Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for August 03, 2020

Almost 0600 and Bernice didn’t even get one of her forty winks?

Wall Street Exchange is open 6 am Pacific Time. My friends are already awake at 5 am!!!!!!

LATE?! IT’S NOT EVEN 6:00 BERNICE!

At least she’s considerate. ✨

if Bernice considers 5:52Am to be late she must have been a real joy to Dez, who looks like a student to considers 10AL getting up at the crack of dawn. Also - they showed you where the toitlet was last night. If you need to go -- go. You don;t need their permission.

Avoiding consumption by the early bird

Bernice would LOVE it in the military, VERY disciplined and highly structured. Plus they are up bright and early everyday.

You’d think with all the episodes of Bernice and Luann doing the girl talk thing in Luann’s room that Bern would have slept over often enough to not feel like a foreigner in the DeGroot house. Did she actually move in with no discussion of food arrangements?

Well, I struck out again. I posited the ‘Bernice Moves In’ arc would end last Saturday.

Okay, Luann historians: Do we know anything about Bernice’s parents? Brother lost his job, so they took him in, using Bernice’s former room. Bernice loses her job and she’s homeless. (Did he not have a former room? Maybe it’s the yoga room now, like Tiffany’s old room.)

Since Covid-19 I actually do get up that early because if I want to take a walk without trying to social distance-ly dodge bunch of people on the park trails I have to get out there by sunrise.

Sheesh!

How in the World did this “poor child” survive her first semester of “dormitory life?”

Get used to living in the DeGroots house. That’s a whole different family dynamics here from yours. Just be yourself. Go potty and make something that does not involve cooking – cereal perhaps? You can have a hearty breakfast when the family is up.

Nancy works at the Fuse, Frank works at the Office and Luann has the summer off? Bernice has no job to go to. Bernice can use the bathroom before Luann is awake?

You worry too much, Bern – soon the DeGroots will get used to you. If not, they can build you a granny flat with a portable potty in a corner of the garage.

Is it even remotely possible for Bernice to be fun? She’s too young to keep the same hours as my dad. I wonder if she ever spent the night at Luann’s when she was a kid. Why be so uncomfortable? Take care of your needs!

Well, I’m usually up by 5:30. But then I have cats.

Eat cold cereal?

Bern is tightly wound.

Yo, Bernice. You’ve just come across your “epiphany”. Open your eyes. You’re beholdin’ to someone else for your shelter, even for your bathroom facilities Now you can be poor or you can be wealthy. You can own or be owned, but that Liberal Arts degree won’t put you in Tom Farrel’s neighborhood.

Start breakfast for everyone?

Get in the bathroom before LuAnn?

Am I missing something? OK, she’s an early bird and she doesn’t want to make a bunch of racket and wake everybody up. All right, that sounds pretty reasonable, and considerate.

But, her tummy is growling. She needs to wait for someone else to wake up before she can eat something? Why? There’s tons of reasonably healthy, shelf-stable food that she can store in her room. If she’s hungry, go and eat something! She doesn’t have to root around in the kitchen, banging pots and pans around, y’know.

She drank a lot of water and she’s self-conscious about using the bathroom? GASP! Why? Everybody goes, and should go when they need to. No reason to be ashamed and hold it in.

Sheesh, girl! Eat when you need to, and use the bathroom when you need to. The DeGroots are not cruel people and they aren’t the type to enjoy watching her deprive herself of basic human physical necessities!

Bernice is feeling like a guest – an overly polite one, at that, rather than a housemate. This phase won’t last forever.

Since likes to get up early, she can take over walking Puddles in the morning. It will ease her concern about disturbing the DeGroots with her normal routine.

Well lifestyle certainly is different. All part of a new stage between Bernice and Luann.

Definitely a morning person!!!

Let me get this straight – she’s hung around the DeGroot’s house for years, I’m sure including a few sleep overs, and she’s just figuring this out now?

