Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for October 09, 2020

I hope it’s just the onion that makes him cry and not the knife……

There’s some serious flirtation going on here. I would guess Bets is trying to upgrade from an engineering major to a restaurant busboy… What that doesn’t sound right.

Onion jokes! That takes me back to the 1950s!

And cue the “cheater” accusations. Seriously, I know Gunther isn’t here, but from the things some of the commentators have been saying, you’d think she’s been dropping food-based innuendos left and right all week!

I’m sure that Les has probably chopped onions at the restaurant.

wait…Bets bets?

Cutting onions has never really bothered me. I believe that aspect of onions has been bred out of them. Genenit modification in the past.

Yes – Bets is radiating flirtation here – although maybe only because she’s good at it. That said, what appeared to be a boring arc about vegetables could get real interesting if interaction between Bets and Les escalates. A long time ago I visualized Gunther winding up with Tiffany. But all the cards are still in the deck.

Bets and her games.

As was mentioned yesterday, something’s cooking.

I’m enjoying this arc.

Why onions make you cry:

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Amino acid sulfoxides form sulfenic acids as you slice into an onion. … This gas reacts with the water in your tears to form sulfuric acid. The sulfuric acid burns, stimulating your eyes to release more tears to wash the irritant away.

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I just stole that from the internet. It is true, however.

Let’s hope Punk is busy doing something else, so he doesn’t see what’s about to happen to Les.

Cue The Cure “Boys Don’t Cry”……

I laughed at this one.

Remember Bets had already dated Les once before and was disgusted? Being friendly with a friendlier Les does mean that has changed. Wonder how their recipe will turn out.

Somebody hide that Japanese knife. Old embers and memories are going to flare up just about the time Gunther walks in the door. A most uncomfortable situation is about to occur, unless Greg veers off and goes for the easy out.

You know some of the comments here about Bets here are misogynism, sexist, even by some women I fear, and extremely hateful against Bets, and it spans the whole arc this week. First Bets is accused of being “flirtatious” basically a faithless woman lusting secretly after a more interesting Les. This totally ignores how she was introduced into the strip, and her disgust with the one date she had with Les off the phone app before she saw Gun(ther). Secondly, she has been called stupid so many times because she questions some garden veggies she is not familiar with, now she wants to dive into a recipe, enlisting Les, clearly showing how intelligent, curious, and energetic she is drawn, but some here seem still to get glee out of calling her stupid. Others seem to have nearly breathless anticipation that she somehow is expurgated from the strip. This has been stated before many times, more to my eye than other relatively new characters. Luann gets a lot of hate too, but, and I really hate to say this, but the skin hue is different. I do think it’s generational as well, but this week on Bets it seems particularly virulent. I say this without much hope it will do anything and get some to reflect on what they are doing, why, and a serious attempt to do better, but it needs to be said.

Is it my imagination, or is Bets more beautiful when she is with Les then when she is with Gunther.

Silly me, I thought there would be some conflict over the knife situation. What was the point of bringing it up yesterday? It sure wasn’t a punchline.

Wanna Bets on that? crybaby

So…. someone who doesn’t know what a cucumber is knows that cutting yellow onions makes you cry? ….. Got it.

She seems too smart to be interested in Les, but dumber things have happened.

Bit surprised Bets isn’t recording a video.

Les has layers, just like onions.

Hang on a sec…did she just wash the onion?

I really don’t like these two together at all. They don’t seem to click.

Where’s Gunth?

I like Bets with Les better than Gunther. She needs a new internet personality to promote anyway – time for a change!

Do people actually rinse off their onions before cutting them?

And where IS Gunther? Bets was just hanging around the place without him? Between that and the complete ignorance of these 2 geniuses when it comes to vegetables…this plotline is ridiculous.

Great prank, Bets. Giving Les an onion to cut saying that it’s mean, fun, but adorable! Even if in a weird way. I like this situation more and more. Les won’t like it. But I think they will have fun together♡.

Tears WILL ensue.

Interesting, the knifes gone from a santoku to a chefs knife.

Oh, this is going to be so much fun watching them cook.

When my late wife and I set up housekeeping in 1974, chopping onions made her miserable so I took over the task since I had no reaction to onion juices after repeatedly walking through pepper fog or tear gas to get to classes at UC Berkeley. Sadly, the immunity was only temporary and I now use an enclosed food chopper.

I think they will make the soup and it will be “the best soup ever” and they will get involved in the real food gardening train or gourmet cook train or what ever the story is

It IS strange to see these two cooking together.

