Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for November 03, 2011

So TJ never had a fully thought-out plan after all. At least Toni came clean. With predictable results.

Whoa!!……Did Dufus hang up on his dream girl??

Now Toni knows what it feels like to have someone hang up on you…remember that she did the same thing to Brad years ago when he told her he was going to drop out of training, and then she yells, “Dirk was right! You ARE a nobody!!” and hangs up on him.

Oh, breach of trust. Still, hanging up on dream-girl shows he’s still in possession of his manhood.

He’ll come around, once TJ summons the balls to admit his involvement in this whole snafu, and once he does, he’ll probably forgive Toni, knowing she was trying to stand up for Brad.

She is, but Eiffel abused BOTH of them, not just Brad. And I disagree that one person in a relationship has the right to demand the other should roll over and take it because they’re getting some sort of benefit by letting it continue. It’s actually destructive and ultimately pretty damn selfish.

Jobs- and I do mean “job”, not a career – come and go, your relationships with the people you claim to love should at least demand a small demonstration of your primary allegiance.

Second Frame TJ in the background. ?

Brad is comfortable to condemn the guilty with half the story. Even though he realizes that TJ called Toni to find out what happened, he doesn’t think to ask what his involvement was. And no Brad, you did not need this job. What you need is to be out looking for a real job.

It just occurred to me, glancing at the side of the page… what kind of twisted person would want a framed collectible print, a mug, a t-shirt, etc of today’s comic?

I figure someone will point out to him that he is being a jerk and will apologize to toni. Then they will begin to collaborate and figure out how to deal with Ann in a more finessed Machiavellian way.T.J. was right in that they have the resources of the fire department on their side. she is still a firefighter and he, as he was a employee of good standing, is only laid off until they have the money to rehire him.The Captain of either of their precinct. will be tict-off that someone is hassling his firefighters and will rally their resources to him them. There are such things as laws and inspections have to be made to insure safety standards. Ann’s boss will understand.I’m sure.

Don’t tempt me, 4shadow! (Er – you don’t work for Zazzle, by any chance?) i do have a wonderful one from last year. The products are pretty excellent.

OMG. I am glad I am not in Toni’s shoes. Bet she feels very small now after that solid and quiet but yet loud click. Bet she is cursing herself for listening to TJ in the first place. But I do believe it will be a blessing in disguise in the end and Brad will thank Toni.

Brad doesn’t even know the full story of what happened and how Eiffel treated Toni. When he calms down a little, if Toni will still talk to him, she’ll explain what happens and he’ll be pissed at Eiffel as he should be. If he isn’t then he’s a doofus and putting a job ahead of his girlfriend. But to say he’s doing that now, like some people were yesterday, is jumping the gun a little bit, I think.

Brad wants to be independent. He wants to have a job and jobs are hard to find in this economy. Probably crappy jobs like he had are easier to find, but getting fired is an emotional experience which happened to him just a little while ago. IRL someone who had this happened would be upset and not thinking clearly if someone told them that what they had done had caused this to happen.

I would hope that Greg Evans would have Brad realize that Toni did what she did because she loves him, and apologize for his anger and hanging up on her. If he doesn’t, then he’s a jerk (Brad, not Greg). But we don’t know yet how he’s going to act after he realizes what he’s done.

Also, all things being equal, Brad doesn’t have to give in to Toni because she’s beautiful and he’s a dweeb. He should forgive her for this because she did it for him and it’s clear she loves him and he loves her. Their looks and desirability or lack of such thereof shouldn’t enter into it at all at this point.

Also T.J. is the one who started this, and he’s letting Toni take the blame, which sucks.

@mimisl I don’t work for anyone at the moment. But I’m studying. That’s totally my excuse. Big French exam tomorrow, checking out the comics is definitely not how I should be spending my all-nighter.

ZOMG RUN TROLLS

Hope that clik doesn’t mean a breakup.

Greg still sometimes writes Brad with the maturity of a high school junior. Not a maturing young man with the determination, clear head and bravery of a firefighter.

Come on Brad. This is the best thing that could have happened to you. Ann just made you commit to working for her, which required you to give up on being a firefighter. You claimed you could handle her, but you were doing a lousy job of handling things. Go for her cleaning? What would you go for next? Apologize to Toni.

