Throw a Fit or Get a Hit? I Choose Hit
This spring, my 10-year-old daughter took up the fine sport of softball, because her best friend was doing it. She had never played before. Tonight, she had her last game of the season and her first hit. She had been on base and scored runs before, thanks to being walked; but tonight was the first time she hit the ball and got on base. Typically, when she went up to bat, she would stand and watch the ball go by, and all that was required of the pitcher to get her out was to throw 3 strikes.
She worked out in batting cages, in separate practices with me, and with her team; but still, when she came up to bat, she would freeze and watch the ball go by. However, that all ended tonight, when she came up to bat and got her first hit. I had feared the whole season would go by, and this would never happen. So, I am quite excited by this event. It made the season for me.
In For Better or For Worse, the reprints started as predicted. It appears that once again, John Patterson cannot get a break, even in his own office. His assistant rakes him over the coals for throwing “a fit” and going “nuts” for cleanliness in his dentist office. Elly rakes him over the coals for not putting up his socks.
Who cares about his stinking socks? My girl got a hit!!
She worked out in batting cages, in separate practices with me, and with her team; but still, when she came up to bat, she would freeze and watch the ball go by. However, that all ended tonight, when she came up to bat and got her first hit. I had feared the whole season would go by, and this would never happen. So, I am quite excited by this event. It made the season for me.
In For Better or For Worse, the reprints started as predicted. It appears that once again, John Patterson cannot get a break, even in his own office. His assistant rakes him over the coals for throwing “a fit” and going “nuts” for cleanliness in his dentist office. Elly rakes him over the coals for not putting up his socks.
Who cares about his stinking socks? My girl got a hit!!
posted by howard at 10:43 PM
22 Comments:
I think you're pretty quick to assume that John is the victim of the assistant. To hear her tell it, John is a very unprofessional rageaholic at work. Why assume she's lying or exaggerating?
I'm guessing that the assistant is telling the honest truth. We see Elly here, getting upset and berating John about a personal matter in front of a patient. Is it such a stretch to think that this guy, henpecked by a manipulative witch at home (and a notorious chauvanist jerk at this time), might go to work and take out his frustrations on the help in the same way that Elly does to him?
I totally buy it. Before Elly beat him down completely, John was an ass. Just look how enraged he got over the missing shower soap.
qnjones:
I totally buy it. Before Elly beat him down completely, John was an ass. Just look how enraged he got over the missing shower soap.
This sort of makes Liz's plan to marry a man just like him that much more disturbing. Instead of doing something sane like staying up North or staying single until she could figure out who she is, she latches on to an arrogant dickweed filled with the urge to reshape his environment in his own weird image. What a romantic ending, huh? A bully and a harridan get together to be vicious to one another.
qnjones,
I think you're pretty quick to assume that John is the victim of the assistant. To hear her tell it, John is a very unprofessional rageaholic at work. Why assume she's lying or exaggerating?
The part that struck me was that the assistant would make those kinds of statements to the man's wife, working the job temporarily. If John was a rageholic, you would have to be pretty sure the comment wouldn't make it back to her husband. Plus, I think keeping a dentist's office clean might be a reasonable expectation.
Is it such a stretch to think that this guy, henpecked by a manipulative witch at home (and a notorious chauvanist jerk at this time), might go to work and take out his frustrations on the help in the same way that Elly does to him?
As it turns out, you are completely right. aprilp_katje linked the whole sequence of strips over at April's Real Blog, and today's strip was the only one that made John appear professional and not like an ogre. Taken in sequence, the assistant realizes that Elly will sympathize with her complaint, because Elly suffers from the same abuse from John repeatedly.
dreadedcandiru2,
What a romantic ending, huh? A bully and a harridan get together to be vicious to one another.
There is very little that is romantic about Liz and Anthony, and I think Lynn knows it. She can't even get the two to say, "I love you" to each other, and she is the one writing the story.
Elly would be happier, I suppose, if there were socks strewn all over John's office.
Seriously, come on. It's circa 198mumble, granted, but it's still a dentist's office. The standards of cleanliness and hygiene should be a little higher than at home.
And have we ever seen John actually lose it at the office? The only example of anger-as-related-to-work I've seen from him was that one Sunday strip where everything went wrong at work, but he kept it bottled up inside so he could roar at Michael when he got home. Based on that, I think he actually isn't short-fused at work, and I'm willing to give the benefit of the doubt on the "throws a fit" line and say it was just a colorful figure of speech -- as opposed to the imminent screaming-inappropriately-in-public that Elly appears ready to unleash. Because it's funny!
dlauthor:
Based on that, I think he actually isn't short-fused at work, and I'm willing to give the benefit of the doubt on the "throws a fit" line and say it was just a colorful figure of speech -- as opposed to the imminent screaming-inappropriately-in-public that Elly appears ready to unleash. Because it's funny!
I almost have the impression that the assistant didn't exactly welcome Elly's presence in the office. What she was saying and how she was saying it seemed to perhaps have been designed to frighten a potential threat away. Given that Elly only lasted a week, it seems to have worked.
