Bah Humbug!
As we saw from 2 days ago, John Patterson is very happy with what he got for Christmas - his Super Speedway. As we learn in today’s For Better or For Worse, Elly is not happy with her Christmas gift. Not only is she not happy, but she is on the phone complaining about it with Anne. Elly has not learned how to communicate with her husband. If you want a suede coat, you say, “Suede coat.” I have this conversation with my wife all the time. If I go to the groceries to buy her a can of green beans, I have to say, “What brand? What size? Salt or no salt?” If I don’t, then I get the wrong kind of green beans. Sometimes, my wife expects me to know what kind of green beans, because it’s same kind we always have. The moment we have green beans, I completely forget those kinds of details and have to be reminded with the exact details.
Why Elly Patterson would think “frivolous and expensive, something she can show off her friends” is a suede code? Personally, I would think she was hinting about jewelry. A dishwasher can be a lot more expensive than either of those things. Why is Elly complaining?
Why Elly Patterson would think “frivolous and expensive, something she can show off her friends” is a suede code? Personally, I would think she was hinting about jewelry. A dishwasher can be a lot more expensive than either of those things. Why is Elly complaining?
posted by howard at 1:56 AM
5 Comments:
howard,
The reason Elly is complaining about getting a big-ticket item like a dishwasher that she can actually use more than once is quite simple: Elly complains. All the time. And she never stops. This is also why she never told him that she wanted a suede coat (mink in the original) in the first place; if he tried his best to get her a suede coat and failed, she wouldn't have a legitimate reason to grip later on.
I realize that wouldn't stop her but at least her friends would realize that she's grumbling because she likes to feel put upon.
If John were to buy Elly the coat (suede or fur), he'd end up in trouble because inevitably the size would be wrong. Too small and he's in trouble--too big, he's even more in trouble for thinking she's fatter than she is. No-win situation.
April_Patterson,
That's right; John can never win. Ever. It's just the way it is.
Quite correct- Elly would be on the phone bitching that John got her a suede coat which she must haul to the drycleaners every other week, and besides her never takes her anywhere nice enough to wear it, and besides how can she feel good wearing a suede coat when there are so many hungry people in the world blah blah blah.
--jjamele
Hmm. Not just the "fur coat" is changed - it's also gone from "trash compactor" to "dishwasher", which is a full-blown retcon, as the dishwasher was the placation following John's purchase of a stereo when Elly was economizing by replacing an electric can opener with a handheld one.
Guess we're not going to get that strip series. Odd. John says some awful stuff - about how it's "his" money. Maybe it's because by the end of the arc he *is* seeing Elly's point of view and is trying to fix what he did.
Or maybe LJ doesn't want to bring back the strip with 'why do I need a trash compactor? I married a guy with size 12 feet' ... even if the big feet thing is hardly an established correlation :-)
(Ahhh ... snow, Christmas cookies, and visiting my mom's FOOB collection)
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