Relax people, this is just a comic strip that’s suppose to be funny yet somehow Brad is the lovable loser like Charlie Brown. I think he will finally show some spine and become a real person with or without Toni.

Brad,Toni’s one of the best things ever in your life and you need to keep her there. She screwed up and needs to make amends, but every relationship has those moments. Decide what is important in the long run.

TJ looks properly guilt-ridden, because he was stupid, cowardly, and is guilty. Brad has picked the worst possible time to act all tough and flinty. Toni has been ill-used now by all involved in this arc—Ann Eiffel, TJ, and now Brad. I expect that eventually she and Brad will get over this rough patch in their relationship; but for now Brad is acting like a fool, TJ is a fool, and Toni stands alone.

Hold up, I sense something more here. He said he needed that job….why? Maybe trying to save up for a ring?

B-wad, it’s nice to see you actually showing a backbone and taking charge for once but … DUDE! Harsh! Hanging up like that was a pretty lame move. I haven’t supported what Toni did from the start (She was acting brainless), but she said she was sorry to him and clearly felt bad. Not saying, she deserves to get off with a free pass but cutting her off was just immature.

Also judging by TJ’s guilted expression he’ll probably come clean to nudging Toni into bothering Ann (most likely because he just got bored) and might even assume all the blame (okay… maybe I’m giving him too much credit) But yeah I don’t foresee this taking too long to get resolved.

interesting views today………. as i said yesterday, Brad gave TOO MUCH importance to keeping that job, so he thought wrongly that he could handle Ann’s hassle (she actually little by little & layer by layer was diminishing him, pretty much like a spider does to a fly on her web) and could afford some “inconveniences” ……. I think Brad feels like a loser without a job to “define him”, he basically does not want to be like Toni’s brother… and some of you hit the nail when you say he is pretty much putting himself with Ann in the same situation of Toni with Dirk…. about Toni, she has spoken to not just being abused by Dirk, but before that, that both she and her brother had a wild life soon after their parents died(but not as much as her brother, and that Shannon’s mom is currently wilder still than what her brother was) and she has put both her wild past and allowing Dirk to dominate her life behind her

Waiting for Brad to calm down requires a great deal of patience. Will Toni be able to complete this Herculean task?

At last, Brad shows a little bit of manhood.

A sad commentary on our times that a once decorated fire fighter must now depend on his livelihood from Weenie World.

Come on, doesn’t Hamburger Haven have some openings? Brad has got fast food experience and theres gotta be another place to work outside of Winey World.

Ashburn, we’ve known each other a long time on these boards, and had some good conversations.

Please reconsider your remarks here tonight.

Remember that this is a global forum.

Is that the image of Americans and their attitudes that you really want to perpetrate?

Will someone please show Brad the past few days strips so he doesn’t regret something, ie losing Toni to this?! Maybe he can go work at the library with his sister. No worries that Gunther is going to attack Brad, haha~

it’s a cartoon." the medium is the message "

Hey. Noob here. Is anybody else tired of Eiffel being able to get away with sexual harassment on a regular basis and never get punished for it? When I read a comic that got its’ start based on funny situations, this type of long-drawn-out plotline of tension just doesn’t do anything for me. “Oh, let’s be culturally relevant”“Let’s show we understand what’s going on in the economy today.”How many people will be inspired to make a global change based on this one comic?A show I love from way back in 1963 “Doctor Who” had several socially relevant episodes. I notice we still have toxic waste and massive tax corruption in England. Maybe one of you can help me to understand what this type of plotline does – and why it doesn’t belong in “the phantom” or “Brenda Starr”Sorry if this comes off as too aggressive – it’s hard to type something casually.

Toni was just looking out for Brad…..Brad you just made a big mistake!

Amen

Whoa, Brad my ego friend. Remember that you are talking to the one you love. Pour some water over your head and regain sanity. You jepordise this over a dead end job?