Congrats to your daughter, howtheduck! That's definitely more exciting/interesting than anything this sequence has to offer. :)
OK, rageaholic is an exaggeration. But I'm guessing the assistant's motivation would be to try to get the wife to talk to him about treating the employees better.
My current boss is kind of similar in that when he has valid requests for employees in the office, he often phrases them in a belittling, berating manner. Since his wife and adult son work in the same office, the office manager sometimes appeals to them to make the boss behave better toward the employees. He's not wrong in his requests, but in the way he delivers them. Out of nine employees, three are currently considering quitting over his treatment. Maybe the assistant is hoping for an easier solution than quitting her job.
Interesting to hear about the rest of the series. It kind of makes me wonder what the syndicate found so appealing about Lynn's work, to see all these strips full of anger and nastiness that happened early on.
I choose hit, too.
Real life is so much less predictable and more wonderful than FBOFW.
qnjones:
OK, rageaholic is an exaggeration. But I'm guessing the assistant's motivation would be to try to get the wife to talk to him about treating the employees better.
When you remember that Doctor Jackass whined to Elly that she shouldn't have taken being called a klutz and a dummy personally, I'd say that her pwers to that end are, shall we say, limited.
We know Elly's power to make John act like a normal human are limited. The assistant doesn't.
Since posting the above, I went in to the office. I've only had 20 minutes of work to do every day for the last 2 days, and nothing at all in the two weeks prior to that. I write environmental reports and am paid a flat fee per report. My boss has suggested that if I'm at loose ends, I should start editing the work of other employees. Of course, he did not mention any compensation for this work. Jerk. I think I might just come up with an hourly fee and send him a bill.
dlauthor,
And have we ever seen John actually lose it at the office?
No we haven’t, that I can remember. The worst I have seen him behave in the office was in this very sequence with Elly at the office. In the more recent strips, John has been portrayed as a dentist struggling simply to be competent.
dreadedcandiru2
What she was saying and how she was saying it seemed to perhaps have been designed to frighten a potential threat away. Given that Elly only lasted a week, it seems to have worked.
Possible, although I believe the one week limitation was due to Jean Baker taking a one week vacation.
aprilp_katje
Congrats to your daughter, howtheduck! That's definitely more exciting/interesting than anything this sequence has to offer. :)
Thanks. I find I am in a little bit of a softball let down period now it has sunk in that my daughter’s season is over and I will have to wait until next year for her to take it up again. Greed has taken over. I want to see her hit again!
qnjones
OK, rageaholic is an exaggeration. But I'm guessing the assistant's motivation would be to try to get the wife to talk to him about treating the employees better.
This could be. John Patterson was a notorious uber-chauvinist in almost all the early strips, and considering he runs an office almost entirely populated by women, I would imagine he has his moments there too.
Interesting to hear about the rest of the series. It kind of makes me wonder what the syndicate found so appealing about Lynn's work, to see all these strips full of anger and nastiness that happened early on.
I cannot speak for the way the situation was in Canada, but I remember the angry feminist was in full bloom in the late 1970s in the States. A lot of these strips denouncing John, the chauvinist husband, would have played very well with that audience.
Congratulations to your daughter! That is so great.
Oh yes, congratulations to your daughter! It's great that she got her hit!
Ellie and qnjones,
Thanks for the congratulations. There was a very nice moment after the game was over, and the coach was handing out gum to the girls who had accomplished things during the game. He said, “Who had their first hit tonight?” and all the girls screamed my daughter’s name in the way that only 10-year-old girls can do.
So, what you're saying is, your eardrums were bleeding afterwards. :)
Ahh, that is so great about your daughter--and it brings back so many memories of my two girls and their accomplishments. What makes it even sweeter is that your little one's hard work and dedication paid off--that's the greatest lesson kids can learn.
Now FBoFW--I'm also not putting this together with Elly claiming she worked as John's assistant because he couldn't afford one. Yet there is the assistant right there; business must be pretty good if he has to have two, I would think.
I wonder if Lynn's determination to make sure that Liz got together with Granthony (who is supposed to be just like John) isn't biting her now. Must be hard to keep showing how "wonderful" that is, when the role model for John hasn't proven quite so steady after all.
qnjones
So, what you're saying is, your eardrums were bleeding afterwards. :)
Yes, but it was bleeding for a good cause, not unlike a Red Cross donation.
debjyn,
Now FBoFW--I'm also not putting this together with Elly claiming she worked as John's assistant because he couldn't afford one. Yet there is the assistant right there; business must be pretty good if he has to have two, I would think.
Since there is a difference in uniform between Elly and Helène, my guess is that Helène is the dental hygienist and not the dental assistant.
I wonder if Lynn's determination to make sure that Liz got together with Granthony (who is supposed to be just like John) isn't biting her now. Must be hard to keep showing how "wonderful" that is, when the role model for John hasn't proven quite so steady after all.
I suspect this is exactly why the “Anthony = John” banners have not been flying in the strip for awhile.
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