Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for October 30, 2020

way to think things over

There is always that, yes. ✨

Can’t tell the difference between a trash bid and a recycling bin? Boy, Bernice have problems.

Nutcase logical Bernice is back!

I guess that’s progress. She’s a basket case, but at least she knows she’s a basket case.

Bern is thinking things though.

Nah. He grew up around nutty people. He just wants to get to know you now that he is here to stay for a bit. Grab the time to get to know him because it’s a good possibility he will leave again and be gone for a long time. You are in a confusing time of your life, transitioning from teens to early adulthood and learning about the new status, what all that means, the new responsibilities that come with adulthood and college. Entering the adult world is precarious and is like getting through a dense forest using a scythe. Ben probably feel like needing to use the scythe – to remove the “web” from him. As you go, Ben will become clearer to you and you go from there.

Bernice, stop overthinking and over analyzing. Go meet with and talk with Ben. Get over yourself for a while. Ben’s gonna be tickled pink to see you. He’s over the moon with joy to have a sister. He’s not what brad USED to be where he resented having a sister.

Imaginary Ben nailed it. Real Ben won’t think that, though.

Now i know why I’ve aways liked Bernice. She can think her way out of a problem and be funny at the same time.

Bern’s interior questioning still does not answer the question of what changed between the earlier time she had no problem with seeing her long-attenuated brother and now. She knows the story, or at least the fact he was given up for adoption. Why is she over-analyzing?

A number of commenters here were positing “amnesia” in regard to Bernice not remembering how well she got along with her brother when she first met him. Looks like the “amnesia” cleared up as she clearly mentions it in the second panel.

.

By the way, it appears that Greg is buried in a crypt in the sidewalk in the third panel. Perhaps some Halloween related thing.

If you don’t tell him he need not know.

You’ve about wrapped it up in Panel 3 Bernice.

Halloween is tomorrow. Looks like we’re not tuning up for a Shannon strip does it?

Also very boring! I never thought I’d say that as I liked her character.

Well, finally, something resembling honesty from Bernice about herself.

None of this makes any sense. She is a nut case.

Bern seems to be on the right track in the first two panels, then loses her forward momentum and rolls back in the third panel.

Maybe the reason she doesn’t want to see him is their parents lied about when they put him up for adoption. They kept him until they saw toddler Ben tickle baby Bernice’s chin till she cried, and then they gave him away. Because they’re so boring. Bernice’s repressed memories about the tickling are coming to the surface. Therefore she subconsciously doesn’t want to meet with Ben. (I am joking.)

He’s not going to think that. You’re hiding behind a recycling bin.

Look – Bernice is not studying

Badical idea: Don’t tell him! Excuse yourself with studying hard – which is true. (Maybe not the whole truth. But ends the need to say anything more.)

Bernice, I have noticed that at times you do tend to over think situations. Sometimes you have just take a change and go with it. You have a 50/50 chance of making the right decision. I was happy to find out that when Mordy uses capital letters he is not yelling at me. It is just a trait he picked up elsewhere.

Rose leans on her tree, Bernice leans on a recycle bin…

Poor Bernice. Going through all this with her brother, also with the added challenge of remembering to fall back on November 1.

Yes Bernice, stop the thoughts and START The action.

You do not have to talk about that, so stop acting like a loon.

And he’d be right, of course.

You’ve got a shot at potentially crash pads in two different countries with hemi demi semi relatives. Lots of adventurous young adults would be jumping at the chance to lock that down. Don’t blow it. ;)

She’s becoming a re-psycho.

Somehow, I picture Bernice as the office manager standing at the front door at 8:00 AM waiting for people to show up one minute late and writing them up.

Survivors guilt. I wonder if some of her need to be perfect isn’t from some inner fear that she needs to show she was worthy of being kept by her parents when they’d given one child away — or subconscious fear that they’d give her away too if they weren’t happy with her

Not exactly sure why she feels guilty about this, other than avoiding her brother. She’s not responsible for her parent’s actions. I would think there is more to this, but that’s just me.

did he already know that though?

