Dumbing of Age Book Twelve

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May 8, 2026

Neighbor

by David M Willis on April 28, 2011 at 12:01 am
  • 05 - Media Rumble
└ Tags: jennifer, joyce, sarah

Discussion (86) ¬

[ Comments RSS ]
  1. David Herbert
    David Herbert
    April 28, 2011 at 12:02 am | #

    That’s mean Sarah, she didn’t even act superior to you yet.

    • Jen Aside
      Jen Aside
      April 28, 2011 at 12:03 am | #

      Beating her to the punch!

      Punch in the FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACE

    • Rognik
      Rognik
      April 28, 2011 at 12:33 am | #

      Her reputation obviously procedes her.

      • David
        David M Willis
        April 28, 2011 at 12:35 am | #

        Well, Sarah did see Billie vs Ruth at orientation, so in a manner of speaking…

        • Plasma Mongoose
          Plasma Mongoose
          April 28, 2011 at 12:40 am | #

          So Sarah likes Ruth better then??

          • Ancestral Hamster
            Ancestral Hamster
            April 28, 2011 at 12:52 am | #

            Hey! What happened to your psycho cannibal Joyce avatar? It was pretty much perfect.

            • Plasma Mongoose
              Plasma Mongoose
              April 28, 2011 at 12:59 am | #

              I might bring that gravatar back, but I am addicted to making new ones.

              • Ancestral Hamster
                Ancestral Hamster
                April 28, 2011 at 1:20 am | #

                Okay, thanks. Well, if you enjoy avatar making, go to.

                (Still, the thought of Joyce being related to the infamous Donners on her mother’s side of the family amuses me. It would also explain much.)

                • Plasma Mongoose
                  Plasma Mongoose
                  April 28, 2011 at 1:42 am | #

                  You mean like the Donner kababs?

                • Ancestral Hamster
                  Ancestral Hamster
                  April 28, 2011 at 2:51 am | #

                  LOL! Had not thought of that. Now we know how the Donners served up the other members of the party!

                  “It’s all in the sauce.”

                  (Odd, there wasn’t an option to reply to Plasma Mongoose directly.)

                • Plasma Mongoose
                  Plasma Mongoose
                  April 28, 2011 at 4:43 am | #

                  It doesn’t like to branch out the replies too much.

                • Plasma Mongoose
                  Plasma Mongoose
                  April 28, 2011 at 6:49 am | #

                  @Ancestral Hamster: This comment thread doesn’t allow any more than 6 levels of replies.

                • Ancestral Hamster
                  Ancestral Hamster
                  April 28, 2011 at 9:51 am | #

                  @Plasma Mongoose: Okay, thanks.

                  (Ah ha! A new Joyce avatar!)

                • Plasma Mongoose
                  Plasma Mongoose
                  April 28, 2011 at 6:34 pm | #

                  Yes, and I modified her FAAAACCCCEE into the angry look myself. >:)

          • Seraph
            Seraph
            April 28, 2011 at 9:03 am | #

            In re. Billie vs. Ruth – I’m sure she does. We see a bully; she sees someone who’s keeping order. Since she has no patience for anything that interferes with her college education even a little, I’m sure she appreciates that.

  2. Gnoka
    Gnoka
    April 28, 2011 at 12:03 am | #

    I almost feel bad for Billie, she looks so nervous in the second panel.

    • creativerealms
      creativerealms
      April 28, 2011 at 8:06 am | #

      The pressure of college and no longer instantly being popular is getting to her.

  3. Qaxis
    Qaxis
    April 28, 2011 at 12:06 am | #

    Billie just wants a friend! Preferably one thats cool and can help her acquire alcohol and prestige.

    • calendarman27
      calendarman27
      April 28, 2011 at 9:35 am | #

      but alcohol first and foremost

      • Someone
        Someone
        April 28, 2011 at 3:44 pm | #

        No, no–she’s had the alcohol, she needs the prestige now.

  4. The Disgruntled Frogboy
    The Disgruntled Frogboy
    April 28, 2011 at 12:06 am | #

    Well, we’ll keep talking about you like you’re not in the room as long as you keep reacting to strangers like someone just shoved dog poo under your nose.

    • Bekah
      Bekah
      April 28, 2011 at 1:55 am | #

      I would not be sticking my tongue out if someone shoved dog poop under my nose. The risks of getting dog poop on your tongue are far too great doing that. And dog poop leaves an aftertaste that doesn’t go away for hours, no matter what you try to cover it up with.

      I am not speaking from experience.

