For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for August 06, 2014

It’s hard to lose a friend who’s moving out of town.

Now, Connie, see why you Should have told Lawrence right away?!!! ;)

Really, How? First Elly is pretentious for feeling a bit of compassion and sympathy for the kid, and then somehow she’s responsible for Connie’s failure to tell the kid they’re going to be moving? And you still can’t help blaming Elly? Put the blame where it belongs, not on the person you seem to dislike the most.

Raised in a military family, moved every few years and still in touch with friends from those early days and if not in touch, still remember them.

I was going to fuss about her calling them animals but the rest is so sad and touching. @howtheduck, I don’t think he did a remote check. I think he heard it before and kept it bottled up inside.

I really wish there was an “ignore” button on here like on other sites. I know I can skip over other people’s posts, but with ignore they wouldn’t even be there to skip. It would help with trolls and some others who I fear need some deep psychological counseling.

@Felinefan55. I’m not sure if it’s really a deep psychological issue, but perhaps they were not raised to know better!

“You see, Lawrence, while the actions of grownups seems random and arbitrary, there is always logic. You have to move because your mom can no longer live in the same town as her ex-boyfriend.”

Remember when I was 10, my parents decided to buy a house in the “suburbs” of our little town; they had been renting. It was only two miles away, but seemed much further. I was pretty upset a leaving friends, neighborhood, etc; but got over it quickly once we had actually moved. You’re pretty malleable at that age.

I believe Elly is wishing her arms were bigger so she could hold the 2 boys closer. One sometimes wishes one’s arms were long enough to wrap one’s children from head to toe to protect them and/or console them. Or, at least, I did and I never considered myself a model mother. Even today, with my daughter and grandson both adults, I still wish I could protect them. I also feel the same way about my stepchildren and their children (from second and current relationship).

My dad was not the most responsible dad in the world and we seemed to move at least once every year, sometimes twice so I was born in Texas but had no real place to call my home town. I longest I ever went to one school was the last 3 years of high school. I hated moving and to quote rshive’s wife, “You can never go back”. Also probably why I am 65 years old and do not have any friends, never had a best friend, except my husband. When you move so much you don’t tend to make friends.

He didn’t do a “remote check” (whatever that is…) He heard it when he was at home, before the BBQ.

I remember learning that both my MLB baseball team AND my two best friends were moving out of town within the same week when I was 10. It was almost traumatizing because at that age (and in that pre-internet time), your world was already a small place and losing anything or anyone that mattered was a pain more acutely felt. That was back in 1970 but it still brings sadness today.

Yet again with dissing Elly. sigh.

Good answer, except for the fact that this was published exactly as is in 1985. There were no “remote checks” on answering machines then. If you know anything at all about real estate, you would know that an agent meets with the seller several times and gets a LOT of paperwork done before the house ever goes on the market. Connie could have been in contact with an agent for weeks up to when they actually listed the house so there was plenty of time for “before”.

Also, now you know why I said one of your guesses was about 1/3 right. It was the real estate agent, but Lawrence was not told directly, nor did he find out when the “For Sale” sign went up.

Frankly, no matter how she said it, you would find a way to object. Still don’t get why you read this comic when you clearly dislike a viewpoint character. I guess you like being annoyed. Or annoying other readers…

Love this <3

Does it bother anyone else that she called the “animals”?

@howtheduck-Please define ‘compaintometer’. Does it measure how much house paint is applied to the exterior of a building, or how many brush strokes an artist applies to a canvass? Just askin’…

In this case Elly, it’s enough.