Connie’s Career?
Now I am getting confused about Connie Poirier’s job. In today’s new-run of For Better or For Worse, Elly says that Connie is an X-ray technician. In the Who’s Who for Connie, it says:
It was partly in reaction to Elly’s decision that Connie decided to switch from general Sciences to some form of medical training and invade a traditionally male domain. After careful consideration, she chose radiology. In 1974, she graduated as a registered Radiology Technician.
This might be a reference to the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists (arrt), which is a separate institution from a university to register radiology technicians, supposedly to guarantee their quality.
However, in Canada, as an X-ray technician, Connie Poirier is probably certified by the Canadian Association of Medical Radiation Technologists and the College of Medical Radiation Technologists of Ontario (Canada). If Elly were to refer to her as a M.R.T. (Medical Radiation Technologist), then Connie could have turned the joke around and stated that what she really wanted was an MRS degree instead of being an MRT. MRT and MRS are close enough in spelling that would work pretty well as a joke of sorts.
The problem with being an X-ray technician, is that Elly then specifies that Connie has a B.S.C. which I think means Bachelor of Science. It’s actually spelled B.Sc. at the University of Toronto. As near as I can tell from my internet researching, an X-ray technician is a job you get with a 2-year-degree. The University of Toronto where supposedly Elly and Connie both went to school has an undergraduate program in Medical Imaging.
Is there someone out there who can straighten me out on this? Am I right, or is Lynn Johnston just making things up again?
I don’t have much to say about the strip itself. Comparing the B.Sc. degree to the Mrs. degree. Ick and double ick. Take 2 giant steps backward for feminism. Connie Poirier out-and-out says she envies Elly because she is married. No, since Connie has been married before, what it really boils down to is that Connie envies Elly because Elly has managed to stay married. That’s right, Connie. If only you had done like Elly did and spent your university days hanging around the medical library at the University of Toronto, waiting for a future doctor to notice you; you could have Elly’s life – feeding the dog, doing dishes by hand because your cheap husband won’t pony up for a dishwasher. Yes, sirree. That’s the life.
It was partly in reaction to Elly’s decision that Connie decided to switch from general Sciences to some form of medical training and invade a traditionally male domain. After careful consideration, she chose radiology. In 1974, she graduated as a registered Radiology Technician.
This might be a reference to the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists (arrt), which is a separate institution from a university to register radiology technicians, supposedly to guarantee their quality.
However, in Canada, as an X-ray technician, Connie Poirier is probably certified by the Canadian Association of Medical Radiation Technologists and the College of Medical Radiation Technologists of Ontario (Canada). If Elly were to refer to her as a M.R.T. (Medical Radiation Technologist), then Connie could have turned the joke around and stated that what she really wanted was an MRS degree instead of being an MRT. MRT and MRS are close enough in spelling that would work pretty well as a joke of sorts.
The problem with being an X-ray technician, is that Elly then specifies that Connie has a B.S.C. which I think means Bachelor of Science. It’s actually spelled B.Sc. at the University of Toronto. As near as I can tell from my internet researching, an X-ray technician is a job you get with a 2-year-degree. The University of Toronto where supposedly Elly and Connie both went to school has an undergraduate program in Medical Imaging.
Is there someone out there who can straighten me out on this? Am I right, or is Lynn Johnston just making things up again?
I don’t have much to say about the strip itself. Comparing the B.Sc. degree to the Mrs. degree. Ick and double ick. Take 2 giant steps backward for feminism. Connie Poirier out-and-out says she envies Elly because she is married. No, since Connie has been married before, what it really boils down to is that Connie envies Elly because Elly has managed to stay married. That’s right, Connie. If only you had done like Elly did and spent your university days hanging around the medical library at the University of Toronto, waiting for a future doctor to notice you; you could have Elly’s life – feeding the dog, doing dishes by hand because your cheap husband won’t pony up for a dishwasher. Yes, sirree. That’s the life.
posted by howard at 12:03 AM
24 Comments:
Note that Elly is -so- busy that she -has- to do menial chores while she has company, even if the company is her alleged best friend. See, critics? Elly doesn't just sit around, drink coffee, gossip, and neglect her tiny children! Her life is so -hard-! All praise Elly the martyr!
Elly is also too busy to make eye contact with Connie, except when Connie says something pithy. Hmmm...
Am I right, or is Lynn Johnston just making things up again?I think this is what it boils down to; remember LJ's intense "research" allergy.
I don’t have much to say about the strip itself. Comparing the B.Sc. degree to the Mrs. degree. Ick and double ick.Seriously. It's a stale, old joke and it's demeaning. WTG, Lynn.
