For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for September 13, 2024

It would be better and cheaper to get up a little earlier and make breakfast at home and bring it with you, Elly.

That junk food doesn’t help that potato nose any..

Whom did Elly get that phone from? Zack Morris?

Looks like all the drive-through coffee joints in my town. I’m beginning to think no one knows how to make their own coffee. It get’s some re-enforcement when I see all the pre-made frozen meals being picked by the store staff shoppers for pick-up and delivery customers. They can’t grocery shop either.

Miniaturization is fantastic. I love how they can make the cellphone look like a desk phone at home, but it is so small it can fit on the seat of her car!

Is this the original strip or did Lynn change some things? A personal cell phone in 1995 would have been pretty rare.

If the government made all gas engine vehicles Hybrid, just think of the gas that would be saved at drive-thru’s and stuck in traffic…

At a previous job I had to commute to, I’d get up early and try to be in the office by 7am in order to leave early enough in the afternoon to avoid the afternoon rush hour traffic. The parking lot was located at the bottom of a long steep hill and at the base was a donut shop that opened at 7am. I could only stopped in when I was running late, and the line wasn’t out the door. The apple fritters weren’t always done cooking that early and had to settle for some of their “creations” like an “Arnold Palmer” donut with lemon creme filling and glaze made with tea. Lost a ton of weight since leaving that job.

Isn’t drive-up traffic always bumper-to-bumper? It’s when it gets to bumper-to-bumper-to-bumper-to-bumper-to-bumper-to-bumper-to-bumper-to-bumper that it become troublesome.

“For Better or For Worse” is always so relatable, but every once in a while we are reminded this is about a Canadian family….(highest per capita donuts shops in the world).

Park and walk inside. Done in two minutes.

Uhh… Let see now… Now I’ll have the… No, wait. I’ve had that yesterday. I’ll take the… Wait, that was last week… WOULD YOU PICK SOMETHING ALREADY?! SOME OF US HAVE WORK TO GET TO LIKE RIGHT NOW!! Well, thanks a lot! Now I’ve forgotten what I was going to order and will have to start over! AUGH!! Man, some people can be so needlessly rude…

Go inside, it’s quicker.

Another example of how Lynn’s not really committing to the mission of updating the strip. And ironically, while most of these feel pretty timeless, it’s the use of a distant forerunner of something modern that calls attention to it. I wish she’d just make the strip a period piece and be done with it.

We have here the first and only appearance of the Elly’s mobile car phone.

Since this is 1995, it will be interesting to see the Pattersons’ reaction to the verdict of the O.J. Simpson trial.

Ooga Farley!

Booga Farley!

Googa Farley!

Wooga Farley!

Blast from the past … big box thing on the seat with a corded phone receiver attached. Don’t shoot me, but I remember …

I just thought of Doug in a King of Queens episode.

Is she using a cell phone with a cord? In the first 2 panels, there is nothing on her right shoulder. The third panel, a coiled silver cord?

That is what cell phones are for.

I’ll be late until noon for a Krispy Kreme.And their coffee is better than the more-advertised ones

Fast food on the way to the office, Sounds like Friday morning favorite from days past for me! 2 sausage, egg & cheese taquitos and coffee please !

Wow, love that cell phone! It LOOKS like the kind that cost a fortune to buy and use, and was 75% Battery!

Here we have more proof that Elly doesn’t need to work outside the home and only does it to avoid raisjng April. Obviously, John can afford to equip Elly’s car with a cell phone in 1995.

I wonder how many people seeing this for the first time, are wondering why Elly has a cord on her phone.

The line wouldn’t be so bad if everybody wasn’t ordering a decaf triple latte with soy milk and agave syrup

Elly, you are never late if you show up with a dozen or two of hot fresh donuts.

I-95 southbound, south-central Florida, early morning rush. Red taillights as far as the eye can see, a mile or more down the road. And no doughnut stops, neither.

Shows how old this strip really is. When Lynn drew this, phone technology was 40 years ago, but the topics she dealt with were and are timeless.

if you walk into work with all the fast food, they are going to wonder how you were still able to find the time to get it.

you’re going to have to inhale it.

Hey, a CAR PHONE!!!

I’m betting Moira wouldn’t mind too much if a cup of coffee with her name on it showed up to the office when Elly did.

As a random thought: I’ve never seen the name “Moira” before. I wouldn’t even know how to pronounce it if I had to upon reading it…Mo-ee-ra? Mo-I-ra? Moi-ra? What ethnicity does this come from?

Looks like a line from a drive-thru Starbucks.

I remember a co-worker who showed up late to work every day…..with her Tim Hortons coffee in hand. And she still did this after getting talked to about being late.

That would be typical of a Timmy’s outlet. Always a long line at their drive thru during rush hour.

Oh

Must be one of her original comics.

I am not a regular visitor to the drive-thru, but every now and then Tim Horton’s calls out my name in the morning darkness and there is something ever so comforting about a Double-Double and a honey crueller…or three….

You better be buying for the whole store, Elly!