I wonder what time she hits the hay? She could be on a schedule where she goes to sleep relatively early (like 9 or 10) and gets in her 8 hours or she might be one of those individuals who stays up to midnight or later and somehow gets by on 4 or 5 hours of sleep a night. Either way, props to them, I was about as much of a morning person as Garfield the cat when I was in college, I definitely tried to miss the class sections that started at 8AM and would rather take a class in late afternoon if a section was open…..

5:52? That’s usually about the time I go to bed.

I’m like you, Bernice. Just go out and take a walk for exercise to kill an hour. Or very quietly go make a cup of coffee and read Go Comics on your laptop. (What I do).

I wonder if Bernice is going to be the next Rosa.

As an early riser, I can relate.

My teenage granddaughters think getting up at 10 am is early.

Ha, I just checked the time and it’s 5:53. I’ve been up over an hour. I can relate to Bern since I have the same deal anywhere I go. If you don’t rattle pots and pans, most people never know you’re up. Coffee can be a give away though.

I got used to get up early to be at work for 7AM and out at 3:30PM. That way I had more home time. So getting up at 5:30AM is no big deal

This is exactly how I feel when staying over as a guest at a friend’s home. Much prefer to stay in a motel on my own when possible. Bernice doesn’t have that option right now.

I’m up now, and it’s 3:41am.

I get living with a friend is drastically different than a basic sleep over. Has she actually slept over since the Degroots have owned The Fuze? There’s a fair chance that prior to the Fuze SOMEONE was up before 6am. This is Bernice discovering what the new normal is for a family who’s schedule she thought she knew.

I grew up milking the cows at 5am. So I was always up early. Now at 67, I still have trouble sleeping past 4am. Of course, 10pm is often the latest time I ever see on my clock.

That’s me.

As a young woman, I slept till noon but usually I had been out clubbing intil 4AM.

Now as an older woman, I love to be up at 5AM, watching the sunrise while drinking my coffee. The house is still and I can hear my thoughts.

Then I can feed and walk the dogs by 7 and get the yardwork done before it gets too hot. Up here on the mountain you need to be done by 10 AM before it hits 40C!

8-D

Bah, yesterday I was up at 4am… I went to bed at 4:30am.

5 AM?!! That’s late; I work 50 miles away and have to be there at 6 AM, so it is a 3:30 AM wake up!

I’ve been waking up much earlier as of the present time.

No big whoop, Bern. Go shower, then hop in the car to Mickey D’s. Sausage biscuit for a buck.

Frank and Nancy are possibly already up and out …. Luann will be comatose until noon. :-/

There’s something really sweet about Bernice’s feeling of oddness♡. She’s really well educated and doesn’t want to wake up anyone. But at the same time, she seems so unable to understand who is not like her… I wonder what kind of people her parents are. Let’s hope that she will soon be able to adapt to the situation and that she will not expect others to adapt to her.

35 years of shift work. I’d been at work either 2 hours, or 10 hours by then. Still wake up at 0300, whether I want to or not.

About 4:15 am when I gave up getting back to sleep. Fairly normal,

Ahhhhh, more on the differences between Luann and Bernice. Seems Bernice had early classes and got use to the early cafeteria hours. Know my school hot breakfast was 6am-8am, cold from 8-9. As for getting up, get up! Bathroom is open! do whatever as long as you’re not making loud noises.

I’m up at 4:30 weekdays, and I don’t care how late I sleep on weekends.

Apparently you sleep that late.

In all the years Luann and Bern have known each other, they never had sleepovers at each other’s house? By now, Bernice should be a part of the family, why the anxiety?

By my schedule, and I’m retired, Bern over slept by 52 minutes.

I’m with you. Who sleeps that late?

I’m up and working outside at 5:00. Temps between 15 and 22. Who in hell wants to work when it’s over 30 out there? Crazy people.

Type A alert!

I am sick and tired of seeing Bernice complain every day! Bring back some Shannon or Ann Eiffel stories!

I loved teaching, but I did NOT love getting up at 5:30

I’m not sure this is gonna work out.

