Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for November 08, 2021

Stay out of your coworkers’ lives, bub.

tomorrow is another day

carry over from sunday

Hey, how come you don’t mind your own business?

firefighters go to work with lipstick on?

Siendo ambos Toni y Brad bomberos, alguno tendría que retirarse para hacerse cargo del bebé, o bien Nancy y Frank tomarían ese rol.

It seems from Brad’s expression that you’re speaking for yourself, Toni.

Next time they get a call for a treed kitten, why don’t they leave Mr. Rudemouth up in the tree in the kitten’s place?

Yay! Toni N Brad arc

Brad would like a child it’s Toni who is not ready she has said in the past.

I was expecting a week of Luann applying for jobs and getting shot down every time. A week of people badgering Toni about getting pregnant? I think Greg has found the formula to keep me away for the week, (Don’t cheer all at once).

Who would stay home? Frank and Nancy? Or Luann?

Kudos to Greg Evans for doing his research on firefighter equipment.

Where’s the joke? This is simple fact.

Oh brother.

Old “George Jetson” gets right to the point, doesn’t he?

But to answer his question in one word, “Shannon.”

And to answer it in five words, “Because Toni is not interested.”

About a year ago the subject of “baby” came up and Toni practically drove to Cleveland to avoid the subject.

Instead, she attempted to talk Brad into buying an overpriced junker of a “car.”

So, what is her excuse going to be this year?

“Work?”

“I’m not ready?”

“WE are not ready?”

“We need to save more money?”

“COVID?”

“The weather?”

Or perhaps Toni will finally fess up and admit she doesn’t want to have a baby. Ever. Something she should have specified from the beginning.

Of course, there’s a long shot that she might be ready to be a momma.

But I have My doubts.

There may be an honest discussion arc.

Culminating with news that Brad (And a lot of “folks”) doesn’t want to hear.

adaption is a possiblity?

That is way too personal of a question. Never ask that to a childless couple. Same as at a class reunion, never say, “I thought you would be the last one to have a baby at 20.” Two people who never even talked to me in high school said that to me at our 20th reunion. I almost cried because that wasn’t my first pregnancy, and I didn’t go to my 25th reunion because of it.

Toni still wants a home.

When you think how often they take care of Shannon…it’s like they already did!

Look at yesterday’s comic. You’ll know why they haven’t had a baby yet.

They trained to make rescues and fight fires, having a baby is something that is almost possible to prepare for…plus, fires eventually go out…parenting…well…

Because they eat popcorn.

Looks like a Sunday strip.

Okay, I suspect that the loudmouth, who thanks to Mordy I will now call Mr Jetson, has just given Brad the idea to push this issue and it will likely blow up in the dude’s face. Look, a lot of people really want a family but its one of the biggest decision Toni Daytona has to consider in her life. There are lots of reasons to wait or not want a kid right now such as:

A) Financial, do they have the coin to have a kid. It appears that they are not floating in the money, if they were, I suspect they would have already said bon voyage to TJ. Perhaps she tells Brad that they have to support themselves without a boarder before they start a family. Plus the privacy would be nice.

B) Medical: Maybe Toni has an issue she needs to tell Brad about.

C) Personal: Perhaps she is wary of having a baby as she has issues from her own childhood and having to deal with Shannon and her slacker Dad might heighten this uneasiness. She would not be the first person to simply think that she does not want to start a family for personal reasons.

D) Shannon: maybe Toni D is thinking of asking Brad if they can officially adopt Shannon as she is finally fed up with her deadbeat brother and his selfish acts. Shannon needs a stable family and bouncing between the slacker, Brad/Toni and Luann is not getting that done. Perhaps Toni wants to make sure Shannon has a better childhood than her and her brother’s. This is what I personally think could happen.

E) My least likely reason and the one I really hope does not come to fruition but it has to be mentioned: she is beginning to have doubts about her marriage to Brad. Not every marriage works though in Brad and Toni’s case you would think it would after all Brad did to get to this point. .

My wife and I had this discussion long before we got married, and we were on the same page. After we had been dating for about two months, we had already picked out a boy’s name and a girl’s name. Just prior to being married, we decided to wait for a couple of years before having a child just to make sure we were more financially stable. As it turned out, we had a boy, then years later, we had a girl – we used both of the names we decided on at first. Last August, we had been married 31 years.

