Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for August 15, 2016

Who’s “we,” paleface?

Sometimes you just have to say NO!

It cannot always about you, Jonah. Your sister is going to be a married woman!

She’s already doing him a favour :p

I may be way off base here, but I thought Toni was on shift at her fire station, trying to take a shower after returning from a fire call. If so, Jonah can’t drop Shannon off there; kids are not allowed to stay at a fire station.

One exception in my state of Florida: parents who want to surrender custody of infant children are allowed to bring them to fire stations, no questions asked and no charges of abandonment, but this must be right after birth. Not when they are 6 years old…

Jonah is OFFICIALLY that six-letter word that starts with the letter D. Possibly a ten letter word preceded by the word ‘mega’.

For a minute there, I thought she was rewiring an electrical box, while soaking wet

Will she have the wedding planning meeting in the pool? Will she have to bring Shannon along to the meeting? Will Toni ever finish her shower? Will Toni KILL her little brother?

Jonah is OFFICIALLY that six-letter word that starts with the letter D. ^^Dimwit?

Duffus?

Jonah’s plans must not take priority over Toni’s plans. Some folks you just never hear from unless they need something. He probably doesn’t even give her a birthday card.

Cartoons and comic strips use a floating timeline, that’s why characters do not seem to age.

Shannon seems to be giving Jonah all the credit for the pool plan. This is a little more insight why Brad was so pissed.

So now Tiffany has been supplanted as the Designated Hate Object by Jonah? Don’t worry, Trufans, the Evansi will throw you a bone once in a while by humiliating her just for you .

This might be the moment when Toni snaps.

This is the start of an arc relating of course to the wedding, the relationship of Brad and Toni, and Toni and her brother, Jonah. I am reminded of the story of Jonah and the whale in the Bible. Is this situation a metaphor where Toni and Brad’s intentions and life are consumed by the whale of the mess that lax and selfish dad Jonah here is causing?

I wondered what sort of series of surgeries was done to Brad’s pointed head over the years.

The question is, what was Jonah really going to ask?

A) If they could flood Toni’s living room one more time, and bring the plastic sliding board set in, so Shannon can play water park?B) To ask Toni to come along, so she can sit in the car while he stops by the local FloorMart, to try on a bunch of swim trunks?C) To tell her that High School Musical is holding auditions at the Realley/Krampden Stage, and he knows this time he’ll be a shoo-in?D) To tell her that The Pool is really a play, and he wants them all to audition, so he can get in, using Toni and Shannon’s appeal?OrE) He wants Toni to go talk to a girl at he pool, in order to put in a good word for Jonah, and give him an open door to get a date?

“Assume The Imposition”“They Call Me Talk’emOutta”“Toni The Watch Tiger”“The HinderBug”“A Pool Shark”“Swimming In Gall”“It’s Your Life, And I’m Welcome To It”“The Pool Doesn’t Allow Any Dips”“It’s My Party, And You’ll Sit, If I Want To” (♪)“Ain’t Too Proud To Beg Off, And You Know It” (♪)“Shannon The Stool, Toni The Sitter”“A Lot Of Favors, And No Party”“Not A Picnic For This Aunt”“She’s Tubs, And He’s Crock-It”“Aunt, YouMind,Uh?“Butter Her Up, Then Pour It On”or“Bohemian Audacity” (♬)

Something is about to break.

They don’t have a shower at the firehouse? Outrageous! Call your union rep now!

“Jonah has one of of those smiles on his face that one would just love to relocate all the way around the other side of his head. Free of charge.”_____________________________________

A-MEN! The SAME Self-Important Grin He had When He Walked away, NOT Thanking Brad for Stepping In For Him, During Talent Night.

He Reminds Me Of Old Smiley.

One word answer for ya a-hole,NO!No matter how much him and the kid whine and cry and beg,Toni,just-say-NO!

Well Your Ingrate Brother is dumping the kid off on ’ya at a BAD time AGAIN, Huh Toni?

Hey, You thought it was a GREAT Idea That Your soon-to-be SPOUSE wanted to be a Surrogate Father to THIS Tyke, so HERE is a little TASTE of What’s to Come.

Oh, and Have ‘FUN’ Babysitting the little Stormtrooper on Your ‘Wedding Night.’

she is trying to take a shower but the shower has a leak so she was fixing the shower knob when he rang………tell him no and shut the door.

“Oh good! Have fun! I’ve got an appointment. See you later!”. Shut door.