No, since Connie has been married before, what it really boils down to is that Connie envies Elly because Elly has managed to stay married. That’s right, Connie. If only you had done like Elly did and spent your university days hanging around the medical library at the University of Toronto, waiting for a future doctor to notice you; you could have Elly’s life – feeding the dog, doing dishes by hand because your cheap husband won’t pony up for a dishwasher. Yes, sirree. That’s the life.I can't possibly imagine begin down on myself enough to actually envy Flapandhonk so Connie's thinking confuses and enrages me. As I said on the Foobiverse, I hold between my thumb and forefinger a nose that remembers the stench of a lifetime of failure Connie's need to have and keep a MAYYYYUN, any MAYYYYYUNNN created. The women in this strip do so many despicable things to attract and keep any male who doesn't move fast enough to escape them, it's revolting to behold.
Anonymous,
Note that Elly is -so- busy that she -has- to do menial chores while she has company, even if the company is her alleged best friend. Busy? Or just plain rude? Pattersons are not exactly known for their etiquette or for treating friends well.
Elly doesn't just sit around, drink coffee, gossip, and neglect her tiny children! I think we may still have a winner on the “neglect her tiny children” part. Where are those kids?
Elly is also too busy to make eye contact with Connie, except when Connie says something pithy. Hmmm...Unfortunately, part of that is just the way Lynn Johnston draws her characters these days. She has forgotten the fine art of making the characters look like they are talking to each other.
aprilp_katje,
It's a stale, old joke and it's demeaning. WTG, Lynn.“Stale, old joke” I can get. The comics page is full of those. The “demeaning” part is the one I don’t get. Lynn has been divorced 2 times now. I don’t remember 1980s Connie ever saying outright, “I envy you, Elly” Is Lynn playing the part of Connie, jealous of Elly Patterson the comic strip character who has managed to stay married? You would think her life experiences might have shaped her a little. After all, if she is going to chop out the story where Connie chases after Phil to Montreal (which was very demeaning to the character of Connie), then why does she persist with the idea that Connie is jealous of Elly for being married? Such a statement can no longer be an ego stroke for Lynn.
DreadedCandiru2,
The women in this strip do so many despicable things to attract and keep any male who doesn't move fast enough to escape them, it's revolting to behold.And yet there are an extraordinary number of strips showing how the man is not worthy of being captured. It’s like saying, “Men are no good, but I have to have one.”
Where are those kids?Seriously. This past Thursday's strip established that Elly was ignoring Michael and Liz in order to watch her soap opera. Next day, Elly was outside discussing the soap-opera obsession with Connie while Liz, Michael, and Lawrence were all present. Now, presumably, since this past Saturday, Connie and Elly have been ignoring their kids while discussing Connie's lack of a mayyy-un.
Is Lynn playing the part of Connie, jealous of Elly Patterson the comic strip character who has managed to stay married?I suspect this is what's going on.
It’s like saying, “Men are no good, but I have to have one.”Therapy is a very good thing, LJ--I hightly recommend it.
howard said,
It’s like saying, “Men are no good, but I have to have one.”Only by being married to a jerk can a woman (or an Anthony) be the right kind of martyr. Only by being a martyr to an unworthy spouse can a woman legitimize her existence.
I think Lynn can go no lower, an there she goes. Kicking her dog, writing Connie who's supposedly a feminist and supposed to be only a couple years older than me, if that, as an anti-feminist who only cares about attaching herself to ANY man like a remora: what's next? The bankruptcy of the strip is fascinating in its way.
This strip is so gag-inducing I just can't comment on it.
However, the same problem with the strip (outdated point of view) is the reason I think Connie is referred to as an X-Ray tech. I work at a university and even the Radiology profs had difficulty dealing with the new terminology for the profession. So, basically, this term was used a lot by and for those in the field about 20 years ago, before bachelors programs became the general training.
aprilp_katje,
Where are those kids?Seriously.My guess is raiding John Patterson’s sock drawer and clogging every plumbing fixture in the house. At least we know that they are not torturing Farley, who had his very first new-run strip in 2009 that did not feature some sort of Farley abuse.