Good move Brad, these scheming women can sure mess up your life…If you listen to them.

this is why there are bullies……Brad blames Toni instead Ann who is the real bully in this situation. Quite a sad message of this strip which is basically saying take the abuse and don’t confront the bully. And if someone does it on your behalf, then take it out on them (aka Toni). In this case Brad is the bully because he used his relationship with Toni against her to hurt her. If he was a true “man” he would have stood up to Ann and left WW. Brad showed that his “job” was more important than Toni and further reinforced his lack of love for Toni by more easily pushing her away by using his BS excuse of his “job”.

Ok, he grew one. Now grow the other one and apologize to Toni.

Bout time. Put her in her place for once. He asked her not to get involved, he was handling his business. Now she will turn around and tell him they are over cause he hung up on her.

You know, I often wonder if Greg has this new and constantly evolving Brad character fully fleshed. From a pure character standpoint, he just doesn’t make sense. All of a sudden, he has a backbone and ire when it comes to the woman he claims to love so deeply, but hasn’t shown and ounce of back bone concerning Eiffel and his treatment at WW.So I’m left wondering, why is he so upset? Was he truly oblivious to his mistreatment by Ann and thought he had a good thing at WW? Is he offended that someone would dare confront his “boss” out of some feeling of loyalty, or perhaps even secret desire? Or did he really know he was being mistreated and was just putting up with it because he needed a paycheck? Whats his real motivation behind being so upset? To that end, as much as I love the Toni/Brad arcs, I’m really thinking his character isn’t as well planned out as he used to be (after he became a more prominent character with his own arcs.)

What do you need that job for, Brad? Because the colors of ketsup and mustard are really you? Because you need someone in your life constantly testing your patience? Because minimum wage assures you that you will not receive a pay cut? Face it Brad. You DON"T need this job. Never did. You worked to become a firefighter, so stop being a weenie.

Is it just me, or does nobody elses cell phone click when you hang up?

Has Anne Eiffel ALWAYS been attracted to Brad? If so, and we KNOW he was working there when he was 16, that makes Anne a pedophile. She should be in jail.

Bad move, Brad. You were blowing it at work, and now you’re blowing it at home. Stand up for yourse4lf, dude, She did you a favor. You’re lucky she cares about you so much, and now you’re punishing her for caring about you? Maybe Fried Clog was right! (Hey, is that a mean thing to say, or what?)

Uh oh.

Does anyone get a flashback of Toni’s ex from all this?

Mr. Evans is making a very serious point about self concept and the need for people to understand themselves. Brad got fired as a firefighter through no fault of his own. Yet he clearly decided to internalize his firing or furloughing from the fire department as a comment on his abilities, both mentally and physically. To move from a significant job—saving lives, property, significant personal risk—to a job flipping hamburgers, enduring abuse from a supercilious, arrogant boss speaks to his strong need to receive some serious counseling. Toni refuses to be defined by the manager, refuses to give her any advantage over her in life, and hopes that Brad would see it the same way.To work in a job where the boss humiliates her people by sending them out for laundry is not worthy of a man who aspires to a career. This should be a sexual harassment law suit—Brad versus the Boss and the corporation.

Why?

I’m starting to get bored of this storyline, but hey, one good thing may come out of it. For example: once Brad forgives Toni and kicks TJ out, his mom may finally realize that Toni wouldn’t stand up for Brad unless she really loved him and had no intention of breaking his heart.

Breakup Imminent. Judging by all the comments it will have the desired result – boost in readership.

Oh, GREAT Job in helping with Brad lose BOTH his job AND his girl, TJ!

Whats Your next ‘Brilliant Plan’ genius? "Occupy Weenie World???

Out of curiousity, I’d like to know the character ages of the principals in this strip. It might help explain a few things…

Just wanted to point out…From Brad’s point of view Annie hasn’t done anything wrong…odd. maybe…but not flat out wrong…and for all of you that think she could have taken advantage of him…he stands up and does the right thing when it counts….like when his girl dosn’t trust him, and butts in his buisness… sorry girls…not all us guys need to be fixed ;)

hoping TJ steps up to the plate for once!!! He holds the cards that could make this whole situation a win-win one!