Greg does know how to stir up his readers…

wow! Toni just took the ultimate cold shower! and Jonah even has the nerve to put on a happy face. when Shannon passes him the bill later on in life, you know he wont be smiling much,

Time to tell her brother, NO. He never even asks. He just drops and runs. What you may have planned makes no difference to him. HOWEVER – This may also be the opportunity to prod him toward making Toni her legal guardian.

Time for her to blow up at Jonah

Nobody has noticed that Toni answered the doorbell with only a towel on???

And as always, Toni gives in.

If you’re in the shower:1) don’t answer the doorbell2) don’t answer the phone.*Phones & doorbells are for YOUR convenience. You don’t exist for the ding-dong’s convenience.

“My Hammy Vice”^Lol, indeed!

Except that she’s not at the fire station. Fire stations don’t have doorbells and private entrances. She’s at home in her apartment.

That makes no sense. They have showers at firehouses. When you get done a shift you take a shower. You don’t take the dirt/smoke odor/possible hazardous material home with you.

@Pointspread makes a point…

I am coming to hate that self-entitled bratty grin of Jonah’s.Jonah’s strength as a character comes from everyone knowing someone with too large a sense of self-entitlement, and everyone else having gone through an age when we recognized to not behave like that (granted, at an age which is younger than Jonah’s).

Wouldn’t she have gone back to the fire station to shower, where her colleagues probably wouldn’t let the annoying brother just wander in?

Let’s see, we have a firefighter covered in dirt and ash who takes off her work clothes, puts back on her street clothes, then goes home to take her shower, and is interrupted by her single-parent brother who needs her to baby sit with no advance notice, even though that will conflict with her attending a meeting to plan her wedding. Could this “adoption” arc possibly be made even a little bit more ham-fisted? Um… no, I think it’s pretty nearly reached the limit of how far you can stretch things. Well done! Carry on.

6Interesting and odd set-up on several levels to me:1. I would tend to think that most firefighters would shower at the fire station before heading home. This would keep soot (often very dangerous) from getting in their vehicle and keep it from getting in their home. 2. However, I am reading today as being that Toni WENT HOME to shower (this explains the doorbell, private entrance and other apartment in the background). While going home to shower seems a bit odd to me, I can take that as perhaps Toni thought she would be able to get to this wedding meeting faster by doing showering at home. 3. I feel more conflicted about Toni’s decision to dismantle the shower faucet because it leaked when she turned it on. To me… this reads a bit “weird” with her being late for a meeting. I would have thought at that point (finding the leak) she would have just shut the faucet back down and probably tried to clean up as best as she could in the bathroom sink. Dismantling the shower faucet seems like a much longer sort of task than she had time to do, given her prior rush. 4. I agree with several other commenters that (given Toni’s need to hurry up) she would have been justified and better off in not answering the door. But, since she did, especially still dirty and still in a towel, she might as well hear Jonah out.(As an aside, I do not think I would ever answer my door only in a towel, no matter how rushed I was…. I would scare too many folks into thinking Sasquatch was loose. :) ) 5. What should Toni do now? I suggest that a) she give Jonah a “look” but save her ire for later because she should not yell/holler at Jonah in front of Shannon, b) potentially say she cannot take Shannon at the moment because of her wedding planning meeting, c) if Jonah makes up some excuse about it being an “emergency” that Toni say in carefully measured tones, “I can take Shannon, but she will need to come with me to the wedding planning meeting.” Shannon’s disappointment will be apparent, but Toni can explain that this is a very important meeting she must attend.

Looks like Toni’s plans are changing.

@Kymberleigh

Finally, for your reading enjoyment . . .-———————————————————————-There is no joy in Mudville when this repetitious FAQ is reated weekly taking up all that space!

I figured she was running late and working past her shift due to the fire, and the clothing she may want to wear for the meeting is at home, so figured she woukd just clean up right where the correct outfit is handy.

Toni may reach the breaking point.

Why is she taking a shower with the towel on? Bummer.

And what’s extra annoying is that now Shannon has it in her mind that they will be going swimming. She’ll get hurt like kids do IF Toni keeps the plans she already has instead of caving into Jonah’s will.

Aw… Heck No.

I’m thinking that this time Jonah is dropping Shannon off for a much longer period of time, not just the evening, a few days or the week, something much more substantial.

Excuse me, Fan. Incoming poop!!!

Jonah is not dressed for swimming, only Shannon is. Jonah probably told Shannon that her aunt Toni was going to take her swimming (which is why Shannon is saying ’we’re goin’ to the Pool’. We meaning she and Toni.)

