Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for October 18, 2015

This memo was found across the desk in the recruiting section at the Phoenix Foundation:

“You can cease all surveilance activities at the DeGroot House. Due to yesterday’s briefing about the incident with the hair dryer, we are deciding to go in a different direction.

Perhaps try the Berger household, down the street.

Or better yet, the white house with the grey awnings. Some kid named Knute. Seems like a promising lead…..”

Well it’s Sunday, we have to get through it!.I give only 1 in 4 odds that the Bernice thing will continue on Monday..That means I think it possible. .But don’t expect it.

Well, I’ll give Luann an E for her effort.

Bernice has often noted the danger of her tendency to conformity.

“Avant Unguarded”“Neccessity’s Rebellious Daughter”“Tools Of The Traded”“MacWhy?ver”“Unfinished Novel Thinking”“Innova-Shun”“Hardly Yardwork”“Home Field Disadvantage”“Making A Mountain Out Of A Molehill..With A Toothbrush”“Defeats The Purpose…Then Wakes It Up And Defeats It, Again…”“Unorthodoxymoron”“Scotland Yardwork”“Detri-mental Exercise”“A ‘Honey, Don’t!’ List”or“Turning Over A New Leaf..And Another…And Another..”

Bernice has often noted the danger of her tendency to conformity.

So she may do something WILD yet.

If her hair dryer has enough energy to blow leaves, it would tear the hair right off her head…

The rake would be better exercise.

Boy, is today’s strip timely! Over where I’m at, the leaves had started to turn color already, just a couple of weeks ago…

One side of my tree has turned into fall colors…the other side hasn’t yet

Doesn’t Luann’s hair look a different color in the first panel than in the third?

Don’t forget the “salad fork” to rake them, once you’re done…

Personally, I think the guy who invented the leaf blower should be required to listen to one without ear plugs for the rest of his life. The workers who use them get to wear ear protection, but those of us who have to walk past them, or work in buildings where they are being used don’t have that luxury. It’s great trying to answer a customer’s phone question with a leaf blower operating nearby.

And the odor of the fuel is really great, too.

On top of all that, it doesn’t solve the problem of the leaves. It just moves them from the parking lot or walkway into a nearby storm sewer, meaning that inevitably they will be tracked right back where they came from. Or, if storm runoff carries them along, they will block up the storm drains and streets will flood. A real great way to solve a problem that could much more easily be handled with a rake and the sale of bagged leaves for use as mulch….

If it is set on cool, then all is cool. But if on a heat setting, then she’s wasting energy, as you don’t need warm leaves.

good idea Luann, but we just mulch our leaves, yard looks nice and the lawn gets protection from the cold plus turns into natural fertilizer.

Mow, don’t blow. A mulching blade on the power mower will chop the leaves up and return them to the soil. Less work than raking, and beneficial for the yard. I started doing that back in the 80’s.

If you want to keep that figure, Luann, use the RAKE! You won’t be 17 forever!

why does one need to clear the leaves from the sidewalk, or the backyard?

Sheriff has said that Greg does the Sunday colors.

That’s even more work.

WAIT a Sec. "WE Don’t NEED anymore Things? “WE have Enough Stuff?” REALLY, Frank???

That’s RICH coming from YOU, the Guy that Just THREW Away the DeGroot family Life-Savings on some IDIOTIC Bristo/Art Gallery/Night Club located in a “War Zone”. And Who did so in partnership with a Known CON ARTIST!

What’s Your NEXT “Resonable Request” Frank? Having Lu, Re Tar the Building’s Roof with a Toothbrush???

What about this obvious humorous reference to a young person’s attempt to avoid doing something boring and time-consuming is “stupid.” You must never have had teen-agers, or forgot what it was like being one yourself. Trust me, there are a lot more “stupid” things that teenagers do in the real world, than this innocent thing that Luann is doing in Luannverse.

Especially a tool that sits in the garage 11 months out of 12.

Leaf blowers are wrong. The neighbors don’t need the noise.

Looks more like the front yard in the last panel

Years ago in our Overland Park, KS, community, we lived in a forest of oak trees. A next door neighbor used a leaf blower to give us all his leaves. Then wind quickly blew them back to his yard along with ours. This happenedso frequently, the neighbor thought I did it on purpose.

There is not enough leaves there to worry about! I don’t rake leaves any more as there is no way to get rid of them unless you pay extra to have them hauled away. I just mulch them with the riding mower!

“Deadly dull and it takes forever”. The same thing could be said about blow drying hair.

On my side, it’s a million degrees!!!!

And where are you blowing those leaves?? Street, neighbors yards? Why do we perpetuate this crap about blowing leaves? Leaf blowers should be banned! They add nothing useful to this planet. Geeze!!! MULCH people, mulch them up! You don’t need anything you don’t already have. Your mower needs the bag attachment removed, put the mulcher adapter in it’s place. Mulch everything! I’ve been doing it over 20 years now, same lawn, same yard. No $$ spent on fertilizer for over 20 years people!!! You are wasting time and money, just mulch them in, they disappear. They don’t annoy your neighbors, they don’t blow around in the street, they don’t have to be bagged, just mulch them up!

