For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for February 24, 2024

Oh, John. When will you ever learn? There is only celibacy in your future.

They need to bring gifts home for the kids.

How are they getting to Miami? That’s at least a three day drive from Canada.

All sorts of overpriced memorabilia, plus the duty free shop in the Bahamas.I still have a coffee mug with the image of our ship printed on it. Unfortunately, my tee shirt wore out after a few years.

Well, John—now you know where your wife’s priorities lie!!

How about just you and Phil go on that cruise?

Old habits die hard.

Well, that dream was over real quick.

Gee, a vacation cruise from Miami to Nassau and back to Miami. Would they even spend the night on the ship?

Well that’s thinking of Birth-Control

The last frame looked like John was trying to kiss Elly, and was surprised that she didn’t even seem to notice…

Can’t believe she is crazy enough to “blow off” the opportunity for some “couple time”!!! Shopping……REALLY?

Oh, and uhh… who’s taking care of the kids again?

But of course.

Aren’t cruise ships basically giant floating shopping malls?

They are going all that way just to take a cruise from Miami to Nassau?

And the wallet begins to shake with terror!

Better triple your projected cost for the trip John.

Miami to Nassau is a 2 day starter cruise. Plus, Nassau’s a dump.

It did not age at all that you would book a cruise… over the phone.

I suppose romance has a different definition to John and Elly….

It can be both, John!

The cruise ships have shops.

Nassau is very dangerous right now, raping and pillaging!

Women can deny it all they want, but there is some basic insatiable evolutionary need to gather. Shopping is the modern day equivalent.

Dat da dat da dat da det da det da, dat da dat da dat da det da det da daaaaaaaa………..CHARGE……IT!

Always. Then you get my age and wonder what the hell you were thinking, buying all that crap and now you can’t get rid of it without driving 100+ mile round trip.

We come on the sloop John B / My grandfather and me / Around Nassau town we did roam / Drinking all night / Got into a fight / Well, I feel so broke up / I wanna go home

When the wife complains about the marriage going sour ( the author too) she should look at this moment of self awareness in the story. Supposedly Lynn’s husband cheated. There is no excuse for that. but there can be many reasons. Having this kind interaction all the time is one of many. Again no excuses. But if there is a pattern of subtle rejection, especially with this grand a gesture, it does go a long way to explain.

When people split up, often there is a dual reason, unless one is abusive or something, which is not the case here.

Always, on a ship.

So now here come all the bathing suit anguish strips.

“Hopefully” a place to shop? In a resort town? Gee, do you think?

eat, shop, sleep, repeat until you’re home. Except for long waits in line, first to get on the ship, in the dining hall, and getting off the boat, I enjoyed the half dozen cruises I went on.

I don’t understand the appeal of a cruise at all.

Maybe Elizabeth is convincing April to stop pestering the parents to take her with them. She is probably in the other room:

Elizabeth: Think about it, April, we will have the house all to ourselves. We can watch whatever we want on TV! I can skip homework and you can blow off daycare! We can have cookies for dinner! Let’s see what else we can do…

Get some of that Ricardo Rum. So sweet, sugar crystals form inside the cap

In my experience, from being on a cruise that was a bonus for a successful project completion, virtually all the “excursions” ended up at a shopping venue even if they were billed as a nature or history tour, so El needn’t worry at all. The “free” cruise ended up costing thousands of dollars in tips, excursion fees, and other costs that were not anticipated at the onset. Never cared to go on another one.

That’s Cru-Elly, self-centered to the end!

Oh, I’m sure there will!

Hopefully….

For all this stereotype going around that grandparents spoil children, there has not been any of that in this strip. In fact, John and Elly spoil their kids far more than any grandparent.

It can be done in two days. OR they can fly from Toronto to Miami non-stop. Canada DOES have airports and airplanes. lol

This from the man who had to be reminded about Valentine’s Day while passing gigantic signs advertising it on his way to work every day.

TOO MANY places to shop