For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for April 18, 2018

oh, and turning up the music to be heard in the living room isn’t enough to get the parry going?

Here it is – generation gap.

A few notes:

1. “BOOMPCHA KA-WHOOMPA FOOPA-BOOM BOOM-CHA BLAM”?Is this Volkstümliche Musik? I wouldn’t have guessed that for 1989 teenagers. No wonder John is startled.

2. You know you have a giant nose when your nose is so big it can actually sniff around to one side of the door while your face stays on the other side.

3. If I walked in on a teenager party and they were standing around doing nothing, I would wonder what the kids were doing before I walked in and they spotted me coming.

Careful Mike – Lawrence is on his way to steal your girl!

I never did figure out how one is supposed to have a meaningful conversation with someone if you have to shout over the music. And you still can’t hear what the reply is either.

Reminds me of a birthday party for my daughter when she turned 13. The girls are much more mature than the boys and the girls would like to dance. But the boys were much more interested in throwing peppermints across the room at their mates. I had to quickly take measures to remove the peppermints. I swiftly organised the food; the boys were much more relaxed when they had food on a plate. My husband couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw the 12 & 13-year old girls from my daughters class. They looked about 16 whereas most of the boys were still little boys. :)

The music playing is The Bee Gee’s “Stayin’ Alive!” No wonder no one dares to dance.

I hear that hearing loss is more prevalent nowadays, that’s what I hear.

They should have had some games planned. I remember in junior high, even at SCHOOL dances, where there were lots of kids (so you could get “lost” among the crowd), the boys still didn’t dance. I remember dancing with my social studies teacher (a pity dance on his part) and with other girls. So in a small room like THIS, no boy is going to be brave enough to dance in front of his friends. He would never live it down. Games with TEAMS would be cool. Mixed teams and then segregated boys against girls.

Worry more if they get quiet

Next strip: Michael and all the partygoers enroll in a School for the Deaf.

Just a warning! I know that young people think they are invincible but a word to the wise; Loud music or any loud sound will cause permanent hearing loss.

@THEGREAT: So, how much do you make selling hearing aids?

They will be sorry they didn’t say what they really wanted to say for the rest of their lives…been there….

Sound effects courtesy of MAD Magazine (see Roger Kaputnik and Fonebone for details). If what they’re listening to sounds like what those sound effects describe, then I’m glad that this isn’t a comic strip with a soundtrack.

I got laughed at by my classmates for listening to my mother about the dangers of repeated exposure to high decibels. By happenstance, I happen to run into one of those kids who mocked me for honoring my mother’s warnings. I tried to get his attention several times. When he did recognize me he apologized for appearing to ignore me; he needed to adjust his hearing aid.

I toja so!

There was a strip where Michael got a hard hat for Christmas. Why not wear that for the party? Brian can wear an Indian headdress, Gordon a sailor hat, and Lawrence a leather biker cap. The four of them can form a band, and perform popular dance songs such as extolling the Yakima Mobile Campgrounds, or YMC. Every Canadian knows that song:

“It’s fun to stay at the YMC, eh!”