What no one seems to be mentioning is the fact that brad specifically asked Toni to not confront Eiffel, and she didn’t respect his wishes. Granted, Brad has only part of the story currently, but I think it’s healthy that he is comfortable enough with his relationship with Toni to show his frustration and not be consumed with worry that his “dream” girl has to be treated like queen constantly. Is he handling the situation ideally? Of course not. But I think his ability to stand up for himself to Toni speaks volumes about how much he’s grown since they first started dating. I’m confident they will work it out. He’ll gain an appreciation for Toni wanting to see Eifflel’s abuse end, and Toni will see that Brad can take care of himself and is not really under Eiffel’s thumb. Plus … perhaps he needs the job to pay for an engagement ring?! ;)

Toni, however, had her own isues with Ann – and Brad should realize that he (and his dry-cleaning fetching job) doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Sorry, but asking Toni to suffer in silence was the wrong “choice” – Toni did disagree with how Brad was handling it, and got absolutely nowhere.

Toni went in to confront Ann on being banned, and unfortunately it escalated, because the whole situation was based on Ann’s abuse and manipulation.

And if there’s no unemployment in Pitts, you can bet there’s no welfare to “sponge” off of, either – unemployment $$ isn’t sponging, so I think you have to put that one aside.

phssstt…Brad obviously has NO self-respect. How could he KEEP a job like that and call himself a “man?” I don’t care how much he “needed” it. She did him an enormous favor.

So flag the fan fiction if you dislike it. I never went to the Pibgorn forum because it was one long fanfic site – and then it deteriorated to one teenager using it to float her “stories” but admin will notice it if you abuse the flag system. Come on, don’t be a knee jerk troll, dave.

Let’s remember the panel when we hailed Toni as a hero for telling Eiffel off. Then Brad shows up with dry-cleaned lingerie. WW is a favorite spot of their friends, and their friends have camera phones. Won’t someone have taken a pic of Brad with the lingerie?

Lover’s quarrel. Actually its more than that of course. She let her personal feelings interfere in a way that affects Brad. She should not have done that, but then I can understand why she did, and how much she loves Brad, and feels terrible about this. I hope Brad is forgiving, and they come to the next level in their relationship even stronger. She can make mistakes, and he can be a true man, who loves a good woman. Isn’t that what relationships are all about? I think this is Greg’s message, which is another reason I like this strip so much.

ack! Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!! nononono! Brad, look at the intention!

It’s no wonder Brad was among the first to be laid off by the Fire Dept. He has such low self-esteem. Why would he allow himself to become an errand boy to this creature? She tells him “Jump” and he only asks: “How high?” And he’s willing to sacrfice a decent girl who loves him dearly, for a low-pay job!! He needs to show some manhood. He does not deserve Toni.

Anyone who thinks Brad needed the job to buy an engagement ring should think again. Brad’s immediate worry was to pay the rent, since unemployment doesn’t exist and Nancy freaked when she found he was laid off.

And if he were so single-minded to keep clinging to a cash source to get a rock, throwing his girl under the bus and telling her to take a load of dignity-killing abuse from an openly provocative, discriminatory and condescending boss would be a strange way of showing how much he loved her. It would, however, demonstrate how lacking in maturity he was to be her partner in life.

If Brad were trying to save for a ring, it would truly be The Gift Of The Magi in reverse – in a stupid pursuit of the one thing he didn’t have and that didn’t matter, Brad would lose something that did by taking it for granted.

Thank you, John Abrams. You said exactly what I was thinking. If all Brad wants is a low-paying dead-end job, I’m sure he could find another without too much trouble.And is it just me, or does Brad seem more upset about losing his weenie job than he did over getting laid off from the fire department?

I really like this strip but, come on, some of these story lines are so contrived. Make him grow up and be worthy of her and quit with some of the other stupidity like Luann and her fear of getting hurt when the Aussie leaves. Some days the strip is a complete waste of my time (and yet I keep coming back ;-)

looks like Brad may just dump Toni after she cost him his job…nice going Toni.

:-P I knew you were better than that, Dave! ;-D

TJ DOES look guilty. I still feel like Toni should have kept the confrontation about Anne trying to ban her from WW. She was sounding like Dirk when she was telling Ann to keep her claws off Brad. Toni could have just encouraged Brad to look for a better job that utilized his skills and training. That would have solved the Ann Eiffel problem more effectively than Toni marching into Weenie-World to yell at Anne.

