Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for November 28, 2023

May I talk now?

Haven’t you been doing that for the last couple hours?

Maybe Alice can offer some sage advice, Joanie. She has been around the political scene a very long time. Just make sure that Elmont is out of the picture!!

Rick should shut up and keep repeating “Yes, dear” at regular intervals, like a stuck record…

So, I found the Venus and Mars thing to be a good tool for my caveman self. Is it still considered to be valid?:

Listen to her, Rick. Really listen hard.

Just listen. Don’t offer anything that can be construed as a solution. Offer a cup of tea, a shoulder to cry on and a foot rub, but nothing substantial because she does not want a solution, just your sympathy. If/when she wants a solution she will ask.

Husbands get this a lot – you’re the bucket she dumps her emotional trash into, and all you can do is never let it overflow.

Shut up Rick. You may only talk when I allow you to talk. Now pay attention, you’ve already missed your deadline anyway.

It’s really hard for people who are natural problem-solvers — a group that includes women — to be in Rick’s position. Joanie wants to vent, but even more she wants to rip someone’s face off and is just not that fussy about candidate faces.

Rick wanted to mansplain to her the way she ought to feel.

Mars and Venus are taken, so what planet is Joanie&Rick’s son from?

This one was especially hard to take, since it was the judicial coup d’etat, when the Supreme Court stole the election from Gore and handed it to Bush.

Ah, the eternal clash between the urge to fix the problem versus the need to vent. The code response in our house is “There, there, poor baby”. Works for us. Also see this: h**ps://>

Link didn’t work. Just do a search for “It’s not about the nail” on YouTube.

Rick, sit quietly, nod now and then, add “I hear you, Hon” a few times. This too will pass.

HIS job is to nod with agreement/understanding, say “Uh Huh” and “Oh my.”

You will get used to it. You will never like it, but you WILL eventually get used to it.

No mansplaining!

I assume rhe “1901” at the top of the strip is a (possibly intentional) Y2K error and should be “2001”.

It’s not about the nail.

Boy Howdy, if you think 2000 was a bad “churn”, you ain’t seen nothing yet. Trump is going to toss the Biden “Bennington” hires straight into the nearest EDD office. I understand learning to Code is a great fall back career. Very timely rerun BTW.

One would be better off on Mars than Venus.

He is not necessary for this “conversation”. Nothing she says is going to change what happened or the way she feels about it. If it really helped, she wouldn’t need to do it again every day for weeks.

What you do is immediately start doing something else .