.

Now, for the real question: Was Bernie joking with Luann about the $35, or will Luann have to cough up?

I hope she was joking because if it not a joke it was very rude – Luann did not askfor that help.

My wife & I are infertile, so we take in foreign exchange students. The questions can be tougher. “So why do Americans act this way?” My response has sometimes been, “Uhhhh…”

Isn’t this usually first asked by their parents?

Something similar happened over at FBoFW (affectionately known as “The FOOB”)… Granthony wanted kids, Therese did not… Or at least she wasn’t ready for them yet… but he did everything he could to cram a kid on her right away. It was one of the big things which led to their split.

That’s pretty funny.

Yeah it would be too scary to unleash a brain dead pig mutant on an unsuspecting world.

YES! We haven’t had a dedicated Brad/Toni storyline in far too long!!

We commoners can be blunt at times.

That’s among the very rudest of questions out there. And AS IF it’s anyone else’s business.

Finally an arc on this topic! Brad and Toni have to discuss it again and very seriously. It’s not okay when you let the fear stop you, especially if Toni actually wants to have children. Brad is on her side and will respect every decision she will take. But it’s clear that he wants to have children.

Mr. pickle-nose needs to have a fire extinguisher crammed into his big open mouth.

and fighting fires isn’t?

Because Toni wants her career and doesn’t want kids. She already has a handful with Shannon. Clearly Brad does, but this was an important a conversation they should have had before marriage.

Old Smiley’s back with the questions most Luann commenters are asking. But after Sunday’s strip we’re beginning to have a suspicion. In fact, today’s strip gives all the appearances of a Sunday stand-alone gag strip!

Wow, Tony and Brad on a weekday strip. Rare sighting! Much needed and welcome change!!

Nun ya.

Nun ya?

Nun ya business!

“Just lucky, I guess.”

Aha, the question is afoot; what will the answer be? That is the arc I think.

I realize this is just another will-they-have-a-baby storyline (I’m guessing that Toni will get pressured into it eventually) but getting a glimpse of the exciting daily life these two lead that we usually never get to see makes me wish we could see a full on firefighting arc again.

And Luann is still underfunded.

You guys put out fires and save lives, so you should be brave enough to have a little boy of your own.

Toni knew what she was getting into when she signed up for this strip. I’m sure there were standard clauses in the Evan’s character contract she signed. Son gets pretty girl after conflict clause. Young couple get new baby clause and become helicopter parents clause. Et cetera!

Humm, what’s the scary part ?

Never, ever ask that unless you’re 100% sure that there are no miscarriages in their past.

1st panel is a collage. Toni has a chain saw?

Wow, is that in your face or what?! But Toni and Brad seem to know him well enough not to get offended. It used to be quite common in Asian cultures for relatives to ask such questions to young (or even not-so-young) couples, but with increasing westernisation, it’s not tolerated that much any longer, especially by educated, urban folk.

Not having been a parent myself, I can’t speak from experience. But, I do understand it’s a big thing in a couples life. But scarier than what Toni, and, Brad, experience at a major fore scene? I don’t know, probably an apples and oranges comparison.Unless Gregg is setting us up for what Frank, and, Nancy, have been hoping for a while.

Would be a bit much having a baby under the same roof as an undisciplined Shannon.

“None of your g—damned business!!”

None of your business.

Given Sunday’s strip I’d say it’s because they’re not having sex

Got to do the deed to plant the seed, and from yesterdays strip, that hasn’t happened for awhile.

I love the level of insensitivity Greg and Karen consistently display. There are women out there who desperately want to bear a child, but are unable to, who will not appreciate this story line.

They’ve studied fire fighting and child raising and chosen the safer job.

Has he met Shannon?

Yep – I’m thinking Toni doesn’t want one. Maybe Shannon is enough. This could be a problem for Brad – as I believe he wanted kids. We’ll see where this arc goes.

Now we may know why Toni was brushing off Brad yesterday. If they are getting asked this question by EVERYONE she may feel so pressed into a corner about it that she is now avoiding intimacy with Brad. Where before she enjoyed it, all this “baby talk” is now attached to it and she is clearly not ready. She’s described it as “scary” and that says a lot about her, her upbringing and her fears.

Pretty sure we saw the real reason yesterday: Toni is so against the idea of having sex with Brad that she changes the subject whenever he brings it up. And since he’s so whipped by her he allows her to play coy instead of insisting on an honest conversation.

