For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for September 17, 2022

And now for the first appearance of Wesley D. Bates. Welcome to the comic strip, Wesley!!

Are these kids learning anything when they’re in school?

That high school is a microcosm of both the US and Canada; the “sheepies” need a dictator telling them what to think!!

Apparently, they haven’t done their job in teaching kids to make their own decisions (without becoming outcasts from the “in” group).

Prime example of group think.

young sheeple in training

Before you give someone a piece of your mind, you better make sure you can get along with what you’ve got left!

It’s always a danger when you have to ask someone else what you are supposed to think.

Soooo,do kids in Canada pay their own school bus fares?

Lynn’s Comments:

This story is an embarrassing piece of personal history. I was in junior high school when they decided to raise the bus fares. One of the students was a real activist and she organized a rally to protest.

When I was in eighth grade (1971) the dress code at my northeast Indiana, white-only public junior high said girls must wear skirts. My girlfriends and I “organized” and wore pants/jeans on the last day of the school year. Nothing was said at school (at least within our hearing) by the teachers. They were probably just counting the hours, too tired to send us to the principle’s office. When my parents received my report card via US mail, I had been given a “D” in conduct. No punishment from parents. Protests were common those days. I continue to protest when I feel things are not fair/right.

Since when do school buses charge fees?

Go ahead, protest! Threaten to not ride the bus. That will show them. Threaten to have all the busses empty and see how the drivers react. Party starts in 3… 2… 1…

Instead of riding the bus I hitchhiked, but I guess you can’t do that anymore

Spent my 7th thru 9th grades living in Roanoke VA. You paid a dime to take a public bus (no school bus) to school. School system had a deal with the public transit company.

Hey, they’re starting a “Protest Club”! Cool. Can I join. I have a few thoughts about Medicare.

Oh, no… more indoctrinated socialist kids….. Group Think in play. My answer is: “No, the question is what do each of you think of this idea?”

Yo?

Wes: “What do I think? I think we need a colorist who’ll stop making us look gray!” d;o)

They had better do some good thinking – - – -

Future strip:

John: “Due to the protests, your public school has shut down for good.”

Michael: “YAY!”

John: “I found you another place to tend to your education. I have enrolled you at the Robert E. Lee Military Academy.”

Michael makes signature “fourth panel bug eyes”

Michael does not have the most stellar record on activism. He was the one who demanded Lawrence come out to his parents, over the objections of Lawrence who wanted to see how his family felt about homosexuality before he did anything. However, Michael knew best for Lawrence even better than Lawrence knew Lawrence. We all remember how that turned out. Will Michael be 0 and 2?

We never had to pay directly for bus fare – when the kids were young, they rode the yellow school bus (paid for with our property taxes), and in high school they were given a monthly bus pass (also paid for with our property taxes) – but the bus passes were good for any bus ride, not just to and from school.

Yeah Wes, what do you think?

It’s not just kids that do this…

When I was younger, a parent drove us to school, or we lived close enough to walk. One year in 7th grade, we had to take the city bus, because we went to a Catholic school, which was private, so the school district didn’t provide transportation. It was quite inexpensive for students, so it wasn’t a problem. (It was also inexpensive when I was in college).

They’ll be picketing instead of studying, I bet.

It’s time for “follow t he leader”.But does the leader deserve to be followed?

As you read this storyline in the coming weeks, keep in mind that bus fares are a serious expense for people who rely on them to get to work every day, and that the Toronto police have arrested tens of thousands of people for fare evasion, putting them into a surveillance database that may violate their civil rights. Lynn would like you to believe that things are always more complicated than they seem, but sometimes, they aren’t.