Good thing Bernice knows how to analyze herself. Looks like she doesn’t want to meet Ben because her life isn’t successful enough. Ben lost his job, but he did so many things for himself and for others. She is a student and maybe she has problems with her classes. Probably, for a proud person like Bernice that’s enough to want to hide. But maybe there’s more.

He’s your brother by DNA only. Otherwise he’s a stranger. Who says you have to like him? Who says you even have to see him?

Actually that’s a recycling tote.

Not " your parents" shouldn’t it be " Our parents" ?

Who knew Bernice cared what people thought of her?

Bingo a nut case witch you are

Bernice is a tortured soul.

Ben’s adoptive I’m sure were fine. There is still a contrast in how he and Bernice have come to approach life. Maybe this storyline will be better than I thought.

Doesn’t Oscar the Grouch hang out in garbage cans? Heads up, Bernice.

….’nuff said!

That seems about right. So, what are you going to do about it now, Bernie the Un-Brave?

This is getting more tedious as the days wear on.

I think I get the imagery here … Bernice is ‘Recycling’ through her thoughts here, perhaps?!

At least, she is pulling back and thinking through on her actions (or reactions).

I think she’s just nervous about seeing him again after he rebuffed her online efforts to get to know him better.

Nutcase came to my mind also…..

I just love Bernice.

Let’s see, discovers birth family, meets everyone, then continues with life with little or no contact for years, and then when he needs something barges back in effectively forcing her out of her home, yeah why would she want to see him. There are consequences to actions unless you live in pie in the sky comic.

Well, Bernice, here’s the thing. You have a brother. You got along with said brother at one point. Now, he’s booted you out of your home and you feel upset. All of which is perfectly normal. You’re maybe a little afraid that your parents are treating Ben like the Prodigal Son, while you’re being treated like the “good son” who stayed home and did all the right things. Ben once was lost, but now he’s found, hallelujah! I totally get it. But the “good son” had every right to be ticked off. And so do you. But, that being said, there comes a point where the past must remain in the past, and the current reality must be dealt with. So, get off your butt and go see your brother. Just chalk it up to more life experience, which will help you (eventually) in your chosen profession.

I know, I know—-with some of you people once your minds are made up you don’t want to be confused with facts. But, just for the heck of it, one more time…….

Ben DID NOT force or “boot” Bernice out of her home! She VOLUNTEERED to give up her room! It’s not Ben’s fault that when Bern found out she lost her dorm room she went wailing and blubbering to Luann instead of going to her parents and saying something like: “hey I know I said it was ok for Ben’s kids to have my room, but something unexpected has happened….”

At least we have no evidence of anything like that happening. Bern got the letter saying her RA job and dorm room were gone, and she immediately grabbed the phone and called Luann.

There’s that.

What is her problem? I’ve been following this comic pretty much since it’s inception, why is she freaking out now? What did I miss?

zzzzzzzzzzzzzz…… oh is this strip still going?

Some kids have a tough time when they find out they are not the oldest. Odd but there you are.

Odds are that Hippie Ben has a plant growing on the back forty that can help you out with that anxiety, Bern…

Guess nobody really feels like discussing Bernice, huh??

It is funny that the block corner keeps getting closer to that garbage can in each panel.A couple of days ago it was half way down the block, and in the last panel it is right next to it.

:-)

Yeah, go with that…

It is called introspection. Something more sane people need to do.

tomorrow: the homeowner retrieves his recycling bin, leaving Bernice exposed.

She is not happy with her life right now. She is judging herself and projecting these bad feelings onto how Ben will see her.

I think the last three lines in her speech bubble in the last panel pretty much sums her up to a tee. She really does have a tendency to over analyze things just a wee bit too much. Minus the hiding behind a trash can bit, of course…

She doesn’t talk trash; she cogitates it.

I’m beginning to think that this whole arc is a big flat nothing. Nothing stranger about Ben. Nothing life changing about Bernice. No reward for us for hanging to every nuance of the strips. Not the start of a big arc. Nothing.

Anxiety dude. Anxiety.