Comments (24) (Please sign in to comment)

1. 

   pouncingtiger said, 11 months ago

   A sucker and his money are soon parted.
2. 

   howtheduck said, 11 months ago

   “You probably learned a lesson”? Is it a lesson on how to avoid con men? Or is it a lesson that you shouldn’t spend your money? I am a little confused on the message Elly is sending here.
3. 

   gmartin997 said, 11 months ago

   One of my mom’s favorite sayings.
4. 

   baarbear said, 11 months ago

   It was a lesson on how you shouldn’t trust people so easily. Also, it was a lesson on “A deal’s a deal”.
5. 

   Thirdguy said, 11 months ago

   @howtheduck

   Some day, you’ll be old enough to understand.
6. 

   Paula R. Stiles said, 11 months ago

   There’s probably more than one lesson here, but I’d say the main one is, “Just because you got your money’s worth, doesn’t mean it was worth your money.” Mike can spend the summer blowing his earnings on renting Gordon’s skates, or he can show a little patience and save up for his own.
7. 

   Allan said, 11 months ago

   @Thirdguy

   I was gonna say that. LOL
8. 

   SUSAN NEWMAN said, 11 months ago

   I’m really impressed that Elly didn’t blow a gasket.
9. 

   hcr1985 said, 11 months ago

   I love Lizzie’s observation in the last panel….
10. 

    John Smith said, 11 months ago

    @Paula R. Stiles

    at that age, he will outgrow them every year.
11. 

    Night-Gaunt49 said, 11 months ago

    Lynn’s Notes:
    Here, Michael decides to come clean about the money he’s lost and Elly treats the whole situation like the lesson that it is. I got letters. Folks complained that I had made Gordon look like a thief, that he wasn’t “that kind of kid!” They thought Elly should have gone to Gordon’s parents and complained. They didn’t know that Gordon’s dad was at the pub and not likely to be home before dinnertime. They didn’t know that his mom worked two jobs to make sure that the bills and the debts were paid on time. Behind every character was another story altogether — a story I had no time to tell!

    
    

    Michael made a bad decision but he did stop. He should have demanded to see the time. However he only lost $4 and he wanted to use the skates really badly. He could have waited and bought his own. Caveat emptor
12. 

    Elderflower said, 11 months ago

    @howtheduck

    Michael spent the money and now he regrets it. I would tend to think the lesson here is to think things through before spending the money. And then there’s the idea of saving for your dream rather than fritter the money on a moment of pleasure.
13. 

    howtheduck said, 11 months ago

    @Elderflower

    Michael spent the money and now he regrets it.
    -
    I didn’t see this in the comic strip. What I saw was that Michael spent the money and then he was afraid of Elly’s reaction. It seems like his regret is his fear that he will make his mother mad.
    -
    I would tend to think the lesson here is to think things through before spending the money. And then there’s the idea of saving for your dream rather than fritter the money on a moment of pleasure.
    -
    I am not so sure Michael’s dream and the moment of pleasure were not the same thing. I know parents whose kids say something like, “I want to have a drum set.” Then the parents buy him a drum set he plays a few times and gets tired of and never plays again. For those kids, it might have been better just to let them try out playing a set of drums. If Michael just wanted to try skating, $4 to use Gordon’s skates is far more economical than to spend $50 on a pair of skates he may use occasionally and will grow out of in a few years.
14. 

    The Mom said, 11 months ago

    @Night-Gaunt49

    Thank you for posting Lynn’s Notes. I was just about to do the same thing but spotted your post first. I usually check out what she has to say about a strip, especially if it is creating a stir in the comments here.
15. 

    iced tea said, 11 months ago

    Elly has a good sense of child psychology in her head!
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