Is WeenieWorld really the best Brad can find? Dudes a firefighter, there has to be something better out there. Maybe as the head of Occupy Wall Street. Now there’s a career every mother aspires for her children.

it’s more a demonstration of stupidity on brad’s part than manhood. hanging up on someone who loves you is lame and gutless. besides that he’s clueless — he did not need the job at ww, especially running errands for his boss. he should have quit as soon as she asked him to pick up her dry cleaning — that would be a show of manhood.

Irregardless of Brad and Toni, Brad has an EEOC suit to win hands down against Weenie World and Ms Eiffel.

Toni was out of line. It’s Brad’s job. How would she feel if Brad went to her supervisor and told him/her off. Not too good I’m sure.

Cut your losses Toni…men are jerks….I are one.!

What’s TJ doing with Gunther’s shirt? Yeah, I KNOW he’s wiping dishes, but it sure looked funny to me for a moment.

We all come to cross roads. What is more important money or life long true LOVE. Job you will find but true LOVE may only come once.

He may be mad for now but I am sure that things will work out for the best. This is comic strip after all ;-)

Y’ALL TAKE THIS COMIC TOOOO SERIOUSLY

LOL! Or maybe TJ’s connected to the mob and can get him one for free.

It has now officially “Hit the Fan”….

It’s obvious that the writer wishes to convey the fact that Brad is a freakin’ idiot. Here we have a fully trained fireman that get’s fired/laid off and instead of staying within his specialty he goes to work at a fast food joint making chump change. And then when he loses his job as fallout due to a horrible boss he blames the most beautiful young woman he’ll ever date in his life. Yep, Brad’s an idiot.

I think this is going to be healthy for Brad and Toni going forward. Until now, the power in this relationship has been very one-sided. Brad knows he’s lucky to be with a knock-out and he’s always been the pursuer. Now Toni knows that he’s not just her puppy dog. It will be interesting to see her pursue him.

Sheriiff Mordecai, I think your color monkey self was right on the money today. Spot on for shading as well, you did yourself proud.

Sorry, Dave, I couldn’t make it shorter! At least it isn’t fan fiction! >P

Interesting how in one moment you cite “backbone” as the admirable quality, not ‘nads, and one shouldn’t be sexist for implying only those who have ’em can stand up for themselves, then you trash Toni for sticking up for HERself and refusing to be run over by Ann! Wow!

Check the first panel – Toni DID start out teling Ann she had no right to treat HER that way. What that initial impulse morphed into is something else, but SHE was the one who didn’t want to be pushed around. Backbone, right? She had to display it, on her own, because Brad sure as hell didn’t use his to stand up for her.

You can’t have it both ways – you state standing up for yourself is admirable but in the next minute there’s a Depression on and we should take whatever crappy job we can get, no matter how abusive, underhanded and irrational the boss.

Which is it?

Something just occured to me. All along we have been hoping that Brad would give up this weenie job and look for another firefighter job. Maybe he doesn’t aspire any higher than a weenie job. He only went forward with the firefighter training because he was after Toni. After he lost his firefighter job, he made sure that Toni would still love him no matter how low he set his own bar. As long as he had Toni, he didn’t care what he did for a living. He just has very low career asperations and he measures success differently than most of us would. For Brad, a job – any job – is all you need.

Behind every sucessful man there is a woman pushing him every step of the way. Toni has to start pushing Brad – right after she gets him to forgive her. If Brad has any libedo at all, that shouldn’t be too hard.

@flashman, @Kirk Sinclair, Got to give you big-time props for the Lichtenstein name-check.

T.J. is— and always has been— a total weasel. Is Greg Evans EVER going to deliver T.J. his come-uppance?

Brad’s a truly decent guy and deserves a better friend than T.J…. and it’s annoying to see T.J. repeat his schtick without any consequences.

T.J always “means well”, yet his actions typically have inconvenient consequences for OTHERS, not himself. A stand up guy would’ve figured this out by now, and changed his ways.

