That look of horror on Elly's face is entirely justified if Elly thinks for one second that "I don't like my job" will quickly translate to "I am going to quit and have faith that fate will provide." I mean, that's what she would do, and it's what pretty much everyone she's related to will do - "I'm not happy, so I'm walking away, everything will work out." Whatever else we may say about John, he took his financial responsibilities seriously (and treated himself to a sportscar despite a carping wife who disapproved) and didn't decide "you know what? I'm not being given a daily ticket tape parade at my job, and I'm asked to do things I don't want to do. I'm quitting."
And because he never did that, everyone else he knows could, and did.
Imagine John moving his family into his parents house and then coming home one day and announcing "I decided that my job was too stressful, so I quit." Somehow I can't see Elly jumping for joy. Michael was able to do that because John paid the bills. Michael doesn't even have to buy his own milk and granola. Liz was able to do that because Mommy and Daddy have a house big enough for her and her bedroom is still there. She even gets laundry service- which makes her feel like the child she is. For all his faults, John is the only adult in this family.
It's really gross that Deanna always acts as if Michael is an irreplaceable treasure instead of a millstone around her neck. We are never given the slightest clue as to what she sees in him, but she dumps her fiancee for this guy she hasn't seen in twenty years until waking up at the hospital after a car crash? That other guy dodged a bullet if he wanted to marry an actual, functioning adult and not a pathetic handmaiden. There's nothing in Michael that is at all attractive. There is nothing in any Patterson that is at all attractive. We know this when the most decent of the lot is April.
And even she is no bargain what with her incessant whooping about war......which translates nicely into her being an insecure idiot afraid that no one wants her around.
My mother is 93. My older sister is 67. My older sister has not been homeless for the past 40 years because of the infinite charity of my mother. I think my sister prays that she dies before mom does, because sis is absolutely toast without a financial lifeline to sponge off of.
At some point, the Patterson kids needed to ask themselves "if mom and dad were not here, would I be making the decisions I am making now? Would I quit my job? Would I act as if I don't need money? Are mom and dad in some way keeping me in a state of permanent childhood, and what should I be doing about that?"
For some reason Lynn Johnston was obsessed with Rod quitting dentistry and she did manage to force him to do it on two occasions. Once in 1984 when she forced the entire family to move from Lynn Lake, Manitoba to Corbeil, Ontario. Then again, when she convinced Rod that she was going to retire and she wanted him to retire with her. Rod fell for it both times and then both times ended up going back into dentistry. He still does it to this day, so I think the guy really likes dentistry, unlike his comic strip avatar, John Patterson, who reflects what Lynn felt Rod should feel about working.
Somewhere, deep in her brain, the woman realizes that her career is a gift. Is she fails, she reverts to being the noisy loony married to a dentist. She does not like this.
When Rod did retire in 2002, he ended up working for Lynn as a part of the management of her organization. In The Comic Art of Lynn Johnston, she talked about waving the breadwinner status around as a reason for overturning anything that Rod wanted to do. I suspect that having control was a big part of it. When Rod was a dentist, she had no power over him or the money that he made. Rod returned to dentistry shortly before they divorced, so naturally I have drawn the conclusion that in my mind his affair was only a smart part of the reasons for the divorce.
If Elly's brainless incompetence as a hobby business owner is a guide to reality, their marriage collapsed because he tried talking sense to a narcissist.
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Lynn does not enjoy working
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That look of horror on Elly's face is entirely justified if Elly thinks for one second that "I don't like my job" will quickly translate to "I am going to quit and have faith that fate will provide." I mean, that's what she would do, and it's what pretty much everyone she's related to will do - "I'm not happy, so I'm walking away, everything will work out." Whatever else we may say about John, he took his financial responsibilities seriously (and treated himself to a sportscar despite a carping wife who disapproved) and didn't decide "you know what? I'm not being given a daily ticket tape parade at my job, and I'm asked to do things I don't want to do. I'm quitting."
And because he never did that, everyone else he knows could, and did.
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And when he dies, those assholes are toast.
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Imagine John moving his family into his parents house and then coming home one day and announcing "I decided that my job was too stressful, so I quit." Somehow I can't see Elly jumping for joy. Michael was able to do that because John paid the bills. Michael doesn't even have to buy his own milk and granola. Liz was able to do that because Mommy and Daddy have a house big enough for her and her bedroom is still there. She even gets laundry service- which makes her feel like the child she is. For all his faults, John is the only adult in this family.
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"It's so adorable that Michael spaces out when I'm talking to him!"
--DeeDoormat.
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When she blurbles about keeping him longer now that he can be a parasite living off his father's hard workhis own man, I ask "WHY?"
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It's really gross that Deanna always acts as if Michael is an irreplaceable treasure instead of a millstone around her neck. We are never given the slightest clue as to what she sees in him, but she dumps her fiancee for this guy she hasn't seen in twenty years until waking up at the hospital after a car crash? That other guy dodged a bullet if he wanted to marry an actual, functioning adult and not a pathetic handmaiden. There's nothing in Michael that is at all attractive. There is nothing in any Patterson that is at all attractive. We know this when the most decent of the lot is April.
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And even she is no bargain what with her incessant whooping about war......which translates nicely into her being an insecure idiot afraid that no one wants her around.
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My mother is 93. My older sister is 67. My older sister has not been homeless for the past 40 years because of the infinite charity of my mother. I think my sister prays that she dies before mom does, because sis is absolutely toast without a financial lifeline to sponge off of.
At some point, the Patterson kids needed to ask themselves "if mom and dad were not here, would I be making the decisions I am making now? Would I quit my job? Would I act as if I don't need money? Are mom and dad in some way keeping me in a state of permanent childhood, and what should I be doing about that?"
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Realizing that Mommy and Daddy are weaponizing generosity to punish them for having needs would do them a world of good.
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For some reason Lynn Johnston was obsessed with Rod quitting dentistry and she did manage to force him to do it on two occasions. Once in 1984 when she forced the entire family to move from Lynn Lake, Manitoba to Corbeil, Ontario. Then again, when she convinced Rod that she was going to retire and she wanted him to retire with her. Rod fell for it both times and then both times ended up going back into dentistry. He still does it to this day, so I think the guy really likes dentistry, unlike his comic strip avatar, John Patterson, who reflects what Lynn felt Rod should feel about working.
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When Rod did retire in 2002, he ended up working for Lynn as a part of the management of her organization. In The Comic Art of Lynn Johnston, she talked about waving the breadwinner status around as a reason for overturning anything that Rod wanted to do. I suspect that having control was a big part of it. When Rod was a dentist, she had no power over him or the money that he made. Rod returned to dentistry shortly before they divorced, so naturally I have drawn the conclusion that in my mind his affair was only a smart part of the reasons for the divorce.
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If Elly's brainless incompetence as a hobby business owner is a guide to reality, their marriage collapsed because he tried talking sense to a narcissist.
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