I take off for a bike ride around 4:45 a.m. this time of year on the Arizona desert to beat the heat

@Some commenters Sleepovers are vastly different from being a roomer. First she probably slept in Luann’s room; with Luann. She didn’t sleep in Brad’s room; with or without Brad (yuck!). She slept when she and Luann both got tired of talking and both probably were wakened by Nancy for breakfast; both being zonked by the late-night gabfest. She probably hasn’t had a “sleepover” with Luann in a couple of years; Luanniverse time. Except the camping trip, maybe.

As an adult roomer, she’s a stranger in a strange house. With a family that has an unknown schedule and rhythm of life. Recall that she’s never been in the DeGroot household since Nancy now has an job at the Fuse. All this plays on her natural insecurity.

I always have found Bernice to be a quite sympathetic figure that uses cynicism to protect her fragile ego. 8^ (

They get up and eat early in the military. It’s your future Bernice.

I don’t see Bernice in a counselor role. From what I see, based on her persona, she would make a fine financial controller.

I felt like this anytime I stayed at someone’s place. Give yourself a day or 2 Bernice you’ll learn the house rhythm.

Bernice, get up and tip toe to the bathroom! Close the door before turning on the light. Don’t make any loud noises! You don’t want to pee on the bed.

Just do what you need to do, Bernice. They’ve already had a tenant when Pru stayed there and should be well aware that other people will have their own routine.

Looks like this may be the summer doldrums arc for awhile. It may prove to be interesting. It depends on how the two of then interact as house mates. Between the two and among their friends.

Good question Bernice! Also good eyes in the third panel!

As many times as Bernice has been such a pain I have to say I am feeling really bad for her right now.

I feel seen! When I’m staying in someone else’s home I feel so weird waking up before them.

Thanks for sharing your sleeping habits! I am sure Luann’s mom will be up and if she isn’t, it is ok to get up anyways and the k out the kitchen!!

Bernice needs time to adjust.

Those pajamas she has on wake her up too early.

While I take the point of people who have practical solutions to Bernice’s dilemmas as a new tenant, as well as the fact that she must have stayed over at Luann’s for years, this strip really does show the awkwardness of those first days when you are sharing a home with people who are used to a very different schedule from yours. There’s a balance between trying to be thoughtful and not giving up your own needs, and that can take a while to figure out.

My day starts at 3am, work 5am. Sleeping in is 5-6am on my days off. Even though I set my alarm for 3am, it rarely goes off because I’m awake before it rings.

Although not up before 6 when I visit friends, I do get up before anyone else. Best time to get in and out of the bathroom, get a cup of tea/coffee and enjoy the quiet. My friends are retired.But if they were working, and if there were only one bathroom, they would have priority. That would be settled beforehand. I can empathize with Bernice. She’s not sharing a room with Luann and may not know the rhythm of the household yet. But, if you gotta go, you gotta go! ;-D

Nice to see Bern try and be a considerate freeloader.

Get up girl, and go turn on the coffee pot! There’s no one to interfere with your thoughts and routine.

the sun hasn’t even risen yet, I DID get up that early for opening shifts at my store, but I never actually liked doing it…

Maybe a chamber pot would ease her conscious.

Me on my days off from work

In my house the early bird gets the worm. The late bird gets bacon and eggs.

Here how to make a niche for yourself:. 5.50sm Use bathroom before anyone else needs it. 6.05am.Read, meditate, or study half an hour. 6.35am. Get dressed. . 6.55am. Go downstairs, brew a pot of coffee, and mix up a batch of pancakes for family.

They’ll be GLAD you’re the guest.

7

I think Bernice is being OVERLY cautious here. Her supposition (which I think is faulty) is that she should not follow her general routine. She likes to get up early, she is hungry early, and she has need to urinate.

At least in my own life, households of folks DO tend to have a mixture of different schedules. In my case, I tend to get up relatively early most days (similar to Bernice it seems) whereas my wife likes to sleep in later. In my array of offspring, there were some who were early risers, some late… and some who changed their timings on a whim.

Everyone can coexist successfully regardless of their own rhythm if they act with kindness, carefulness, and recognition that everyone is different. Bernice should be able to get up now that she wants to without causing any discomfort or disarray with the later roused if she is generally careful. Just like folks who bed early should not be persnickety and bemoan the night-owls if they too are considerate.

