For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for October 11, 2024

It’s gotta be the shoes!

For the longest time no one has asked me if I can run fast in my new shoes. Being an adult is stoopid!

The ones with stripes are faster.

Are they Nike or Adidas? Or just plain Keds??

This must be the first time that Rebecca shows up.

I always had Keds as a kid but remember feeling I’d be a better athlete with PF. Flyers because of their “Run faster/Jump higher” ads at the time.

For a second there I thought the joke was, “Can I tie your shoes?” because with untied shoelaces, Becky wouldn’t be jumping very high or running very fast for long.

That would have been a funnier joke. Just my opinion.

“My mama always said you can tell a lot about a person by their shoes, where they go, where they’ve been.”

Pen-is headed Farley killer!

Pen-is headed Farley killer!

Or this for tomorrow’s strip:

April: How high can you jump, Becky?

Becky: I can jump this high with these shoes!

April: Yeah, right!

Becky: Right! See this!

CRASH!

Final panel shows debris and a busted ceiling. Teacher looks in shock as Becky’s legs are dangling

April: Wow, those shoes really do work!

It is possible for Madison Avenue to be too successful. Such as those Nike commercials with Michael Jordan. It was such a hit, kids would kill to get the shoes.

Today’s strip instantly carried me back to my childhood and the moment I had to show my parents how much faster I could run with my new tennis shoes!

After trying Becky’s shoes on, hopefully April doesn’t go looking for a Candle Stick.

Maybe those shoes contain flubber

Wow! A Mars Blackmon reference!

April, it’s not the shoes, it’s who is in them!

If I could be you, if you could be me

For just one hour

If we could find a way

To get inside each other’s mind, uh huh

If you could see you through my eyes

Instead of your ego

I believe you’d be, I believe you’d be

Surprised to see

That you’ve been blind, uh huh

Walk a mile in my shoes

Just walk a mile in my shoes

And before you abuse, criticize and accuse

Just walk a mile in my shoes

Now, if we spend the day

Throwing stones at one another

‘Cause I don’t think, ‘cause I don’t think

Or wear my hair same way you do, uh huh

Well, I may be common people

But I’m your brother

And when you strike out through tryna hurt me

It’s hurtin’ you, Lord have mercy

Walk a mile in my shoes

Just walk a mile in my shoes

Yeah, before you abuse, criticize and accuse

Just walk a mile in my shoes

Now, there are people on reservations

And out in the ghetto

And brother, there

But for the grace of God

Go you and I, uh huh

Uh, if I only had the wings

Of a little angel

Don’t you know I’d fly

To the top of the mountain

And then I’d cry, cry, cry

Walk a mile in my shoes

Just walk a mile in my shoes

Yeah, before you abuse, criticize and accuse

Walk a mile in my shoes

Walk a mile in my shoes

Just walk a mile in my shoes

Yeah, before you abuse, criticize and accuse

Walk a mile in my shoes

I remember when the Reebok Pump was all the rage. My mother had a better idea: “Reeboks are a fad. Wait a while and see. When I was a kid Beatle sneakers were all the rage. Today people would laugh at you!”

Ah, April’s frenemy Becky. . .

The beginning of a long—-and rocky—-friendship

April is figuring out performance equipment advantages.

It’s the shoes Money ! ;-)

That would be a heck off a vertical jump for a little kid.

I can jump higher than my house. My house can’t jump.

“Okay, I lied.”