Is Lynn playing the part of Connie, jealous of Elly Patterson the comic strip character who has managed to stay married?I suspect this is what's going on. After all, Lynn did say in one of those interviews that she was not married to Rod Johnston, but in her mind she was married to John Patterson.
clio-1,
I think Lynn can go no lower, an there she goes. Thanks to these new-runs and the reprints, we actually get to compare Lynn’s descent side-by-side with her ascent. In the first year, she ripped off her comedic drawing style from Charles Schulz and shamelessly stole jokes from Dennis the Menace and Cathy. Later on she got better and developed her own style. But now I can look at the old 1980s art with its misshapen figures and barely literate story-telling and I can actually see that it is better than the material Lynn is producing now for the new-runs. The physical composition of the strip to tell the story was better in 1980. You can generally see the characters’ facial expressions and their drawn body language helps to tell the story. The jokes do not rely on final panel puns and are occasionally genuinely funny.
I used to look at the 1980s strips as crude drawing and story-telling compared to the modern For Better or For Worse. Now it is the new-runs that are crude. How low can Lynn Johnston go? I have every confidence in her. Soon we will be able to take the most repulsive characters in comic strip land and compare them favorably to the characters in this strip. Watch out, Andy Capp!! Lynn is coming for you. Do you think you are offensive, Bucky Katt? You have nothing on Elly Patterson.
debjyn,
However, the same problem with the strip (outdated point of view) is the reason I think Connie is referred to as an X-Ray tech. That makes it understandable for a 1980 reprint, but less so for a 2009 new-run.
So, basically, this term was used a lot by and for those in the field about 20 years ago, before bachelors programs became the general training.Set this time period of this strip back at least 20 years then. Connie’s desire for an MRS degree should put it back even further.
As someone who got her "Mrs" instead of a BA and doesn't regret it...this strip made me see red.
I don't regret getting married, but I don't like the idea that being married is some how better then having a career.
Also? I actually plan on going back to school and finishing my education as soon as I'm able to. It may take some time but I have bigger ambitions then just being a wife and mother.
Oh yes that would be blasphemy in Lynn Johnsons world...and gee thinking about it there isn't a man in the FOOB world who would do what my husband did which is tell me to really think about what I wanted and to not discount University and to make sure I wasn't doing anything I'd regret later. (yeah he didn't ask, I did.)
This is a vomit inducing strip.
howard,Soon we will be able to take the most repulsive characters in comic strip land and compare them favorably to the characters in this strip. Watch out, Andy Capp!! Lynn is coming for you. Do you think you are offensive, Bucky Katt? You have nothing on Elly Patterson.Thank you for reminding me why I read this daily horror; I never did see a slow motion train wreck before and I can't bear to tear myself away.
BTW, has you MIL's condition approved or stayed the same? In all the haste to condemn Lynn, I forgot to ask earlier.
mings-kitten--reading your comment, it occurs to me that Lynn is regretful or defensive--or both--about having dropped out of university (despite her Elly-like claim that she'd lost interest in getting the "piece of paper"). Lynn's got plenty of money--maybe she ought to go back and finish up. I'll bet it would be healing.
Also, in my teaching days, some of my favorite students were the "returning"/"non-traditional" learners--those who were starting or continuing their education after having started families, established careers, etc. I found they tended to be much more focused and serious than the 18-22-year-olds. When the timing is right for you, you'll do awesome. :)
I always wondered why Lynn Johnson never had Ellie go back to college and get her degree, especially since the early strips showed her bemoaning the fact that she never graduated. There were plenty of opportunities -- before Ellie's third pregnancy, after Elizabeth started college, when Ellie sold the bookshop, etc. Heck, it would have been possible, with John's income, for Ellie to go back to college at more or less the point being shown in the current newruns and reprints. Plenty of women with young children find half-day or full-day daycare for them in order to have a job or pursue higher education.
It certainly would have made the strip more interesting, especially since we would have been shown Ellie dealing with professors and younger students in addition to the usual band of family members, friends, and neighbors.
Annonymous- because Elly's all about whining. That's all.
She'll never do anything to improve her life because she wants to be simultaneously an object of pity and to be admired, go figure.
Also, she's a freaking nutcase.
Also- the only interaction we would have seen between Elly and her professors would have been the professors failing to fully appreciate what a genius Elly Patterson is, Elly thought-bubbling that "Professors just don't get Moms!" or some such drivel, and Elly ultimately quitting because the professors actually expect her to produce something every once in a while, and when you've got a husband at home and two kids to feed (and sheets to shave,) that's just too haaaaaard.
Anonymous, Elly took a couple of night-school courses in creative writing, but she didn't stick with it long enough to complete a degree.
jjamele:Also- the only interaction we would have seen between Elly and her professors would have been the professors failing to fully appreciate what a genius Elly Patterson is, Elly thought-bubbling that "Professors just don't get Moms!Funny you should say that--in the second collection, there's a strip where she shows her course printout (I guess--even though she's only taking one class and it looks like about three pages printed front and back) to a stereotypically bearded, bespectacled, turtlenecked prof who says, "Here's a coincidence*, I'll be teaching the class you're in! You'll find this a most challenging program! Many of my evening students are preparing for a serous career! Of course there are always a few housewives looking for a change!" Naturally she looks bugeyed at him, but he doesn't notice because he's moved a step ahead of her and she's goggling at the back of his head.
