John Floors Elly
"Good grief! Can I believe what I’m seeing?" Yes, Elly.
a. John doesn’t know how to use a mop.
b. John is wearing his good pants while he is on his knees cleaning the floor. Better hope he is not using a cleaner with bleach in it.
c. Your eyes have betrayed you so often, it is good to hold your belief until you get confirmation from another one of your senses.
d. John has found yet another way to ignore his children.
e. That little comment you had Jean Baker make to John about clean floors has paid off.
f. On his hands and knees, John’s shoulder does come up to the same height as the kitchen cabinet.
g. The floor really has been white all this time.
h. After yesterday’s kiss was destroyed by the children, you now have to find a way to make sure that John never cleans the floor again. What to try? How about asking John if he is trying to make you feel guilty and question his honesty? That’s the ticket.
i. When John leans over, you can see very clearly he has breasts.
j. John's shirt is buttoned down too far and you must go over to him and button it up to his neck.
k. When you said you would have sex with him again if he cleaned the floor, you never though he would actually do it.
a. John doesn’t know how to use a mop.
b. John is wearing his good pants while he is on his knees cleaning the floor. Better hope he is not using a cleaner with bleach in it.
c. Your eyes have betrayed you so often, it is good to hold your belief until you get confirmation from another one of your senses.
d. John has found yet another way to ignore his children.
e. That little comment you had Jean Baker make to John about clean floors has paid off.
f. On his hands and knees, John’s shoulder does come up to the same height as the kitchen cabinet.
g. The floor really has been white all this time.
h. After yesterday’s kiss was destroyed by the children, you now have to find a way to make sure that John never cleans the floor again. What to try? How about asking John if he is trying to make you feel guilty and question his honesty? That’s the ticket.
i. When John leans over, you can see very clearly he has breasts.
j. John's shirt is buttoned down too far and you must go over to him and button it up to his neck.
k. When you said you would have sex with him again if he cleaned the floor, you never though he would actually do it.
posted by howard at 10:48 PM
7 Comments:
And John changes shirt in Panel 3, then back again in Panel 4, but with a buttoned-up front.
howard,
After yesterday’s kiss was destroyed by the children, you now have to find a way to make sure that John never cleans the floor again. What to try? How about asking John if he is trying to make you feel guilty and question his honesty? That’s the ticket.
That sort of puts Sunday's strip in context, doesn't it? It's not so much that John and the kids can't pick up after themselves, it's that they fear the consequences of behaving decently without Super Martyr Mom Elly's approval. The best way to avoid having one's motives questioned is to do nothing so that's what they do.
forworse,
And John changes shirt in Panel 3, then back again in Panel 4, but with a buttoned-up front.
It is interesting to notice that even back in 1980, Lynn had the lack of attention to artistic detail from panel-to-panel that would eventually become the hallmark of her declining years and the symbol of her train wreck apathy towards her work.
DreadedCandiru2,
It's not so much that John and the kids can't pick up after themselves, it's that they fear the consequences of behaving decently without Super Martyr Mom Elly's approval.
That is such an odd statement and yet, within the context of this strip and all the times we have been shown Elly’s obsessive behaviour about cleaning and messes, it rings true. John would say, “I was afraid to clean in my house, because I was afraid of how Elly would react.” Little Mike would say, “Mommy was happier when I made messes and didn’t clean them up.” Little Lizzie said, “I’m going to marry Anthony. That way mommy won’t kill herself.”
howtheduck,
That is such an odd statement and yet, within the context of this strip and all the times we have been shown Elly’s obsessive behaviour about cleaning and messes, it rings true.
One of the sadest facts about life in Foobville is that it only makes sense if you assume Elly channels dead crazy people; we are not dealing with a healthy, positive person and it shows.
The only real comment I can think of in response to this is: even in 1980, who the hell still cleaned their floor with a bucket and scrubbrush?
The Foobs don't have a spongemop with one of those green scratchy pads?
FDChief,
The only real comment I can think of in response to this is: even in 1980, who the hell still cleaned their floor with a bucket and scrubbrush?
Back in 1980, Elly was begging for an automatic dishwasher, and we regularly had scenes of Pattersons washing dishes by hand up until last year. Back in 2007, Elly was shaving her sheets with a razor. For some reason, the Patterson family seems to avoid modern conveniences. I guess you can't suffer as much doing housework, if you use some labor-saving device, and we all know from Elly it is more important to suffer than to do the sensible thing.
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