Light a candle and place it next to the onion you are cutting….the flame actually “absorbs” the onion fumes and reduces the the amount of eye irritation.

I still say this week has Les acting against norm! Especially after Tuesday, Panel 3’s set-up comment. Consider Les’ past treatment girls and of Gunther’s female friends in particular. Consider these three strips and tell me something’s not fishy in Luanniverse!

https://www.gocomics.com/luann/2017/06/06https://www.gocomics.com/luann/2019/01/30 et seq.https://www.gocomics.com/luann/2019/04/19

Lol! Seems Bets knows a thing or two about onions! I hope Les doesn’t rub his eyes. There may be some crying AND theatrics that even Gunther can’t ignore! Any hot peppers in that crop? ;-)))

Don’t trust a guy that buttons his shirts all the way to the top. The only people that I’ve seen do that are prisoners and ex-cons.

That look on Bets’ face in the final panel validates my prior assertion. Remember, they once dated. There is still an attraction factor here. Gun will catch these two having a moment, and chaos will ensue.

Really going for the low-hanging fruit in terms of punchlines, aren’t they?

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From my perspective, the apparent lack of awareness of vegetables & vegetation ascribed to these two (who are likely ~20 years old) is a bit preposterous. I believe that even ardent, affirmed folks who only eat fast food or processed food and yet are 20 would still know and understand what vegetables and vegetation ARE even if they could not identify each and every form.

So, for me, this week is really simply EXCESSIVE hyperbole.

perhaps Bets and Les are better suited for each other? Gunth could easily make a delicious meal out of the veggies but with a lot less snark… interesting arc, interested to see how this plays out.

Les will reject advances from Betts and redeem himself even more in the inner circle.

First rule of cooking: Do not upset the person holding the knife!!

Reminds me of the new female college graduate on her first day at a UK research installation. “Would you please make tea before we begin?” “I’ll have you know I spent six years studying research chemistry.” "Then your tea must be phenomenal .

Raise your hand if you think this leds to finding out Les is a culinary savant?

And with that “chok”, Les’ onion grew to twice it’s size…

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(Check the size of the onion in Bet’s hand compared to in Les’ hand. Perhaps Greg is telling us that Les has small hands)

It is nice to see Bets and Les getting along so well. She did not like him on their one date, but he probably put on an act for his date. Now Les is being himself and Bets likes the real him. No romance, just friendly companionship.

Less of Les.

Earlier, 1212 speculates that this interaction between Les and Bets is nothing more than G&K “misdirection.” Repeated from above are my thoughts on the issue:

The longer this drags on – and it has dragged on a week now – and the question is arising in the minds of many:

Chekhov’s Gun: Here, it’s Chekhov’s Bets.

There are only one of two likely outcomes. Both involve Chekhov:

One, Gunther strolls in on them, gets jealous, and we get to revisit Gunther’s “anger and mommy issues” – eyes roll – again.

Two, Les and Bets do end up “hitting it off,” and Gunther becomes “freed up” for either Tiffany – or worse – Luann.

Likely, it will be a combination of the two, Bets rejecting Gunther because of his “anger and mommy issues” and then deciding, along with this cooking episode, that she had been wrong to reject Les in the first place.

Disclaimer: Not in a million years do I want to see Bets leave Gunther. Not in a million years do I want to see Les and Bets become a “thing.”

But as far as Gunther is concerned, it could be that Bets is his first “girl,” and that so-called “first loves” are often “puppy love” and doomed to failure anyway.

And, as others have speculated, the “end game” for G&K may well include “shipping” Gunther and Luann. Hopefully, that is very, very, very far down the line.

But the longer this lasts, it’s starting to look “just around the corner.”

Maybe Bets knows more than she’s been letting on.

I think people are missing the proper perspective on all this.And, I’m not the one to explain the psychology of it all.

Does Bets have a thing for Les?

Wait, that’s not a Santoku Knife.

They’ve ruined the recipe already.

Where is this headed?

Onions! Why does it always have to be onions?

—Going for the cheap gag here, marking time….

“You don’t remember me, but I remember you

’Twas not so long ago, you broke my heart in two

Tears on my pillow, pain in my heart

Caused by you, you

If we could start anew, I wouldn’t hesitate

I’d gladly take you back, and tempt the hand of fate

Tears on my pillow, pain in my heart, caused by you"

Tears on My Pillow Imperials

(Turns out he was singing to an onion.)

You better wash the onions after punk used the veg basket as a litter box. Also if you wash the onion before slicing you are less likely to cry

it’s called payback

Bets is so cute. Good match for Gunther