Why are we talking about a hairdryer?

Bonus: Only one comment, for two days!*Yesterday— what’s with this awkwardness thing between hot-blooded young adults? First Tiff & G-man afraid to touch, now Bern & Piro. First time I’ve ever cheered on the hormones!*Today — it’s a bummer to be slow. Only after reading all the perceptive comments on the first page did I realize the dryer in Panel 1 was the leaf blower in Panel 2. Thank you, to all of you who are more observant & willing to educate!

That looks like the front yard to me. How many back yards have a sidewalk up the middle?

Leaf blowers are okay IF you pick up all the leaves that you blow into a pile. Blowing them into the neighbor’s yard or into the gutters is not nice.

Good way to kill the hair dryer, Luann. And then what will you use for THAT?

The trials of becoming a young adult!

Yo, ho, blow the leaves down to the neighbors.

The backs of most hairdryers are hazards, they suck your hair in and tangle it around the machinery and the only way to get free is to cut the hair off. Me: long hair, not pulled back, defrosting a freezer. And then I had a chunk of hair near my face gone, almost to the scalp. It’s been two years and I’m still waiting for it to finish growing out. Don’t DO it!

Pretty sad effort there…..not even remotely funny

This does nothing to increase my confidence in Luann. It is not a prudent use of existing resources….

Ha ha, Dryer!

It was meant for "Sunday ‘Fishing’ ", hoping to “catch ’em early”…

Please do not insult me, thank you.

^Umm… that was not an insult. Where is there any injury in talking about fishing? Or in “hoping to catch ’em early?”

yeah Jay, that’s Gary’s job!^Ha ha ha!!!!

@PrincessWarrior, bright florescent lights in bathroom, evening/sunset light outside…

And while we’re on the subject, who is the one insinuating Luann is stupid? Hmmm?

Implausible said, about 2 hours ago:

I don’t think it was supposed to be funny, just more character background. In today’s comic we learn just how stupid Luann is…^Please do not insult the main character. Thank you.

Yeah, ohhhhkay… it’s okay for you to use the word stupid for someone (real or fictional) and is licensed (by you) as “just an opinion”, but no one else can… “offer their opinion”… on what’s going on (in the strip or otherwise)…

Yeaaaahhh… after you just accused me of insulting you (which I didn’t )… I gave my “opinion” and, as you said, I too, won’t be.. “bullied” into not doing so…

The last thing I want to do is get in the middle of this, but I need to draw your attention to something you are doing. You have no way of knowing how many of us out here happen to have relatives who are developmentally disabled (are on the autism spectrum, or have other disabilities), or who might be dealing with serious mental illness. All too often, people with these serious issues are called ‘stupid’ by those who just don’t understand. This is extremely hurtful to anyone dealing with this problem.

The phrase ‘get them the help they need’ is a phrase most often used to describe the training, counseling or other intervention needed (and often not affordable) to many families in this nation.

Here in Florida, there are over 20,000 children on waiting lists to get help with developmental disabilities, because their parents earn just a little bit too much for them to be eligible for Medicaid.

I have a cousin in another state who is in poor health himself, and now struggling with what to do about his younger brother who had been born with autism spectrum. When their mother was alive, the younger brother stayed with her. Now, the older brother (in poor health) is ‘looking for the help’.

Please think carefully about what you’re saying. If you’re suggesting that Luann is ‘stupid’, as in ‘someone with a low Intelligent Quotient’, that’s one thing. But when you use the phrase ‘get her the help she needs’, you are using the phrase most often associated with those who have developmental disabilities or mental illnesses. Those conditions may be caused by many things (inherited characteristics, environmental pollutants, and some have even suggested that vaccinations contribute, although the doctor who said that was discredited long ago.)

One thing that does not explain developmental disability or mental illness, though is this: stupidity.

Kudos for original thinking, right?

SPOILER ALERT

Yep, homeless guy. And clumsy talk from a supposedly smart girl…

If I used a hair dryer to try to blow the leaves, it would take infinitely longer, and my back would hurt much worse, than if I just raked them.

Fortunately, I actually DO own a leaf blower.

From most of the comments above, I can only say Geeeeesh!“Luann” is only a simple comic strip, meant for a chuckle or two, to lighten our day! Why does Luann’s typical “Luann” response bring out accusations, hurt feelings and debate? Why pick on the cartoonists for a different shade of color, or question his/her use of the hair dryer, or whether it’s in the front or back yard? Or how one can get sued for not raking the leaves?Have a nice day, all!!

You’re right, thanks! The only reason I even bothered, was from trying to keep the other person from getting “wound up” in an argument, but I guess they’d learn, as we all do… I will just “live and let live”, next time…

Have to agree MangeyMoose, It’s a COMIC strip folks, have a laugh and get over yourselves. It’s intended to give a chuckle and it did. Lighten up for heaven’s sake. The amusing part about this strip is that I work with people that actually think this would work.

NOISE! Surely “they” can make a silent leaf-blower? I’ve written a quartet for flute, violin, and 2 leaf-blowers. It;s for deaf people.

Just tell her that raking builds amazing upper arms and pecs…