Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for May 04, 2016

Good. You tell your uncle. With his connections, you’ll be at the bottom of the river soon.

Les must think he’s going to be working with idiots.

One look at Ox, and those tacky uniforms, and he’s gone.

It takes a lot to surprise a guy like TJ, but Les managed. Wonder if he’ll go whine to his uncle about how terribly he was treated?

Leslie took one look at Ox and said to himself, “No way!” Well, Pru will be able to say honestly that they all welcomed him. But, he said he could not be able to work there. Because of his dislike for Ox.

Les takes charge — in reverse. That at least removes the burden unless Les gives uncle an excuse which is believed.

Well one thing seems settled right away: he has demonstrably not changed.

That was easy.

As I said yesterday: I’ve worked with people like that – briefly.

Who would want to work in a place and have to wear an outfit that is a bad as Winnie World.

It’s not over. Someone, his uncle or the DeGroots, will have a heart-to-heart talk and convince him to give it another shot. He and Ox eventually become best buddies after he confesses that he became a bully because he was abused as a child. Or some such redeeming storyline.

There’s more (but I don’t know what).

Good, now you can go be a Mafia enforcer, which would be much more interesting anyway, only the Evansi won’t show it.

Nope, hasn’t changed.

I’d like a switch of scene to Quill to see how much he misses Luann and realizes how he took her for granted.

This could be like the NYC trip…………hello, Les,,,,,goodbye, Les, on to another story. Don’t I wish.

Cafe Kablooie may have dodged a bullet! Let’s hope Les’s flouncing off sticks!

He’ll be very easy to work with because he won’t be there.

Wow – if that puts him off, it kind of makes you wonder about the people he’s used to dealing with….

I didnt see this coming! Team evans has surprised us again

YAY!!! Good riddance!! Arrogant twit!

Short arc.

Apparently the moment he set eyes on Ox, he had a change of heart.

I think Roz is right. Frank and Nancy held up their part of the deal. Nobody insulted, threatened, or attacked Les, they were polite and friendly when he showed up half an hour late, and he refused to work there.

How well does Mr. Grey know his nephew? I wonder if Les has grown up (I use the term loosely) with a single mom who didn’t do a great job with him while trying to earn enough money to keep them fed, and recently married Mr. Grey’s brother whose name, not surprisingly, is also Grey.

I guess it’s kind of a grey area.

We’ll see, unless we don’t.

Looks like Ox will have to go.

It looks like he just made that decision after he was greeted by the 3 employees. Ox is the only one he knows, so Ox must be the reason Les can’t work there.

People being too positive and friendly – the horror.

Problem solved.Les/Leslie can’t work.

I guess the job of dishwasher is still open.

Good.Buh bye.

to TEMPLO:they feel the same way about him already. 1st impression. figures he must be related to hitch, he smiles like him.

Problem solved! Well that was easy.

Problem solved!

Don’t let the door hit ya where the good lord split ya!

He can’t wear a vest. He might get bullied.

He can’t work there because he remembers being “bullied” by ox.

or he will talk to his uncle and have Ox fired.

Too positive an environment for this dude. I worked with folks who couldn’t deal with the absence of stress, adversity, discontentment and unhappiness. They eventually left too. Good riddance, go find a good therapist why don’t cha!

“One always picks the easy fights…”

Hey, remember that scene from the Godfather Part II where this Guy from the Black Hand forces this Shop Owner to Hire his Nephew, but in order to do that the Shop Owner had to let go of young Don Corleone to make room for said nephew??

“Les” can’t work there because “Les” HATES/FEARS Oxford. So in order for “Les” to stay, Uncle Grey/Gray must get RID of Oxford.

Too BAD it couldn’t be Old Smiley…….,

Makes one wonder what would be an acceptable place to work for Les.

Totally ob-KNOX-ous

Les says “I can’t work here” what he means is “I can’t work my usually bullying tricks here”.*Time for Pru, the savant, to counsel him.

Like that tombstone in Tombstone – “No Les, no More”

Is it the vest?

Simple to see that he has a fear of red…“You have red on you”

Problem solved. A happy ending.

Ox is bully repellant.

No fun being a bully if everyone is too happy.

We really don’t know if Les has changed or not as he didn’t do anything just made a statement. His appearance hasn’t changed but that doesn’t mean he’s still a bully. We also don’t know if it’s because Ox works there. I’m suprised he even showed up to tell them he can’t work there!

That problem solved itself as easily as did the issue of TJ’s food truck!

Les can’t work with the staff, so Uncle tells DeGroots to fire the staff and hire new — subject to Les’ approval. This could turn ugly.

Problem solved.

