Arlo and Janis by Jimmy Johnson for September 07, 2021

Their marriage is more important than the bistro.

More of those cracks in the walls which really were foreboding.

Woah! What’s this??

:-(

Oh, crap….

A&J have been home for three weeks. Yesterday had one panel of the kids having an argument. Outta left field, alright.

Well that sucks! Now I have to find a new place to eat.

Jimmy, that’s sad. Why are you going there?

The bistro may have closed, but The Dock could possibly do well.

Reality strikes… Hope their marriage survives.

Reminds me of when my brothers bar got closed in south Seattle, but in his case it was due to unscrupulous partners!

Time to go back to a time when life was happier.

I don’t get it. When Arlo and Janis were helping out the bistro was doing great, wasn’t it? And now they went out of business?

So sad. But her father had foreseen it. Thy will be able to recover.

A couple of days ago, I mentioned that a couple of posters had commented that the strip was becoming boring.

I wonder if they still think that now.

Look! A cute little bunny rabbit

Strange how depressing an imaginary trouble of comic characters is, how much power a comic artist has over it’s readers feelings.

It was bound to happen I guess. Still sad though. Hopefully they can come back from this even stronger then before.

Darn, I knew they were over their heads, but didn’t think it was that bad. The good part is now they have experience in what not to do. 80% of new businesses fail from what I hear. Even Gordon Ramsey has had to close restaurants because he misread the clientele.

We can hope this is so they can stay together. Running any kind of restaurant together can easily destroy a relationship (been there).

Now they can move and be a bigger part of A&J.

Gene has been supporting her dream for a couple of years now. It was never his dream. He did it for love which is understandable. Gus foresaw all this. Reality raises its ugly ugly head, even in the comics.

They need jobs with health care.

Sad. Sign of the times.

Reality of this day and age. So sorry to hear this.

Back to the farm…. But be sure to first ‘blow up the TV’….

Now it’s time for a soap commercial.

Now we know who Janice was talking to on Sunday. https://www.gocomics.com/arloandjanis/2021/09/05?ct=v&cti=1102229

Mmmph!!! Look at the looks on their faces! He does not look happy & she looks sad!

IIRC 80% of restaurants fail within five years. The only type of business that is worse is one based on hobbies. With a hobby, money isn’t a concern; with a hobby shop it’s everything, but very few people can make that transition.

Back to The Dock and an easier pace of life?

The restaurant business looks easy but is one of the most difficult.

NOooo!!! Running a restaurant is difficult in the best of times, and these are not those times…

In Agreement with ScullyUFO, Bistro in a non resort location even harder, the kids made the right decision there dream was turning into a nightmare. Save the marriage and move on. Adult decisions are hard.

They are both young enough to move on from this decision. At least the job market is their favor for obtaining employment. I do wonder what led to this decision: the work, the operating problems of a business, the food service business in general, too much work not enough reward… It will be interesting to see where they land. Maybe in the egg business with the kid.

That was an unexpected twist. Gus was right. How’s Meg going to take this?

I hope the twist is more O’Henry than Hitchcock.

Jimmy thumbs up on your wife’s behind! Now you can spend time where it counts!

I wonder if the phone call in the Sunday strip was related.

I hope they’re not moving in with Janis and Arlo—

Bummer.

Labour day. From here on out the tourists are gone. Cut and run. I see this around our tourist area ever year. In my small town/city (30000) I’ve seen 9 restaurants flip ownership this year alone. Went out for dinner last night, son’s birthday, there were 12 people in a restaurant that can have 70. THAT tells a tale.

Aw. So sad for them and the real life people going through the same thing.

Maybe it was their choice. My wife and I decided to sell the business we had founded 15 years earlier. We have always said “Fifteen years in retail is enough for anybody.”

I know it’s a cartoon, but is the kind of reality you get from “do the job you like / love.”

All things must pass; we can’t get to a brighter future if the past holds us back.

My first career was in General Aviation (small planes) as an avionics technician. How do you make a small fortune in aviation? Start with a large one. In 1984 I was making $10.50 an hour, probably the highest pay of any GA avionics tech in the Southwest US. I got an entry level job as a communications tech at Arizona Public Service, the largest electric utility in the state, for $14 per hour. The opportunities were enormous and I did much better after the change.

If you have to choose between Love or Money, take Love every time.

Saw that one coming…

Bigger and more successful businesses have failed and are failing, especially in these times. Don’t give up the dream though…..

Arlo and Janis to the rescue.

OH NO!

Had that tattooed on my forehead.

Looks like Pops was right.

It’s really hard for a man with not enough money to go into business for hisself…

Does anyone remember Arlo and Janis celebrating anniversary and one said “Here’s to (36 yrs?) more years” and maybe the other one said “36 months”?

If so, then the time is coming soon?

Finally! She has listened to her dad and admitted her dream is unrealistic and now she can stop forcing her family to make it come true. Do you sense that I find this character unsympathetic ?

Guys calm down….probably re-opening The Dock with Gus’ help. He always said it was the better venture.

Close the business, save the marriage….

what will happen to the boat?

OH, that’s sad. They worked so hard. I have to agree with some others: I don’t come to the comics pages for verisimilitude.

Yes!!!!!!!! Finally! Saw this coming.

Not wanting to get political, but $17.00 dollars an hour is more than our enlisted Military gets. Plus $17.00 is rough for Mom & Pop businesses to pay. Plus that food you get now for a low price will go up, because the business will have to go up on prices, plus insurance, food cost, etc.

As her old man said, she had this crazy dream of a bistro. Sometimes you have to learn your lessons the hard way. Hopefully it won’t break them up.

Sadness abounds!

Her: It was my dream to run a bistro and a farm and fix up a house and raise my own crops- Him: Yeah… we’re not doing that anymore. Her: Wahhhhhhhhhhhh!

“According to Biden stats” That says it all!

They did say it was only busy because the other places were full. The real money is in franchising. What’s next? Garfield gives up lasagna? Popeye goes cold turkey with spinach? Beetle Bailey leaves the army?

And why were the kids yelling at each other in the strip yesterday?

COVID20 aka B.1.617.2 Delta is worse than it was in January. Too easy to catch way too easy.

Customers only see a place when it is busy. But they aren’t around the many more hours when it is open but so empty you can roll a bowling ball through it.

help is hard to find these days and they probably couldn’t afford to pay people what the Gov’t was paying them to stay home although the extra $300 was just eliminated this past weekend. i hope they find something that they can reopen in the future or find something that isn’t so stressful to operate.

OH NO! when Janis finds out, she is gonna flip a gasket.

Jimmy did a preview of this arc last week.

I can’t think of a business that is harder and more draining than feeding people!

When one door closes another door opens.

“Bye bye happiness, hello emptiness … "

I haven’t time to read all the comments, but this hits a sore spot because my absolutely tops favorite restaurant called it quits on Sunday due to labor issues. I totally understand, but am also totally frustrated that they felt the need to do so.

It’s what is happening all around our town…Every place I call for carry-out, I’m told the restaurant is closed.

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot!!!