Me WRONG, Dave. I Think Its GREAT that the Grandparents want to Help Lu.

But if They REALLY Wanna Help, They SHOULD Send CASH…..,

I’m about ready to go back to a watch as I’m tired of digging my cell out every time I want to check the time.

Stamps? Watch? Newspaper?

I agree……….also it is called having good manners and being a respectable adult.

I’ve attended three colleges since 1993 (junior college for A.A., university for B.A., and a different university for M.A.), and none of them offered home economics courses. If colleges ever did, it was well before 1993. My last home economics course was in high school.

The grandparents aren’t that far behind. Just terminology.

1. Nothing wrong with this. The best and most attentive students in my classes were all dressed at least semi-professionally. My first degree was in Education, so it was a bit of an unspoken expectation. 20 years later I went back to get a Computer Science degree, and I dressed as if I was at work (because often I would finish class and go straight to a client). The ones in ratty jeans always seemed to be one step behind.

2. Home Ec should be MANDATORY in Jr/Sr High School for everyone. Everyone is going to find themselves in a place where they need to cook for themselves and such. My first date with my now-wife involved cooking her a meal at my place. (That and a rigged game of spin the bottle, but that’s another story).

3. A bit out of touch, but do take the time to format things nicely so they are easy to read. My second go round through University involved submitting all my assignments through an online portal — especially the programming ones. Only one that didn’t allow online submission was English, but I understood her reasons for that.

4. Join “ANY” club. There will be nice boys and/or girls in any club.

5. Set aside “TIME” for communication with home.

6. Always know what time it is. I personally use my cell for that, because I always have it, and it has to be charged. (The joys of being potentially on-call 24/7 just in case a server goes down harder than Justin Beiber).

7. Staying informed is never a bad thing. If more voters were smarter and more informed about a variety of viewpoints, more politicians would be afraid, very afraid.

Not bad advice. If she follows their advice she’ll have a good year, even if she doesn’t take Home Ec.

“Take Home Economics” = learn to cook. Maybe they are just leeeeetle bit out of touch, lol.

Back when going to College for girls meant finding a husband with good earnings potential. .

Just because it’s old and sweet doesn’t mean that it’s still not good advice. LuAnn needs to listen.

Pitt CC is probably modeled on Palomar College, the community college in San Marco, CA, where Greg Evans lives and works. Under “Home Economics” in the college catalog we are told to “See Family and Consumer Sciences, Fashion, Interior Design, and Child Development”. I can very easily see Luann’s pursuing such a degree path.

As someone who is ten days away from 62, today’s installment made me feel really old, but it also brought back memories of quaint things like typewriters and stationery!

Moony Uni is probably in the same county as Pitt, since Luann and Quill drove there fairly easily on a daily basis while goofing off in the prop room working at the drama camp. It’s therefore likely one of the major universities in San Diego (or a sort of composite of all of them).

Will the coming week feature Luann at Pitt or Bernice at Moony? If it gets back to the TJ story, I won’t mind!

Since I live in Minnesota, I will imagine Moony to be the U of M in Minneapolis, and Pitt to correspond to Normandale CC in Bloomington!

The factual advice is out of touch, but the principles are still on target.

1. Get in the habit of looking professional instead of childish.

2. Learn to cook, clean, mend, manage your finances, and do car and home maintenance.

3. Follow ALL directions on assignments. It’s amazing how incompetent people are on this point.

4. Join any club and be an active participant. You will meet people who will be working in your industry who can help connect you to your future career. WHO you know is often more important than WHAT you know.

5. Learn the art of written communication. No one will take you seriously if you text like a 12 year old.

6. Learn to manage your time. Many assignments will have due dates weeks or months out; don’t lose track of your deadlines.

7. Read news & blog sites with differing opinions on events so as to broaden your understanding of different values and viewpoints. People who live in “echo-chambers” lack empathy and insight.

Will this be the week in which some of Luann’s new classmates start to come out of the “shadows”? Or are we back to one of the other dangling plot lines? Or will we start yet another one (e.g., Quill and Tiffany attend their first drama class together at Moony)?