My biggest problem with this arc is simple: Why wasn’t Brad eligible for some form of unemployment when he was laid off the fire dept. In short, he didn’t NEED this job.

The Eiffel character was just unrealistic… expecting him to commit to a fast food joint with the same level of enthusiasm as he did with the fire dept. I find that to be either very unrealistic or she is an absolute control freak… And perhaps why she is working in a fast food joint.

Oh, and Brad better grow some stones and open his eyes or life is going to steam roll him… he is so damned dense.

@Night-Gaunt49.Agreed! I suspect those who think it’s easy to get a minimum wage job these days haven’t had to look recently. It was very important to Brad that he had a job and could support himself. Now Toni has gone behind his back to “rescue” him after having been asked to please not do so. In addition, he probably walked into the house ten minutes ago to tell TJ he’s been fired. Of course he’s still angry! Another point—Ann probably hired him in the first place because he was vulnerable. She knew he had been a firefighter and that no municipality anywhere nearby (remember city budgets are being slashed everywhere). If he was applying for this job he was desperate—and ripe for manipulation. This is Ann’s pattern—remember in the bookstore she was dealing with a 16 year old and a handicapped person—Bernice and Zane also seemed like perfect victims.

If this was the case he could have told the boss that her requests, policies etc were against the law. Nuf said…His ands only work around the people who love him.

Gee Dave Im sorry yours is the only opinion that matters. This is a forum you know.

No woman has wanted to talk to me after being a jerk like that.

Dumb Brad.

So Ann is wrong, Brad is wrong, Toni is wrong, and TJ is wrong. Can anybody be right? Yeah, but not all the time. Keep in mind that there may be finger pointing in all directions – and that’s OK, because otherwise it wouldn’t be interesting OR funny. So take your shots everybody, cuz somebody is just waiting to take a shot at YOU. Don’t believe me, just ask candidate Cain..Go ahead – take your best shot at me mojitobaby. My attorneys can stall til doomsday.

Brad you where selling your soul to the devil for a lousy $7.00 buck an hour job – let’s see ah yes 280 bucks a week BEFORE taxes. You have got to be kidding me. Grow a pair Brad, real fast, BEFORE you lose Toni.

“He was trying to ‘fight’ his own battles, Now he probably really feels emasculated…it’s one thing to have someone’s back, it’s another to always take over , implying that they are INCAPABLE. THat is condescnding and insulting, even if not intended as such”.

Brad wasn’t trying to “fight” for a damn thing other than the rent.

Brad had plenty of chances to “deal” with Ann, from the time he rolled over as her flunky and told Toni to leave WW. From the start he declared he could “manage” things, but getting to use the drive thru mic and fetching Ann’s dry-cleaning add up to “managing” precisely dick.

Like Bernice, he was beginnning to succumb more and more. Ann’s demands were designed to get him to abandon everything outside of her sphere of influence, to isolate him so she was the most important thing in his life. She demanded he give up his plans to return to the FD, and to keep Toni and TJ away from WW.

“Outside” allegiances like family and friends are the first thing abusers get rid of or discredit because they can see the influence an abuser is attempting to exert on the “victim”. Bernice warned him, TJ and Toni warned him. It did no good.

Even the most clueless moron should have realized Ann’s demanding his “personal” loyalty rather than wanting him to work hard at WW wasn’t right – so if Brad’s feeling “emasculated” then he should look to the woman who made him fetch her dry cleaning, rather than the loyal “friend” he threw under the bus.

Toni was left to cope on her own – and Brad should blame himself if his “management” backfired. He not only appeared incapable, he WAS incapable, and Toni saw not only her rights being abused, she saw her relationship being threatened.

Should she had shrugged and let it go?

She didn’t “always take over” – she gave Brad opportunites, and he came up short. How long should she continued being abused to preserve his tenuous illusion of control?

