That is Priceless by Steve Melcher for July 19, 2022

Eloise knew Frank wasn’t married or had a girlfriend, so why wasn’t he paying any attention to her?

the only figures Doyle noticed were the monthly sales figures…

“If you want us to do it on your desk again, you’re going to need a bigger desk.”

You want to go get some coffee? I know an all-night joint down on the corner

In 1940, this was every red-blooded American boy’s dream of what being a grown up was like: A private office with a shapely secretary.

How can she walk in that skirt? It looks like it’s designed to hobble your stride to 6 inches or less.

Then Effie said “Look at me, Sam. You worry me. You always think you know what you’re doing, but you’re too slick for your own good. Some day you’re going to find it out.”

“I wonder if I should tell him that while he’s cheating on his wife with me, I’m cheating on him with his wife.”

/// They work late in The Office at Night,

and her dress is exceedingly tight.

She stares down at her boss,

(both gauge profit and loss),

thinking, “Now! I won’t put up a fight.”

Darn. I’ve been shuffling in this drawer so long I’ve given myself a wedgie.

That dress is so tight it looks like it was painted on her. No, wait…

In case you were wondering, Spandex/Lycra/elasthane was invented in ’58.

“You know, Helen, this isn’t a corner office, but I’m much more comfortable in this office than the one I had last week.”

As far as secretaries went, Mildred was great. But Sam knew he was Private Dick and any moment now some blonde bimbo with legs that could scale the Chrysler building was going to walk in and change his life. He also knew she’d be nothing but trouble and he’d be lying on his back in no time begging her to rub his belly……he could hardly wait.

Hopper paintings make me feel sad and uneasy for some reason….

Mr. Tudball and Mrs. Wiggins – The Early Days. . .

Edward Hopper has to be one of the best 20th century American painters. You can also immediately recognize a Hopper painting. Subjects like this only help.

While lesser men only could stare/

At her prominent derriere/

Mr. Phartsnapp (or “Fred”)/

Would just stare straight ahead./

Thus avoiding an office affair///

To his job and his wife devoted/

Mr. Phartsnapp was often promoted/

Now the company’s his/

While, regrettably, “Ms.”/

Is befuddled, bulbous, and bloated.///

Young man, take a lesson from Fred/

Be smart, and do not turn your head../

Take Phartsnapp’s advice/

Do NOT “roll those dice”/

You’ll regret it for evermore…

Back then there WERE no inappropriate comments…..

“Does that dress come in fabrics and sizes other than ‘shrink wrap’?”

June is busting out all over, but Henry never noticed.

Karl is thinking: " This B. Tite v. M. Small case is killing me! "

Effie is thinking: " These shoes and d@mn girdle are really killin’ me! "

Note her desk in the lower right. You can tell it’s hers because it has the typewriter. (It is 1940, but that kind of stereotyping continued into the 1970’s.)

Sometimes it feels like my office is an illustration from a Dashiell Hammett novel.

Nothing causes trouble like a butt that’s like a bubble in the mor-or-ornin’,,,

I must admit Miss Adams you look great coming and going!

we seem to be getting a lot of Hopper lately… which is okay.

Yeah, she was once a model in a Robert Palmer video. She was simply irresistible.

“Sir? Please help; my arm’s wedged in this filing cabinet. Sir?!”

What renders his work indefensible/

To the modern, artistically “sensible”/

I.E. to the critic/

Whose tongue is acidic/

Is his works are so “d@&ned”* comprehensible !

*darned, danged, dashed, derned, etc., etc. Happy, Censor?

Not that it’s going to get you into any trouble.

You show it off, and I’m going to admire it. That’s why you wore it, right?

Spandex: For when you want to advertise.

As I once heard a male employee observe to a flagrantly flaunting female fellow employee, “why advertise what ain’t for sale ?”

I just realized – they’re both zombies! Either that, or those florescent lights are giving them a really bad complexion.

Sir, what comes after the letter “B”?

That office is as bleak and depressing as a Hopper cafe.

Office at Night: 

Paste (including the quote marks) 

"File:Office-at-night-edward-hopper-1940.jpg" site=https://commons.wikimedia.org 

(syntax supported by the Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo, Ecosia, and Yandex search engines) in the browser address bar (or search for it using one of those search engines) and choose the first File: found, and click its link for info and links that point to more info about this roughly jumbo envelope size painting.

Again, a larger strip image is shown by (Ctrl- or right-) clicking the image in Mr. Melcher’s MASTERPIECE #2962 (July 19, 2022) blog entry, accessible by the Check out the blog! box after the last comment, and using the dropdown menu (even larger if you trim what’s after .png from the URL). I have added a comment there pointing to the blog entry with info about this artist I used to point to here. So far, 4 of his works have been used here. The July 15, 2022, strip has the prior.

“Oh dear, that lunch time burrito just slipped out.”

And that was just in her first week of work at the new job….

This painting is quite good, in my opinion. It is sad and depressing, and isolating. It feels somehow static and dynamic at the same time. A slightly skewed and forced perspective. It’s bordering on a morbid inaction, and yet, there is a dynamic quality that moves in through the open window, across his desk and out the open office door. Such a quiet painting that says so much.

“Granted, quoting Shakespeare’s “There’s a divinity that shapes our ends” was rather witty, but still!"

even so that he was gay, a nice rear is a joy for everyone. and she sure had a dussey

Oh Mr. Phartsnapp! Did you place that mirror on the floor just for me? You shouldn’t have!

I beg to differ Penny. It says right here in the roommate agreement section 4 paragraph 7 that all of my comments about you are not inappropriate!

If you wear a dress that look’s like it was designed by Sherman Williams (i.e. painted on), then expect the appropriate comments.

to be fair, that is a nice a$$.

The blue material hides the bruises, but nothing can hide the swelling!