Adam@Home by Rob Harrell for March 01, 2010

There’s nothing worse than a “bad Chevette”.

I think I had one or two of those as a teenager. But at least I was driving to high school everyday when I turned 16.

Chevolet impalas were my uncle’s favorite.

My kids had some awful cars when they were in high school and college. I spent a lot of time in our garage working on them just to get them to run.

a chevette was not made for anyone over 6’ tall, my friend Rip drove one, and had to tilt his head to the side

We used to call them “Shovettes” because we’d have to keep shoving them off the road when they broke.

Looks like both Adam & Laura might be left-handed judging the way they’re holding their forks. (Cannot believe I’m commenting on a comic strip; what’s next? “Casserole Chat”?!) I’d expect the kids (and, yes, I know all their names!) to grow up left-handed. That’s a lot of right-brain creative thinking in one family. Nic might grow up to be a musician in a philharmonic orchestra!

A guy in a Chevette. What a catch!

It still suits him today. You expect to see people driving around in their pajamas in something like that.

I once had a love affair with an automobile

burned myself on the tailpipe.

I used to tell people I drove a ‘Vette …

Regrettably it was the CHE_and not the COR_.

my first car was a brown chevy chevette…Geez I wish I could have it back is was really a gas saver..lol

adubman, are you Continental or Commonwealth, by any chance? Adam’s holding his fork in his left hand while he uses his knife with his right, which is the standard American usage. We then switch the fork to our right to lift the food to the mouth. It’s perhaps an extra step, and it makes no sense to English and Australians I’ve known, but hey, that’s how we roll. We also tend to cut individual bites as needed, rather than cutting the whole into pieces before eating any of it, which means that the hand-switch is taking place all the time.

(The Continental style is not uncommon in the US, but the American or Zig-zag style is pretty much unknown abroad.)

Since Laura is shown holding only a fork and not using it, there isn’t enough information to identify her technique. The resting position of the fork on Clayton’s plate seems to me more telling than the hand in which he holds it in the first panel, though, and might indicate that he’s a leftie…

The Chevette is right up there with a rear ended Pinto, an Escort, a Vega, or a Gremlin. Of the five post muscle cars, the Gremlin wins. That says a lot.

Fritzoid, I must confess my (S. CA’ian) naivete for eating utensil ettiquette, namely, you’re right: Adam might be switching off the fork to his right hand before eating his meal. I grew up with friends and relatives that ate that way. I never grew into the style and ate “continental” as you say. And Clayton does look to be left handed based on his fork’s placement on his left side as you noted. Okay, maybe he will be the “rock god” that comes out of the Newmans!!

No worries, adubman, if you ever go abroad you’ll fit in better than most. Not only is the Zig-zag style uncommon there, it is sometimes considered mildly offensive. I’ve been stared at, from time to time.

In defense of the American technique, I’ll say that it feels far more natural to me to let my dominant (right) hand do the work of cutting. Besides, if I’m attacked while dining I can better fight with a knife in my right hand than a fork…