TJ, you really screwed up here. When Brad finds out you were behind Toni’s scheme, it’s gonna get ugly…

I’ve seen the damage to a person when the one they love does not stand up (to support them) when they are subjected to abuse. It’s not pretty. I’n not sure what the ultimate goal of this plotline is, but seeing Brad taking abuse at WW and telling his SO to suck it up is pretty vile. Makes me want to slap Brad (or his real-life alter ego) on the back of the head to see if any of those unused brain cells can be stimulated back to life.

oy

I have to wonder about all the people who keep insisting Brad so desperately wanted to keep his job so he could buy Toni a ring. Yor’re kidding, right? He makes enough money at WW to pay rent, utilities, car and maybe medical insurance, buy gas, food, and he still has enough money to put aside for an engagement/wedding ring?

If that’s the case, I WANT TO WORK AT WEENIE WORLD!

As far as Ann is concerned, well, a little arsenic in the morning latte—-one way to handle an abusive boss. :D :P ;)

I didn’t miss anything, especially Brad’s asserting himself by telling Toni she should let herself be abused to placate his abusive boss so that he could benefit by keeping his busy dry-cleaning fetching job. Whatta guy.

“Brad said not to”? “Backbone in that area isn’t an admirable quality”?

What the what, now? Which is it? Where’s Brad’s big bad assertiveness in his workplace when his boss tells him to carry out an illegal order? At what point do youknuckle under and keep following orders that aren’t right – just to keep a crummy job?

Brad didn’t seem to have a problem doing the right thing when Dirk violated the restraining order and Toni begged him not to report him – because he knew letting Dirk get away with it would encourage him and would only lead to worse things.

You can control your own actions, and your boss can somewhat control yours, but for you to pretend that it’s normal or “reasonable” for either Brad – or Ann – to try to keep anyone from entering a restaurant that they’re legally entitled to patronize is the big problem right there.

If you were stopped at the door of any place you enjoy eating at and told you couldn’t eat there any more because a friend of yours had just been hired, would you really meekly turn around and go home and eat a TV dinner instead because “starting fights isn’t a good quality”?

Not all confrontation is bad – did it never occur to you that the one reason Ann’s still in a position to abuse people is that no one’s ever confronted her harassing ass – and the company that hired her – outright?

Would Toni ever have left Dirk if Brad hadn’t pressed charges and then followed through, or would she still be in an abusive relationship, making excuses for Dirk and defending all his actions?

Damn good questions. If Brad were the only one being abused, and Toni saw it and objected on his behalf, and told him it was wrong, and he told her not to make waves because he wanted the job, then yes – she should respect his decision.

But this whole mess wasn’t just restricted to Brad alone. Ann’s initial banning of Toni, and her trying to deny her service or otherwise discriminate because she’s Brad’s SO, impacted directly on her, so does Brad even have the right to ask her to roll over and respect his decision? It seems to me Brad takes an awful lot for granted.

Zane dropped a dime on Ann’s abusive behavior at Borderline – If Ann fired Bernice in retaliation, would Bernice have been justified in blaming Zane if she lost her job?

Unfortunately, anything Toni did was going to slop over into Brad, but is that Toni’s “fault” – or abusive Ann’s?

Ann has been systematically isolating Brad from his identity as a firefighter, keeping Toni away from the restaurant, and doing everything that classic manipulators do – shifting their target’s interests and loyalty from others to them alone, making them dependent on them, and making them complicit in overriding any objections from their friends and family. At what point, if you’re in a relationship with someone, or you’re a family member, do you do something about that?

Ann fired Brad because she saw she wouldn’t be able to control him with Toni in the picture. So did Toni go too far to save their relationship by warning Ann to back off, even though it might not have been what Brad wanted?

At what point should Brad have realized that his “personal loyalty” and “devotion” should be to Toni, and that Ann had no right to demand it in the first place?

I’ll bet that all of the people who say that Brad did not need this job, have jobs themselves, and good paying ones at that. He may be trained and certified as a firefighter, but there’s no position for him as a firefighter, so he HAS to, he MUST take whatever he can find.

“Walk a mile in my shoes.” Ever hear that one? Listen to it and learn from it.

@mojitobabySo I assume that you have no self-respect and allow people to walk all over you? We live in a dangerous society where few can be trusted. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

Shouldn’t have to take up a foreign language. Let the foreigners who come here speak English.

Kinda sounds like it.

EXACTLY. Brad, all of a sudden you need to upgrade.