6Hmm. Interesting. But, ambiguous at the moment.While enjoying my mid-morning “robusto” coffee and pipe, I thought I would hypothesize about how the story may proceed:1. Les is obviously uninterested in working at The Fuse, and probably is fairly uninterested in working at anything it seems.2. Uncle Mr. Gray, will, I believe round up Les and drag him in by the scruff of his neck and “guide” him to work at The Fuse.3. Leslie will be somewhat worried and/or afraid of Uncle Mr. Gray for some reason we do not yet know, and will pretend to comply with his requirement to work at The Fuse.4. As soon as Uncle Mr. Gray leaves the building, Les will first start to slough off, and proceed to do absolutely no work, and will probably sit around playing on his phone or something else equally obtuse and obnoxious.5. When TJ, Pru, and Ox become disgruntled at Leslie’s non-work “ethic”, they will confront him.6. Leslie’s bully nature will come back out in force, and Pru, TJ, and Ox will initially be flummoxed, then nervous, then determined to correct this turn of events.7. TJ will create/develop a crazy, hair-brained scheme that has the goal of showing Uncle Mr. Gray the true colors of Les while at the same time creating an avenue for Les’ departure…. but it will go horribly awry. I predict there will be, associated with TJ’s scheme, both drama/tension and comedic opportunities. *****************************Obviously, I may have to readjust or rewrite my predictions based upon what ends up transpiring tomorrow. But, my coffee is gone and my pipe has grown cold, so I guess that concludes my prognostication for this morning.

He just can’t wear an orange vest, that’s all.

Problem solved.

Ox puts Knox in a box, so he walks.

I still think Ox is a direct swipe from Moose in the old Archie Comics.

Possible reasons Les can’t work there:(1) Bad blood between Les and Ox, going back to high school(2) Les has been told Pru is gay, and Les refuses to work with gay people(3) Les immediately detests TJ on first sight (I kinda sympathize with that one!)(4) Les thinks wearing one of those K2 vests would be demeaning(5) Les got a better offer working as a thumb-breaker for Mr. Gray’s loan sharking operation

I certainly know and have known people who were jerks as kids who later got it together, either through great personal strength or because a huge stressor that most people their ages woukd not be able to handle left, had imposed external control, or was reduced in effect.

That said, i have also known people where the lessons learned on how to cope with life while not succeeding at it were handed down generation to generation, and certainly have known families in which a genetic vulnerability created difficulties.

All that said, Les’s shaking down of other students depicted yesterday in Kym’s post w panels (atop the bullying) and his snubbing quit today remind me more of people who have a combination of an unrealistic sense of entitlement, and a failure to recognize others as being humans equal to himself.

My guess is that this is going to be a character who wants power and position without first even having a basic handle on what the desired job entails, the sort of person who craves a power position without first doing the extensive homework and prep needed to do the job right. You know the type. They go into something in housing and depending on the situation they act like they are the condo owners rather than the condo owners’ paid employee, or they become a slum lord (different economic situation and more destructive but same attitude). They go into a gov’t job or civil servant job then figure the laws and Constitution do not apply to them. They make rash choices because did not bother to first learn the business from the bottom up and they figure their gut is a better source of info than informed and experienced coworkers. These are people who prefer their own power to law and to justice for others, i.e. Individuals who want to be dictators but also not take any responsibilities from their own failures. Below is an extensive chart of the differences between such people vs. more standard employees.

http://bullyonline.org/old/workbully/manage.htm

I was hoping Les would not have the potential to be this bad, but between what Kym found and his behavior today i think there is real risk here.

I think there is the possibility that he is going to tell his uncle that he should be his uncle’s assistant, then if he gets that job behind his uncle’s back he is going to cause trouble for a number of people.

On the other hand, we have the impression that uncle is now trying to find ways to help his previously estranged sister’s family. Les might be getting money from him without working. Mr. Grey might offer to no longer provide Les’s personal allowance if Les does not hold down the job. Les might have to return. Yuck!

If someone with a misplaced sense of entitlement and no background — an inexperienced outsider — winds up in a introductory job the person does not consider up to his own take on himself and his magnificent self-defined entitlement he typically begins trying to bring down the competition in any dirty way possible instead of working his way up the food chain. That can unleash complete havoc, and tends to cause widespread damage or even destruction. An excellent example is Hitler whose background was running his political party, but who had held no political position before being elected to run a nation and who had a distinct disinterest in laws, protection for the citizens, or respect for citizens and for other nations. Granted, the Fuse is much smaller game, but the example never-the-less is a well enough understood one to get the idea across.

This entitlement behavior can be learned, too. We have a friend who worked extremely successfully for a longer number of years than usual at a job that brings invitations from people living well on large Trusts who want very noticeable arm candy. A certain subset of them have a misbegotten unearned sense of personal entitlement. In that industry such people are behind their backs called Trustifarians.

I had hopes for a window that could permit change. What Kim found yesterday combined w today’s strip shows me only a window that could let in trouble. We have our villain for whom some clambered, i think.

Any place they want you to wear a uniform is probably run by jerks.^^^^^^^^^you’re kidding right? baseball etc, police, firefighters, military, hospitals, all run my jerks…interesting theory…

Greg can play this two ways…Les has not changed and he sees a group he can’t bully or Les has changed and he is initially embarrassed by the past.

-Any place they want you to wear a uniform is probably run by jerks

Any place where people where a uniform is likely to be a place where they understand what ‘customer service’ really means, like a hospital where it’s critical to know who can actually take care of someone.

Or a sports franchise, where a uninform tells viewers who the members of a team are.