So, I think Bernice’s premise of not getting up until others are up is faulty because she can do what is appropriate for her own schedule and rhythm…. and just needs to do so with care. I suspect that Dez’s schedule did not align perfectly with Bernice’s no vice-versa. Bernice should know it is “ok”.

But…. I do think that the notion being expressed here, that she feels she should wait…. helps us to see that Bernice is a very caring individual, that she tries to do what is right, and she works to be a good person. She may not always get things right…. but no one does. She is learning and growing.

Now that I’m semi retired you’d be lucky to get me out of bed before 9am.

Bernice will learn. After a few days she’ll just get up when she wants to.

I had to laugh at this one. But Bernice, look at the bright side. You’re up first, so you get the bathroom first, the first shower, the first cup of coffee. Not to mention uninterrupted study time. It’s a blessing, girl! Trust me, in that house, nobody is going to hear you. Certainly, Luann won’t. She’ll be dead to the world until noon.

Early riser, huh?

Tiff’s first night staying at the mansion with Ann Eiffel (and Tom).

Tiff lies in bed, staring at the ceiling. She wants to get up, but Ann’s angry voice, and her current demand are still ringing in her ears, “Don’t you dare wake up before I do! Don’t go rooting around the house! I need my beauty sleep, and I have very sensitive ears! Since we are so good as to let you stay here, you will follow my schedule!”

Tiff’s tummy is growling. She’s really, really hungry, but needs to wait until she hears someone else getting up. Ann’s evil face is still in her mind, "…and I’m the one in control of the menu and the mealtimes. Do not wake up the cook if it’s before “our” breakfast time! If you’re hungry at some other, non-sanctioned times… well, I guess it’s all right if you keep a pack of water crackers in your room. Besides, you don’t need the extra calories!"

Tiff wakes up from having an Ann-related nightmare. She realizes that she needs to use the bathroom, but Ann had already covered that subject earlier. “No! No flushing the toilet or using the shower before I wake up. I can’t have the sounds of running water while I’m still asleep. I have the hearing of a cat! If you need to go? Hmmmpf! Just hold it in! It’s good discipline! Patience is a virtue!”

Luann’s “day” probably starts around noon; so there’s not much competition for the bathroom; and NO ONE ever complained about someone else getting up first and putting the coffee on.

Bernice would love the military….up early, eat early. The live fire exercises would probably send her into a fit of whining.

Now that I work from home, I can stay up til 1 am and get up at 7:30 to go to work. DEVINE

Tomorrow, we see Bernice get up very quietly, tiptoe over to get her pants, a trench coat, a helmet, and her baseball bat (no shoes or slippers as they may make a tapping sound on the floor). She dresses very slowly as to not make any sound whatsoever. She quietly tiptoes out of her room, down the hall, and closes the bathroom door slowly and silently. Not a sound to be heard. Next panel, we see where Greg has drawn in tall letters coming out from the closed bathroom door a huge, jagged, explosive – bordered >>PHOOOTT!!!<<

.

Last panel, A bleary – eyed, disheveled Frank is sitting on the edge of the bed with a very concerned – looking Nancy looking on while he is on the phone with the 911 operator telling them that it is too dark to see, but he thinks there was a really bad car wreck that had just happened out front.

.

By the weekend, the 911 operator noted that this is the 5th call this week from this number reporting a car wreck at 5:56 in the morning.

Now, I realize that this was probably done by the artists so readers would realize that Bernice was awake before dawn, but I’m wondering what the rationale would be for Bernice to have no drapes or window shades drawn on the window? After all, when she let Piro stay in the other room of her suite and she needed to get up, she covered her PJs with a lot of other clothes just so he wouldn’t get any ‘ideas’. So I can’t imagine her leaving a window without covering at night…

My daughter goes to bed around that time.

Take this opportunity to try to get over some of your weirdness, Bernie. No sane person gets up so early unless it is absolutely necessary….

I wish I could

This gag is getting a bit old. Did it really need 4 days+?