I LIKE these rules, just update them a little:1) Dress appropriately, so people will notice your brains rather than your appearance.2) Your folks should have told you how to cook, repair your clothes, and do laundry. But if they didn’t, ask your roomie or RA.3) Appearance of your work is important. Shouldn’t be too flashy or your brilliant ideas will be over looked.4) If you want to meet cool people, go where the cool people go.5) Nothing beats a handwritten thank-you note, even now.6) Find a timepiece that doesn’t ring or beep or chirp every ten minutes.7) Read two newspapers every day, one conservative and one liberal. Either in paper or on-line.

Oh my gosh, we ALL like to update this list with our own wisdom. Sorry if I was redundant!

I like the way my children tolerate the fact I’m out of date on so many things.They love me.I love them.

All of these suggestions could be adapted in a pretty obvious way to modern times. (And home economics — with emphasis on the economics part — is more important than ever. For everyone.)

Isn’t that the same letter they gave your Mom?

“Don’t know how scissors figure into items that are written on and read.”^When you said “paper lasts longer than a battery”, I was reminded of “paper, rock, scissors”, so I was just “making a funny”… (BTW, I also wear a watch, read books/newspapers and journals, and the other stuff you mentioned…)

Exactly!

Long, long ago when your grandparents were college kids, Luann, that would have really worked! A Blast from the Past here… LOL! (Has it been that long ago, Brian?!). ;)

Re: ‘“Good boys’ are still in math club’." So are good girls…and they are worth twice as much, no? ;)

You’re so right! I did indeed forget! Again!

Re: schools stopping teaching cursive. My cursive was never all that great. And when I had to use it to write something down, for example a test, I inevitably ended up writing with an awful slant and had words running off the end of the paper. And, to top that off, my spelling left a lot to be desired! Plus, there are still times I can’t decipher my own cursive! Reverted back to printing, and I do a half-way decent job of it. At Least I can read my own printing! Gotta love computers even if they are usually way too expensive for my pocketbook! (well worth it, however!) ;)

“Wear comfortable shoes.” Someone most definitely should have encouraged Luann to do so! (Loved your list, BTW!) ;)

Had To Be Her Grandparents On Her Dad’s Side

About sending instructors/profs one’s assignments online. The first and only time I did this was for a 33-page paper for an Advanced Early American History class. It was for an online class that was held in a university three states away. I asked the prof to Please (!) send me an I’ve-successfully-received-your-paper e-mail. He did, and I got an A. Sending 33 sheets of paper online gave me grey hairs, for sure! And this was in 2002! ;)

“Sarcasm. Shouldn’t be an alien concept here.” Yes! :)

8. Don’t get your butt soaked from sitting in wet grass.9. Don’t run off to Peru with spending 20 seconds on Google first, to find out where you’re going.10. Never, never, never try to walk across an open field.

4. Floss-to expand on 4., wear your retainer to keep your $4500 teeth from drifting back.

C’mon Greg. I highly doubt that today’s grandparents are THAT behind the times. Sounds more like YOUR grandparents. It was a nice thought, regardless. Now as to Nancy in that first panel… RAWR!

Out of touch indeed. “Join math club”? They clearly don’t know anything about their granddaughter.……………………………………………….They weren’t saying that she should join the math club because they think she likes math. They want her to marry someone in the math club which is not bad advice. In fact many women are realizing now more than ever that a geeky guy makes a great husband.

Hot Diggity! Nancy is looking GOOD in this strip!

Or maybe they think her finding a nice boy is a priority, instead of developing as a woman.

There was a time when finding a husband WAS the priority. Thank goodness that’s changing.

Tip #1 still applies, 100%. Always look as sharp as you can.

(…) and 2 8-track players. I kept the 8-track recorder deck. I haven’t finished copying all my 8-tracks to cassette yet ;-)

Math majors aren’t automatically people with sterling virtue. I can vouch for this by my own college experience.