For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for April 19, 2022

anybody got some Pepto Bismo for Lawrence?

Whew! That was close. This was heading off into a serious conversation about whether or not gay people are sick and just how open-minded Michael Patterson is. Thank goodness the timer went off on the punchline-generator and it interrupted just in time for the 4th panel.

He needs a place to stay for a while. You need to talk to your parents Mike.

Huh? It’s 3am and the place still had 11 jelly (really jam) donuts left? I don’t think so.

A spoonful of spirit of ipecac will cure that.

Y’know, I betcha that notorious homophobe, Anita Bryant, would approve of Greg and Connie!!

If I’m going to eat a dozen donuts, then I would want some variety… Not just one type…

I’m starting to see a whole new side to Mike I hadn’t thought possible. I guess he did learn some things from his parents, afterall.

Even (especially?) these days the streets have a lot of kids out there whose parents have kicked them out their homes.

And yet the putzes in these comments are far more concerned about cartoon donuts.

All that sugar and caffeine. I’m thinking a run around town is not a bad idea. Well, at least a nice long walk. I find it easier to think things through and work them out if I’m doing something active but mindless.

A song for Lawrence and anybody that needs to hear it for just about any reason…

Version one (there’s a much longer version elsewhere. Both are good) -

https://youtu.be/A9RMr9KuVZo

And a good cover version -

https://youtu.be/DaVRYHfGnTs

Take nothing less – not even second best

Lawrence has a sugar and caffeine overdose.

Fortunately, God destroyed Sodom before Lawrence even got a chance to go there.

Does anyone notice the waitress has a cigarette in her mouth?

Now that is a true statement!

I’d wouldn’t recommend someone come out when they still live with their parents…if their parents aren’t likely to take it well. LGBT kids make up a disproportionate amount of the unaccompanied homeless youth. Something like 35-40%. Coming out can wait until it doesn’t endanger your safety.

When I came out to my parents, I was in college with a job and sharing an apartment with my two best friends. So when my Dad told me to get out of his house, I just went to my apartment. I can’t imagine how terrible it would have been after that rejection to have no place to go.

Yes…. he is mentally ill.

Ooof. 11 donuts and 6 coffees? That’ll turn any stomach.

This strip has done a good job at showing how horrible white people are. Greg and Connie are white, and Only Whites Are Bad (OWAB).

Mike your a Saint.

Oh, that type of sick. Friend you will be o.k. it’s your parents that need help.

With all the coffee Lawrence drank, he must REALLY be hyped up on caffeine!!

needs to take him to his house

Who wouldn’t be

Michael’s outburst of denial tropes the other day wasn’t exactly “open-minded.”

I’m not someone who believes that every strip needs to end in a gag, but it is nice to have a bit of comic relief in this story for the first time in well over a week,

My great-nephew’s home is a safe haven for him and his LGBTQ friends; only 1 other child’s parents are aware. Maybe having that haven will keep some of them from falling down a rabbit hole. As though being 13-16, already the most hideous age-span, isn’t enough of a nightmare. Poor things.

I know it’s meant to be a joke in a serious storyline, like Elly dropping the phone, but it’s a wise thing to say because it’s testing the waters for Mike. If he agreed Lawrence was sick, Lawrence would know not to trust him. And this comic reminds me that I do not miss smoking in cafes/diners/etc. Good riddance.

Lawrence wants to put his genitalia in a place where another man excretes? No wonder why many consider that concept sick.

Take him home, Mike.

11 jelly donuts and 6 cups of coffee is way too much, especially when feeling let down.

If this was a burrito place and Lawrence had 11 of those, then he would be telling Michael “3-2-1…Blast off!”

Next thing they know, Michael and Lawrence are the first Canadians on the Moon!

Having been a rescue safe house for years for my local Rainbow Alliance group. I have had, unfortunately, “guests” nearly every damn night for the last 20 years. Just tonight, I have three 17-year-old kids in rescue mode thrown out of their parent’s home because they are gay-no other reason than that.

What do I hear from them? Fear, sadness, anguish, trepidation, anger, frustration and absolute shock. Each is in their own room, and the safe house rules posted. The police officer assigned to my neighborhood was notified, and the parents told where they were staying for up to 90 days. He will help the RA coordinate social and mental assistance and then visit with RA members who remind the parents of their legal responsibility for their children, as well as give them PFLAG information, and listen to the parents—often they regret their rash decision after the initial shock is over.

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