For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for January 17, 2020

honesty’s the best policy

While Elizabeth clearly decided not to do her homework based on what we saw yesterday, her excuse is oddly plausible. Long time fans of the comic strip know that we have seen Elly destroy John’s paper in the laundry before, we have seen a Patterson kid try to get into their house through a window before and we have seen a Patterson kid leave their books in odd places before. If that teacher knew the Pattersons like we do, he would completely believe that excuse.

brilliant !

I hope he calls for Elly’s take.

At least it’s something more creative than the dog ate it.

Not sure if it was a total fabrication or it actually happened. I am a teacher and what she said, I wouldn’t buy. Too much details and outlandish. Who puts paper in the dryer? The paper would catch fire from the heat unless Mike is smart enough to set it on air dry. And Elly doesn’t bother to check what paper if she assumes it belongs to John? I always check in case it is important. I would tell my student, “Bottom line, even with an extension, you still didn’t do homework. You keep putting it off until the very last minute. You were going to do it at breakfast or even in my classroom while I am collecting homework, weren’t you? All the same, you’re gonna get a zero. I will discuss this with your parents during Parents Conference day about your inability to turn in homework and coming up with outlandish excuses. You ought to apply that vivid imagination for your English writing exercises.”

You should of just said Michael ate it. It’s more plausible.

Well the truth, ”I didn’t do it” would have been too mundane/banal/prosaic/run-of-the-mill/boring with no punch line and no ambiguity. Nah. We can’t have that. Kudos to April/Lynn for giving us something so much more entertaining! :-)

In the time it took to come up with all that she could have been almost done with the assignment!

If this was her English composition class and I was her teacher, I would give her marks for a creative and imaginative excuse.

“My dog ate it.”

Of course he can give her a mark. F is a mark since she didn’t turn in the assignment

She needs some marks on the backside!!!

I thought it was Michael who went on to a career as a storyteller…..

If your mom checked your homework and did her job as a parent, you wouldn’t be in this mess.

Too many of today’s parents will still back their child and blame the teacher—-sure glad I’m not a teacher and that my wife has retired. One classic she tells is of the mom who couldn’t help her child with homework because it would interfere with her favorite TV show. Another was the parents who were upset because she sent homework for their sick child who was out for about 10 days though only due to being infectious. They didn’t accept her explanation that he would be too far behind to understand the class work if he didn’t do the homework. Dad told her she was a really tough teacher. Her response?—“Thank you”

Definitely an A++ for that one….

And Michael grew up to be a writer??

It might have worked in a creative writing class.

What’s a mark? Is that a Canadian term for grade?

When I was a kid, my teacher (a nun) told my mother that the kids who do their homework are the kids who don’t need it and vice versa.

She loused up. In yesterday’s installment, she just laid around instead of doing her homework. So she flunked this one!!

If you’re going to shake the dice, you gotta pay the price. Procrastination is somewhat akin to gambling. You do it enough and you will pay a price.

I’m surprised that Elizabeth didn’t say that Farley didn’t eat it.

It’s hard to beat that CALVIN & HOBBES excuse: “I couldn’t read it because my parents forgot to pay the gravity bill!”

“Procrastination is it’s own reward…”

How about this one for Elizabeth, “You are a woman now, start acting like one. Part of being a woman is taking responsibility for your actions and facing the music when you fail in your duty.”

Hard to believe at this point that she’s going to become a teacher.

Farley ate the homework, then the Enjos ate Farley!

It’s a good story, you should get some credit. Of course, that depends on which class this is.

The teacher should give her marks for lying?