I was our volunteer department’s training officer, so much wrong with those first panels

She is so Smart!

If asked that question again, they should tell the nosy slug about Shannon IN DETAIL. She would put anyone off the idea of having kids. They should get a dog.

She makes fun of Brad every time he tries to get frisky!

Brad’s thinking, “I still have that hot butter from yesterday…”

I agree with all the people who have said, “It’s none of your business, bud!” But, with the world in the shape it’s in because of global warming, I can’t imagine bringing a child into the world at this time. They’re talking about getting the carbon under control by 2050?? Way too late!check out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FqXTCvDLeo

“Too expensive.”

I was always just as blunt back when asked. I’d say “Nope..I didn’t get the Mommy gene.” Which was true. But I had hundreds of “children” as a riding instructor..I’m on my equal of third generation of students. I always added that I’ve had lots of kids..they just went home with the people who had to pay for their stuff and their college tuition!

Geese, not a week of this!

No one should have a child unless they really want a child. Every child deserves to have parents who wanted them.

OK, I’m going to say this once to Greg . . . DON’T YOU EVER DO ANYTHING TO HARM TONI!

could this be new storyline starting????

For maximum butting in, with 100% entitlement and zero compassion, this:

“When my husband and I got engaged, my mother-in-law threw a family party where, in the blessing she gave before eating, she blessed my womb. Walking vessel [for grandchildren], indeed.”

From last Friday’s Carolyn Hax chat: https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2021/11/05/live-chat-carolyn-hax/

Yeah, we sure need more babies.

Setting up serious home conversations…..or a pregnancy story line

Leaving all this laborious analysis aside. I’m just glad we have a Brad and Toni arc for, at least, a little while. Because I like reading comics.

They need to talk…

If Toni doesn’t want to be pregnant all she needs to do is be on birth control; she doesn’t have to resist having sex w/ Brad as she appeared to be doing yesterday. But yes, Brad was so thrilled to be just marrying Toni that he did not want to tackle any subject that could get in the way. Now he’s dealing with it along with the fact that he may never have the family that he wants.

I thought the problem was financial

I guess after the past two weeks of “The Educator” fiasco, we in for another week of “Sunday Moring” style comics.

Especially from nosey people!

Is that just a clumsy stab at “making conversation”, or an unwholesome interest in other people’s genitals?

People who ask questions like that have too many teeth, and any effort made to reduce the amount (e.g. a solid blow to the jaw by a fist) is acceptable.

I think its all on Toni. If it was up to Brad, they would have a kid.

It may have been a rude question,but it’s the question more than half of the readers are thinking.

Hey,Shannon would be a protective big sister,standing over the baby’s crib with a baseball bat.

Look at the superhero comics.People who save the world every day,but they’re scared yellow to have a long term romance.Does Batman even know what a girl IS???

Hey, if Brad wants to carry it, miss out on work, give birth to it and stay home with it (instead of letting a sitter raise it) then they should have a baby. Say what you will, babies are still mostly a women’s responsibility. What makes people think all women want that? If you have a baby itch as an outside party, go volunteer with kids somewhere-

“Mr. Jetson” could make a few suggestions for a boy and a girl name: Elroy and Judy!

One word : Shannon.

What a nosy doofus!!!!

That used to drive me up the wall when my late and much, much missed wife were newlyweds decades ago. Paul Reiser said it best on one episode of Mad About You: “What is it with you people? You’re single and it’s when you gonna get married? You get married and it’s when you gonna have a baby? Your kids grow up and it’s when you gonna be grandparents? What’s next? When you gonna die??” The implication is that no matter where you are in life, it’s never good enough for them. Rick Nelson was right. You can’t please everyone, so you’ve got to please yourself.

Babies cost money, time, effort and concentration. NOT a good idea for the serious fire fighter.

And, they have her niece as a strong negative incentive.

I suppose it’s meant as a joke; but I take Toni at her word. Being a parent is indeed a scary thing, nowadays for sure….

scary indeed

She has a point.

Wow, that dude is aggressive.

Is the new stop late I thought only 1 HR DLST

I have a better idea, jerk— why don’t you mind your own frikkin’ business? Punch him in the face, Toni…

I kinda like this firefighter, he always has a really big smile on his face.