Arlo and Janis by Jimmy Johnson for January 10, 2014

Because, he’s too bored.

exhausted from working

Not bored, bone tired.

Honeymoon’s over.

it’s about 8 hours of shut-eye!

In today’s episode:

Like Father, Like SonorThe Nut Doesn’t Fall Far from the Tree

This is love. To please her and to be the husband he thinks she wants, he has driven himself to exhaustion. Now it’s time for her to return that love.

Her returning that love won’t change anything. Gene is working the equivalent at two jobs (or more) and suddenly realized that they are not “getting ahead”. That’s because it’s impossible today to “get ahead”. Every parent who has children Gene’s age sees how tired and discouraged they are. This is a phenomenon that started in about 1980.

She’s more up front than Janis.

Um, Scully, this is a comic strip, albeit one of the best. It’s not real life. Somehow I don’t think Mr. Johnson is making a statement about a faltering economy.

I feel you Scully. You took the words right out of my mouth.

So Mr. Skip, what do you think Gene and Mary Lou should do? Also, it started much earlier; I think Lincoln was President at the time.

“You have no flaws or faults, Mary Lou, and I love you with all my heart and hopes. I am simply tired and sleepy. Please bear with me.”

I read them too.

BTW Mary Lou looks good, all growed up and ever’ thang

Agendas come pouring out in posts everyday with this strip. The man is simply tired. Nothing more, nothing less.

He’s got that ‘listenin’ thing down…

If someone says, “I decided to be a waiter (or a cook) but why am I not rich?” the answer is, “Because THE MAN is oppressing you.”

Scully may have overstepped in saying it is impossible to get ahead these days, but he is correct that it has gotten more difficult- the generations coming of age after 1980 are not attaining the same levels of income (adjusted for inflation) or the same standard of living (despite two incomes having become the norm, rather than one) as did their parents. High housing costs (again, adjusted for inflation), high costs for post secondary, and decreasing opportunities for advancement in the workplace are typifying the experience of Gen X and millenials – more education and experience is expected for the same sorts of work as was the case in the past, and as a whole, these generations are experiencing downward mobility. This is what it means when economists talk about the middle class being decimated – hard work is no longer necessarily enough to attain a middle class life. Opportunity still exists, but the prospects for success have shrunk.

The value of any thing, every thing including labor depends on how rare it is. If you want more than a Minimum Wage you need through education or experience or just plain smarts to offer something someone is willing to pay more than minimum wage for.

I don’t begrudge Bill Gates or Steve Jobs their billions, they put on my desk and in my pocket for less than $1,000 a computer that is more powerful and useful than the computer (IBM 360) my university paid a few million for in 1972.

Try 1870s, when the Civil War profiteers took over the country and substituted capitalism for free enterprise.

Lots of doom and gloom here today. Funny, that doesn’t reflect my experience at all. I left home for college in 84 and have done as well or better than my folks, and they did all right as well. My kids are mostly on track to do well also, and none of us are “1% ers.” I know a lot of you will dismiss this as an anecdote, but that’s the reality I see. having lived in several other countries over the years, I’ll take this one, thanks!

Of course people can get ahead today. But many people go into debt buying a bigger house and car than they need, expensive electronics they could do without and a $4 cup of coffee every day. If people can afford the latest smart phone, a big screen TV and Starbucks everyday, they are not poor.

Lots of entitlement mentality here today…..quote: “for every winner there has to be a loser, and usually many more losers than winners.”Bull. People today are simply taking their retirement now,by buying toys for themselves instead of saving for the future….and by totally ignoring education whenthey are in school.

Easy….exhaustion.

Gene just can’t keep up….

Maybe Gene’s just trying to say that killing themselves so they can have a bunch of “stuff” just seems like a losing proposition.That’s why some of us who grew up “well off” have chosen to live a “lower-key” life in order to have more time with family and/or a job that we enjoy.Sadly, some are not able to make those choices, circumstances require them to work jobs they hate for far too many hours just to nearly make ends meet. If we have no sympathy and call them “free-loaders”, “lazy”, or “entitled” we are less human for being less humane.

Please remember, Gene got a college degree (two or three years ago) and if he wished, he might go for a more rewarding career than restaurant work.

Most of the comments about the state of the world just show that they think that they’re profound.If my recollection is right, A & J’s jobs have never come up as a subject of the strip which as just about the two of them. So now, with their kid, JJ is going in the opposite direction. Strange, to say the least. Sure hope that JJ isn’t loosing his marbles.

I feel certain they’d love to welcome you.

Jimmy is so talented..he can make me laugh…and teach me something. Plus all of your comments are helpful. It’s sharing an important topic but taking all the demogury of the Reps and Dems out.