The strip just before that begins with Elly telling Connie (over the everpresent coffee), "So rather than get a job now, I'll pick up the credits I'm missing.... and maybe get my degree!" Hm, so I guess taking classes was really an excuse not to get a job?
*And no, I dont' know why this is a "coincidence." The professor isn't someone who's been established as a friend or acquaintance. We have no reason to think she'd be talking to him about anything other than her night course.
Anonymous,
There were plenty of opportunities -- before Ellie's third pregnancy, after Elizabeth started college, when Ellie sold the bookshop, etc. As I recollect Elly’s third pregnancy occurred at a time when Elly was thinking about going back to school, an idea which was scuttled by the pregnancy. The other moments you suggest occurred at a time after Charles Schulz died and Lynn Johnston lost interest in doing the strip. Tackling plots that were different from the standard fare pretty much died at that point.
It certainly would have made the strip more interesting, especially since we would have been shown Ellie dealing with professors and younger students in addition to the usual band of family members, friends, and neighbors.Not to mention the fun that could have been had with Elly complaining about teachers and homework at the same time either Liz or April were complaining about the same thing. Or better yet, Elly and Liz could have taken the same course together, or were invited to the same parties. There are lots of possibilities there.
However, Lynn Johnston has real problems doing things with the characters which are not a part of her own life. She did so many strips with John and Elly leaping up and down about the end of their parenting years while forgetting they still had April, the made-up daughter, in the house; it began to be a running joke over with us snarker. Since April wasn’t based on someone real, Lynn kept forgetting that Elly was not the same as she is, and would forget April existed.
mings-kitten,
I don't regret getting married, but I don't like the idea that being married is some how better then having a career. Lynn Johnston would probably argue that she is showing the balance of Connie jealous of Elly for her marriage and Elly jealous of Connie for her career. The common argument back in 1980 was motherhood vs. career; because very few employers at the time made concessions for working mothers. I remember interviewing with the SAS Institute in North Carolina at the time, and one of their big bragging points was being one of only 3 corporations in the US that offered on-site child care.
If Connie was envious of Elly having children, and felt she had sacrificed motherhood for having a career, then this would be a different strip. I have known several women who had very strong feelings about motherhood and marriage before having children and getting married. I know very few women who have strong desires for children and marriage, after they have already done it. This is why Connie Poirier’s dilemma makes no sense to me. She has a child. She’s been married. She has a career. Women I know like that do not envy their uneducated, married-with-children friends for having a husband. However, they might envy their friend’s stuff.
DreadedCandiru2,
BTW, has you MIL's condition approved or stayed the same? My mother-in-law’s condition has stayed the same. Thanks for asking.
John F Jamele,
She'll never do anything to improve her life because she wants to be simultaneously an object of pity and to be admired, go figure. She does improve her life. The high point of Elly’s career will be when she will become the owner of a bookstore which will be considered a landmark by her employees sucking up to her just before she is about to sell it. After she owns it, Elly will prove time and time again to be terrible with customer and supplier interactions. Elly will own the bookstore for about 3 years before dealing with customers frustrates her so much she decides she needs to retire. Then she will retire 3 years later, having broken even on her investment in the bookstore. Her husband, who put up all the money to buy the bookstore in the first place, will mention this specifically and secretly wish he had given the money to the Mayes instead of his wife. This bookstore will be Elly’s great triumph and satisfied with her accomplishment, she will never again pursue a career or further education.
Also- the only interaction we would have seen between Elly and her professors would have been the professors failing to fully appreciate what a genius Elly Patterson is, Elly thought-bubbling that "Professors just don't get Moms!" or some such drivel, and Elly ultimately quitting because the professors actually expect her to produce something every once in a while, and when you've got a husband at home and two kids to feed (and sheets to shave,) that's just too haaaaaard.As aprilp_katje points out above, Elly’s actual reaction in that situation is:
Naturally she looks bugeyed at him, but he doesn't notice because he's moved a step ahead of her and she's goggling at the back of his head.In the first few years of the strip, Elly’s reactions were mainly wild facial expressions. She rarely voiced a contrary opinion and would even criticize herself. In later years, Elly would become the hyper-judgmental, self-absorbed, holier-than-thou, thought-bubbler you describe.
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