Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for October 20, 2015

“I’m really good at listening, Piro.”

“When do you start the listening part?”

Interesting…

Not IF, but WHEN?

Nobody is getting any sleep here tonight.

’Tis always good to lend an ear.

Just what I said, only left a broader interpretation.

Oh SHUT Up, Bern!

And Turn IN Your R.A. Badge AND Flashlight!

On more than one occasion, a conversation lasted until sunrise, and was more than sufficiently satisfying.

Bless her heart – she’s trying to cover the bases. So near yet so far. I keep thinking somebody’s gonna “do it” before Brad & Toni “do it.”. No porn – just a window with the sun rising – and a guy’s pants and a bra on the floor… The “Luann” women are all more sexy than Betty & Veronica…

If you missed it: New poll up: Do you know anyone like Piro?

Breakin’ all the rules now, girlie girl…

He’s a taker. Doesn’t want her to talk. He likes silence and is rude when she says she can listen.

I’m almost sure that an episode of “Criminal Minds” has this scene as the cold opening sequence.

This is interesting, and a long arc, over a weekend. This has to be something big fellow Luannistas. What exactly? Greg, and now his daughter from what I read, is very good at dolling out the suspense.

Rude rejoinder by Piro.

Ouch, unnecessary roughness Piro! Ha ha:)

Calm down, Bernice! Let Piro get some rest, first….

They are making the couch ready for bedtime. Piro asked “when” for talking to Bernice. Looking good so far. Nice story.

He says so much with one word

Well, no sleep for the wicked! It’s gonna be talk/listen time from now until sunrise!

Laughed out loud Brd!

Phrases not often associated with Greg Evans: “That escalated quickly”

Seems like a nice guy

Piro indicates that he really does want to talk to her and appreciates her offer to help.Just a guess that he is newly orphaned, or just out of the foster care system and has no one to guide him through his quest to get higher education.

She actually is a good listener. She listens to Luann drone on all the time…but this time she needs to skip the part where she throws in a snarky comment at the end.

The hardest part of knowing all the answers is finding out the questions.

8To me this could be read two different ways:1) As some suggest, Piro saying “When” could be construed as rude meaning Bernice is talking WAY too much.or2) My first read of this earlier this morning was not that it was a snarky, sarcastic “When” but instead a….. “When” as in “When do you want to begin…. this will take me a while.” sort of answer. To me, Piro is not displaying a sarcastic/snarky expression, so I tend to favor my original impression (#2) above over the idea expressed by many that he was being rude or sarcastic.

The chatter of the painfully nervous…

Piro has a story. Let’s see how long it takes him to tell it.

The psych major/counselor part is meaningless when only a friend is needed.

Sometimes it’s nice if it’s both.

Bern is already shown as having a heart for a wounded bird (remember the guy in the wheel chair?) So Piro is already set to woo her over with his sob story. But will it end like the other guy? I’m thinkin’ “Yes”.

Pretend he’s Luann, Bern. For years you listened patiently to Luann. And whether or not you actually had any good advice for her, your silent listening helped.

Bernice just said what we all suspected….that Piro is not a dorm resident. Is he even a student? Either way, if he is not a dorm resident, he should not “living” there, going from friend to friend’s room. And if he IS a student….well, obviously he, or his parents paid tuition and must have ensured some kind of housing arrangement. Maybe we will find out soon?

I remember a guy who had a mix-up with his GI Bill tuition payment coming through, and he lived in a Datsun 510 station wagon in the student parking lot for the first few weeks of school.

I love how psych students always think they know what they’re doing when really they just know enough to be dangerous. It’s like a lieutenant in the army.

I do not think Piro is being rude or indicting that Bernice talks too much. Good grief!

OK, Bernice knows he isn’t a dorm resident. So she knows she’s breaking the rules by allowing a freeloader to stay there. It’s time for Bernice’s boss on the housing staff to find out about this and kick both Piro and Bernice off campus. This is a way more serious infraction than leaving all the dorm’s windows open!

Piro just wants to sleep. A normal guy would have already taken what Bernice is offering.

I think the When means, “when is a good time to talk? Not now because I very tired”. Piro is saying he does want to talk to Bernice, just not now.

> No place for that in college!!>Actually, there isn’t. Rules are very strict about freeloaders.

I always think Pollyanna when I read Mary Worth.

He likes silence.She talks too much (out of nervousness)..The WHEN? is a question about when she might shut up and perhaps listen.

She is talking the proverbial blue streak.

His saying WHEN is a comment, but not IMO a rude one.’It is surely not a caustic as Bernice’s long typical rejoinders to Luann.

Beggars can’t be choosers. That’s why I hope he isn’t being insulting. But this writing is so vague, who knows?

at Breakfast

I predict Bernice will be the “first” b4 Tiffany or Luann; And that those story arcs were teasers to set us up for this one so that when it happens, we are all caught off guard!

Speaking of ambiguous, imagine next morning. He is seen leaving their room looking unshaven. Then Bern leaves, looking a little guilty. What’re you gonna tell the Dean?