Yes, there are a few head-scratchers in the artwork for today’s strip. Today’s action is all in the balloons. Just pretend (since this is after all a make-believe world) that this is a radio show and it all works just fine. :)

Re “The Towel” :Note that in panel #2, Toni is actually OUTSIDE the shower stall, holding back the curtain and reaching in to start up the shower; perhaps it takes a minute to get properly hot water flowing ( as it does in mine). She would remove the towel and enter the shower once it was up to proper temperature.

Can I just slap Jonah?

Jonah is an uncaring turd blossom that doesn’t deserve such a sweetie like Shannon!!

Does she ever tell him NO!

[tongue securely in cheek moment]It is interesting and allows for significant speculation…. but did anyone notice how her WORK UNIFORM shirt color and her BATHROOM TOWEL color are……EXACTLY THE SAME COLOR!!!!!!!What could this mean?!?! There are too many shocking possibilities for me to list them at the moment.

Grow a backbone, Toni. Jonah needs to start bringing Shannon wherever he needs to go instead of you doing so. And Shannon needs to learn that everyone’s plans can’t center around her.

Toni wants to please.… Dirk, which is why he could abuse her.… Jonah, which is why he can use her.… Brad, not so much yet. He needs to help her acquire backbone lest he also begin to take her for granted.

Greg Evans must be so proud of that big fat hair. After covering it up in the first panel, he couldn’t bear to cover it up again under the shower cap

I disagree, Frank. If the FAQ takes a slowly scrolling person one second to get through as was mentioned by another, then that is only one second in an entire week. So about ONE of over 600,000 seconds if my brain and calculator are not broken for 7 days per week times 24 hours per day times 60 sixty minutes in an hour times 60 seconds in a minute. Not exactly an imposition.Meanwhile, there are always 15 posts on the first page, no matter their size.Kym puts in a LOT of work helping people who are new to the strip or who have had life impose a “lion limb” and coukd not keep up to date.Her work (as time goes on the portion which was mine will progressively reduce as i woukd like my belly to do) also lessens the labor of those who otherwise would feel obligated to write out answers with links. Now they can just direct people to the Monday comments section complete w its answers and live links.It is sometimes hard to help others, much more so for the people who perform the actual work than for those who read or scroll. BTW, the wiki approach was tried in the past but not only did most not look it up, but trolls presistently altered it to be incorrect. Corrections use a lot more work than a FAQ. The FAQ DO help others, so, THANK YOU, KYM for your hard work!

@StarglimmerNobody has noticed that Toni answered the doorbell with only a towel on???Clearly, this is a cover-up.

She is not at the fire station. She is home.

I am sure they have shower stalls in unisex facilities.

Wow. Nicely done, Kymberleigh.

?

If you would write a detailed FAQ for a comic strip comment thread, and have to beg users not to be rude, I urge you to question the wisdom of spending time on comment threads, discussion forums, etc.

“.. Now is not a good time Jonah. You really have to give me more advance notice. I think you should just take Shannon with you wherever you are going….”

I hope she screams at Jonah at the top of her lungs, Shannon or no Shannon. ’bout time she did so!

“Gee honey, the front part of your hair sure smells like smoke. Why is Shannon crying? Is it because we obviously hate her father and she caught on? Is it because we’re just as busy as he is and can’t spend a lot of time with her?”

@Trilogy & @Schrodinger’s Dog: Which is more effective – venting angrily at someone, or stating persistently and calmly what we require of another, including clear and firm boundaries? It has taken me most of my 70 years to learn this. Of course one must stick with it. “I am sorry Jonah, but you gave me no advance warning and I have other plans.” Toni has been too obliging in the past, and this is why she has a dilemma now. So if she were to spew at Jonah, part of that would be misdirected self-anger. Finally, would it be in character for her to angrily lash out at Jonah? She cannot change him, but she can change her own doormat behavior. We’ll find out soon enough.

Can’t believe there is a debate about where Toni is showering! This dirty old man just enjoyed the very modest shower scene

Why does it make any difference what transpired between panels 1 and 2?

“Hey, Bro’. Big favor to decline.”

Toni can’t blow up at Jonah with Shannon there. The effect would be traumatic, confusing, and scary for a little kid. Are we sure that she is at the fire house, and not her own apartment? The door next to her has a number on it and Jonah would not go wandering through a fire house finding her wearing only a towel, and the fire house would not have a door bell that went “ding-dong.” Naw, she’s at home.

As you may have noticed, most of the regulars like having the FAQ posted once a week. I am, however, scratching my head in puzzlement over the link to today’s Luann Again strip, which appears to have equated the number of phone numbers with the number of “blahs” emotherian posted earlier.

