For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for October 02, 2013

Does it matter, Phil, what your sister is making?

Mr. CrankyPants.

“What are they having?” Ans: An arrogant moron like you over for company.

Georgia’s a little older than 16. And Phil has a point — Georgia should have asked him instead of just accepting the dinner invitation and assuming he’d go along. How would she like it if he made plans for the evening without asking her?

That said, perhaps Georgia knows that Phil would never pass up an invitation for a meal no matter how he feels at the time. It’s his non-smoking that’s making him especially cranky and she’s being really patient with him. Good for him for at least trying to quit.

My dad died of emphesyma and he had given up smoking about 30 years before he died. You look great on the outside and it really fools people into thinking smoking has had no effect at all on the body. BUT, your lungs are so black and clogged up from the tar in tobacco that the lungs can no longer process the air to breathe.

Far better to be cranky for several months if it extends your life for additional years.

She accepted the invitation without asking him because it was his sister. If it had been someone else she’d have asked. But I like more notice than this, at least a day in advance please.

Phil is a jerk

Can we please have comments without cursing? You sound MUCH MORE intelligent when you leave that out—especially since you can’t claim a “slip of the tongue” when you type it.

In this case I’d forgive Phil for being irritable because he’s going through withdrawal. But Georgia must have a strong maternal instinct to have stuck with him this long.

I agree w/ Puggles, KenHam. I read these to get away from unpleasantness. Be annoyed but be civil, please!

I told you Uncle Phil was creepy. Now add “jerk” to the list.

And she’s a push-over. They are perfect for each other.

Lynn does not portray Elly as a bad cook, just an experimental one. Her experiments rarely turn out well, but she gets a lot of compliments on her “normal” cuisine.

Judging from Lynn’s comments about her brother’s story-telling ability, the talent runs in her family.

That’s not about Elly being a bad cook, but Lizzie being a typical kid and not wanting to eat the healthy lunch her mother’s prepared.

Listen, I don’t know how much you know about kids (it’s probably been a while since you were one and you don’t remember this). I’ve never had one, but was raised with two others, and I can tell you that a lot of kids will only eat certain things. My brother chowed down on anything anyone would give him. My sister refused anything but Cheerios, celery, lamb chops, mashed potatoes,french fries,corn,peas, fried chicken, cookies, cake, butter, cheddar cheese shreds and salami sandwiches on white bread (no mayo, no mustard, no lettuce and especially no tomato). My Mom was not a gourmet cook, but she did a decent job. To this day, my sister (who is the mother of twins) turns away from veggies and has a weight problem. Not because our mother was a bad cook, but because our sister is a fussyu eater. Lots of kids are. It’s one of the reasons why fast food is so successful – high sugar content and high fat content taste great. There used to be a kid’s book called ‘Cheese, peas and chocolate pudding’ that was about this very subject; kids who are very picky eaters.

liver with spinach and creamed squash ARE good for you. And a comic showing a man telling his son that a fire is proof that his wife ‘has supper on’ is just a comic showing a man who loves to make fun of his wife to his son (ensuring that his son will have trouble with relationships with girls in his early dating years).

Ouch fellow, I would be embarrassed to be you.