For those who suggest that Bernice is rambling because she’s nervous: she really doesn’t look that nervous. And, to me, she doesn’t sound like she’s rambling. I feel that she honestly thinks she’s doing something useful.

And for those who suggest that Piro is being ungrateful, sarcastic or snarky, my feeling is, as I’ve said before, that this guy has some serious issues (maybe as a vet with problems), because he has already said that he enjoys silence. He also ‘self-medicates’ by drinking himself into a stupor, another indication of someone with some problems. Self-medicators like this who don’t have a lot of funds will bounce from party to party, because they can get a lot of free drinks or drugs.

I’m just not seeing this arc as a romantic thing…

“not sure I see any ambiguity. The “when” is juxtaposed with Bernice rambling on and on. That’s the joke I assume. Maybe some snark, but not nasty IMO.”

At first I didn’t see any either. I thought it was just an honest answer from Piro to talk with her later. After reading the comments I understood the other way to read it, and realized that it made sense like that too. It doesn’t strike me as being nasty, just succinct. Some people are like that, very brief and to the point especially when they’re tired as I think Piro must be.

If today’s strip were not meant to be humorous, Piro would have just replied “OK” or even “When would you like to talk?” As it is, he is clearly commenting on how difficult it must be for Bernice to be a good listener when she talks so much. Maybe not the funniest joke on the comics page, but a perfectly acceptable one by the standards of typical strips.

> I really like this arc and look forward to finding more about Piro.>The only thing we need to know about him is that he’s staying in the dorms without paying for it, and Bernice is allowing it. Considering that Bernice has a full scholarship, she is playing a very dangerous game by so flagrantly violating school policy.

I interpreted (and still do…sort of..) the “when” as meaning ‘when do we start?’ But it almost has double meaning. It is a soft ‘when’ not bold caps or italics implying annoyance or sarcasm. Piro has shown himself to be a straight-up, to the point, ‘what you see is what you get’ kind of guy who doesn’t waste words or use them to create underlying meaning. And he likes silence so he’s a man of few words. At the drum circle party when he saw Tiffany in flimsy attire suddenly faced with going out into the rain, he offered her his scarf with one word.. “scarf?”, which suggests that he is also a gentleman. I haven’t really noticed any sarcasm on his part, except the possibility of it in the “when” . But I think he does want to be listened to…. we have several days to find this out.* Bern is full of Freudian slips (this time the ‘advice’ thing) but she recognizes them immediately and re-states her intent. We have to remember that Bern is just an 18 or 19 year old ‘kid’ (Piro is likely in his mid twenties) and so I give her a lot of credit for going where no other character in this dorm has gone… i.e. showing kindness to Piro and attempting to understand his situation at his level. After all, he showed up un-announced un-invited in her room. Tiffany made it clear (last year I believe) that he could likely find accomodation with her. But he doesn’t choose that. He shows up at Bern and Dez’s place. I really like this arc and look forward to finding more about Piro.

> His backstory may prove interesting.>Indeed it may, and Bernice should ask him about it – after she has kicked him out of the dorm and told him never to crash there again.

Is this the strip to which you are referring? Tiffany doesn’t actually invite him to crash in her place, but she does seem to find him interesting.

Well he’s about to be on her couch…

I too hope it is a serious, " when" …. sort of like “I’m ready to talk if you are.”

> thankfully Bernice is trying to outgrow the interminable priss you want her to remain.>It’s not a matter of being a priss. It’s a matter of not violating the most basic rules for all students residing in the dorms, and being an R.A. (and on full scholarship) to boot. Bernice is putting her “free ride” very much at jeopardy here. That’s not “prissiness”, that’s (you should pardon a delicate word around these parts!) “prudence”!

Pirogue: a flat-bottom boat used by Cajuns for getting around in the bayous.

Pyrite: Iron sulfide mineral, commonly known as “Fool’s Gold”. Don’t be taken in, Bernice.

And did those protests result in an “open to anyone” dormitory policy? I very seriously doubt they would have any effect at Moony, given the thickness of Bernice’s rule book. Remember, close all the windows!

I’d like to see Tiffany get the wrong impression, but not the obvious one. Last year, Tiffany found Piro sleeping in Bernice’s room after a party. So Tiff could see Piro leaving Bernice’s room in the morning and assume not that he was sleeping with Bernice … but that Bernice held a party in her room and didn’t invite Tiffany, after which Piro once again fell asleep on the floor.

What sort of sucker would you have to be, to pay for a room contract at Moony, when you can just stay with anyone who will allow it?

Hey! I remember ‘back in the day’ since I was in college during the ’60’s. And the protests had little to do with campus rules. There was this war thing goin’ on, ya see. And there was this other stuff called segregation. We were a little less involved in campus stuff back then…

SPOILER II

But not in the context that everyone will assume…

She is not only alone at the time, but it is quickly covered by something that makes her look like a real fuddy duddy…

> Bernice’s Belly Button>Is it pierced? (And why do I suspect it isn’t?)

Not likely to occur during this arc, either…