The “logic” to which I’m referring is claiming that it’s logical for Toni either to leave the fire station either still wearing her toxic, filthy, smoky, work clothing or instead now wearing the same “civilian” clothes that she wore to work, while underneath she is filthy and sweat-soaked, so that she could go home to take a shower. Remember, this is a frequent occurrence, in her line of work. Is it logical that she would continually do this? No, it isn’t, and that’s why panel 2 doesn’t follow logically from panel 1. Yes, it bothers me when a story makes no sense, and I’m disappointed that it doesn’t bother the cartoonist.

Just say No, Toni! Jonah has to learn his lesson, and you do have important things to do. You can’t let your irresponsible brother run or ruin your life!

Is it legal for a public facility like the fire station not to have gender-separate shower facilities? The female firefighters would certainly be able to file suit against the city if they had to go home to shower and the men did not.

I believe, taking the obvious visible clues drawn, that Shannon believes she’s going to a swimming pool with either her Dad or Toni or both.

dailies are colored by Sheriff. Greg only does Sundays.

btw, where did it say that Toni drove home in her car?Maybe she walked ( Pitts is a small town). or took the bus. or called a cab. or rode a bike. But it doesn’t matter! .

And she wasn’t planning to wash her grimy hair?Look at panels 2 and 3 again. She was about to take a shower when she discovered that the knob that switches the tub from bath to shower mode was malfunctioning. She was trying to fix it when Jonah rang the doorbell. When someone rings your doorbell, it’s generally considered inconsiderate to keep them waiting because you wanted to shower.I realize that, but you wear a shower cap so your hair doesn’t get wet. That doesn’t make sense to put one on if you are going to wash your hair, which considering how dirty she was…

JPW I see your point, but in this day & age they would have separate locker rooms, or in an older station, locks on the showers. I worked on places where there were men & women taking showers after work on separate locker rooms.

I know. I should have separated out your comments. Apologies.

Puzz, the chances are pretty good that the meeting involves a third party and something that demands a certain setting such as reviewing options at the wedding or reception location, sampling food options, etc.

Pogo stick.(Hey, i am in a weird mood.)In my version i am imagining Toni going home by pogo stick.

Kymberleigh said,@DavidHuieGreen“As you may have noticed, most of the regulars like having the FAQ posted once a week. I am, however, scratching my head in puzzlement over the link to today’s Luann Again strip, which appears to have equated the number of phone numbers with the number of “blahs” emotherian posted earlier.”.Yep.I was just trying to help poor emo by following up on the idea of placing a copy where it could be addressable every day for FAQs.. Obviously I could just refer to a previous post but you might move or remove it as I did. (replacing with:.@emotherian“To take up that much space in the comments would be better used by placing a link for everyone to read about it. So blah ….”.Not really a bad idea until you decided to be rude with all the "blah"s.Without all her labor and text editing, here is what she put in today:.http://www.gocomics.com/luann-againn/2016/08/15http://www.gocomics.com/luann-againn/2013/08/15)

Sorry, but not every fire station has ‘unisex’ facilities, any more than any other public building or facility has unisex facilities.

The county I currently work for provides womens and mens rest rooms with shower rooms. And they expect anyone who has been out on a run with any hazardous material to use the showers. That’s why they are provided.

AND

SPOILER

Guess again. Yelling doesn’t seem to bother this little one, who is busy making certain that she will have her way. Apples don’t fall far from trees. Doesn’t matter what Toni is saying or doing. Shannon is going swimming. ’Cause Daddy said so.

You cannot simultaneously watch a small child at a pool and have a meeting. That is an invitation for a disaster.

Many fire stations DO have doorbells, especially since they are now locked down for employee protection.

Because you are not correct. Many fire stations these days provide showers in the mens and womens restrooms. And those are lockable restrooms.

Seismic is correct. A city I used to work for did not want to hire women in its landscaping crews, claiming they couldn’t do the work. When one woman from a family of landscapers proved otherwise, she was grudglingly hired, but when she stopped at a city building to answer a ‘call of nature’ she was told that she would have to ‘go behind a tree like the guys did’ (which of course they didn’t; they were allowed to use porta-potties set up for them, and she wasn’t supposed to.)

And the city lost the lawsuit and a lot of taxpayer money. It wasn’t their first discrimination suit, either. Sometimes it takes a while to learn…

Re all the fuss about shower facilities at the fire station: My recollection is that Toni is the only female firefighter on the Pitts FD force.

Come on, Toni….grow a pair and learn to say NO!

I’d love to slap that smug expression of his face!