Of course, there ARE people who are required to wear a uniform as a punishment (people who are convicts wear uniforms while in prison.) Maybe that’s why Les had such a bad reaction to the idea of a uniform…

Well, that problem is solved, isn’t it? No one wants to work with Leslie, and Leslie doesn’t want to work with anyone. That would be in the real world, though. This is Luann, so things will get complicated. And boring at the same time.

@maverick1usaWe really don’t know if Les has changed or not as he didn’t do anything just made a statement. His appearance hasn’t changed but that doesn’t mean he’s still a bully. We also don’t know if it’s because Ox works there. I’m suprised he even showed up to tell them he can’t work there!

- -

As in maybe he actually found a job elsewhere? If so, i think we have to wonder where as well as how it could interact w the story line because i think we will see Les again in days to weeks (months at longest in my guess).

BTW, I am not ready to assume the worst about Mr Grey because of his nephew. I just find it too hard to imagine Mrs. Berger dating a rotter. She seems to have too much sense and reasonable perception,

Oh well! You guys tried!

D’oh! Like we didn’t see that coming, lol.

Mr Grey however being very “influential”, perhaps enough for a little “attitude adjustment” on Les’s part. Will be interesting to see what pans out (p.s. not a Les fan either, will cause more grief than good).

Too cheerful? One and done!

Possibly, but Les may have decided that all three individuals are strong, and that does not work w his past approaches.

I think Les cannot work at the Fuse because they have meetings, where one must actually have the attention span and good will to listen to another’s point of view. Also no shake-down opportunity for lunch money, and Pru would never leave the till unguarded. Just not a nourishing environment for a parasite.

Sorry for distracted posting recently today. Maybe i should just read if/when time allows. Hope you can figure out my meanings.

One wonders who Leslie was bullying after school. Kids on streetcorners?

I think he took one look at a familiar face (Ox…. I believe he got nailed by Ox in high school … once… right?) and made that knee jerk decision

Did Pru mark the bottle levels before she left Luann at the bar?

My prediction yesterday:Les will get Ox fired.

Well, maybe Mr. Gray will force Les to work there, which would make Gray the bully. And if Gray acted like a bully, he would finally have a character trait. Meanwhile, Les will wear his tieless shirt buttoned to the top like no guy has done in over 20 years. (Except for Gunther, pre-stubble.)

or…… recall that Mr. Gray asked Frank and Nancy to hire Les as the favor they promised. So when Pru reports back to Frank and Nancy on Les’s behavior, they will let Pru know someone or something needs to bend over backwards to make it happen.

And I was afraid this was going to.end badly.

Perhaps Les has heard about TJ, realizes this place is actually named Kafe Kablooie (why, is TJ proud of that explosion???), and has left to preserve his life.

So, one look at Oxford, his nemesis of old, and Leslie Knox concludes that “this is a hostile work environment” and runs to complain to Uncle Gray?

And the Dragoncat Award for Best LOL goes to……Roberta Pinn! Nice one…

Pru seems good with people; she’s perceptive. Maybe Frank and Nancy will inform her of Les’s troubled past and then she will figure something out.

and since Les is based on a bully from Greg Evans’ past, lets see if he allows the character to develop past the arch-type or stays basically a villain.

Les should be thankful that at least one person was willing to call him “Les”.

He stated recently that he hates being called Leslie.

Actually, he has said that consistently since he first appeared in the strip. Why people persist in calling him by his full first name after all this time is anyone’s guess.

Maybe les has changed but he is embarassed to see people that woukd know him as his old self!

or he won’t wear a “uniform”

“Luann is not a lush.”-—————————————She’s “mature curious”.We saw what that did to Gunther .

If Ox married Les he would be Ox Knox.

Spoiler:Al lays down the law, is even handed and not a pushover.Who is Al, you ask?

Probably can’t stand the work uniform

-SPOILER ALERT

We finally learn three important facts about Mr. Gray. Only one of them is his first name! (I think I really like this guy..)

Well, I for one would like to see Leslie in my SUV’s rear-view mirror!!! But I suppose he’ll end up staying around…don’t know if that’s a good thing or not, though. =-O Brdshtt (!): I’ve finally received my new tea rose yesterday! Ordered it from Jackson&Perkins…decided to get a Double-Delight as it is my very favorite rose! I decided not to order a French Lace tea rose as I don’t want to battle black spot all summer!!! Since the Double-Delight is going where the old FL is (and I’ll have a lot of digging to do to completely get rid of the soil that is currently there). , I am going to “try” to transplant the FL to another area. Not sure it is going to work. Anyway, I Finally have a Double-Delight tea Rose!!! I’ve even managed to track down a bag of soil that Doesn’t have a built-in fertilizer! We are going to plant it tomorrow! I’ve always managed to miss one at my favorite yard and garden nursery, so this is super-special for me! I am trying to think if Luann likes gardening or not…I know her Mom does! Don’t remember seeing any rose bushes around the outside of their house, though. Can’t imagine gardening without having Some rose bushes.! Thinking about roses, I wonder if we will ever hear from Rosa again!