      *shifty eyes*

  5. George
    George
    April 28, 2011 at 12:06 am | #

    Billie probably should have showered before doing this…

    • Plasma Mongoose
      Plasma Mongoose
      April 28, 2011 at 12:41 am | #

      …thus providing us with much needed fanservice.

      • NCP19
        NCP19
        April 28, 2011 at 12:59 am | #

        Yes, yes, a thousand times yes.

      • XLR
        XLR
        April 28, 2011 at 1:21 pm | #

        provided she wears her glasses of course.

        • Plasma Mongoose
          Plasma Mongoose
          April 28, 2011 at 6:36 pm | #

          That makes sense, steam is great for cleaning lenses.

  6. tmoney
    tmoney
    April 28, 2011 at 12:15 am | #

    billie is basically the cutest thing ever

    • DaniellePhantom
      DaniellePhantom
      April 28, 2011 at 2:07 am | #

      i disagree. joyce is.

      • dchorror
        dchorror
        April 28, 2011 at 8:53 am | #

        Both of them smiling together isn’t?

        • Lokitsu
          Lokitsu
          April 28, 2011 at 6:09 pm | #

          Don’t get too comfortable, I doubt you’ll see it often.

    • sarpiedon
      sarpiedon
      April 28, 2011 at 9:23 am | #

      I would hit that with Billie…ya know…if i was a DOA character.

      But hey I have a thing for cartoon asian chicks… 🙂

  7. Cholma
    Cholma
    April 28, 2011 at 12:18 am | #

    Shame on you, Sarah! Way to make a “great” first impression. You were more civilized to Joe. :/

    • Someone
      Someone
      April 28, 2011 at 3:46 pm | #

      That’s because she wasn’t making a first impression. Obviously! <..>

  8. SamUI
    SamUI
    April 28, 2011 at 12:19 am | #

    Billie’s face slowly morphs from psychotic glee to general poutiness over the course of four panels. Well played.

  9. arjay2813
    arjay2813
    April 28, 2011 at 12:21 am | #

    2 things i notice/think:
    1in panel 3 she probably thinks Billie is a friend of Joyce’s, which is not the kind of person Sarah is likely to want to meet, and 2 she’s not denying the not like anybody comment, lol

    • dchorror
      dchorror
      April 28, 2011 at 8:54 am | #

      Did she have enough time to in the fourth panel?

  10. Plasma Mongoose
    Plasma Mongoose
    April 28, 2011 at 12:23 am | #

    What just happened?

  11. Dahlia
    Dahlia
    April 28, 2011 at 12:43 am | #

    … *gigglesnort*

    • dchorror
      dchorror
      April 28, 2011 at 8:54 am | #

      You have made my day. Bravo. I don’t remember the last time I saw someone type that.

      • Dahlia
        Dahlia
        April 28, 2011 at 4:22 pm | #

        I’m glad~! ^ ^

  12. RickZarber
    RickZarber
    April 28, 2011 at 12:47 am | #

    Man, poor Billie. She just needs a friend…
    Let Joyce be your friend, Billie! Just let it happen!

  13. Kurai_Seraphim
    Kurai_Seraphim
    April 28, 2011 at 12:53 am | #

    Given both girls have the same smile in panel one, it isn’t that out there to think Sarah really does respond to facial gestures.

  14. Shift
    Shift
    April 28, 2011 at 1:01 am | #

    …the hell did that come from?

  15. Plasma Mongoose
    Plasma Mongoose
    April 28, 2011 at 1:20 am | #

    Wild Ass Theory: Sarah only acted that way to avoid the temptaion for her to pin Billie to the floor and ravish her.

    • Rikushadow5
      Rikushadow5
      April 28, 2011 at 1:43 am | #

      Liklihood of that being the case: About the same as Willis suddenly filing for divorce on the pretense that his wife said that Autobot Erector should win the TF Hall of Fame this year.

      Actually, I don’t really know the liklihood of that (apologies all around). But I’m too lazy to backspace, so I shall use a different analogy:

      It’s about 3,720 to 1.

      • Plasma Mongoose
        Plasma Mongoose
        April 28, 2011 at 2:17 am | #

        Never tell me the odds!

  16. Steven
    Steven
    April 28, 2011 at 1:35 am | #

    Sarah can tell from experience that Billie is the kind of girl who illegally partakes of substances on campus, thus making her own life miserable.

    • Rikushadow5
      Rikushadow5
      April 28, 2011 at 1:44 am | #

      Don’t forget that Sarah Narc’d on her previous roomates.

  17. Ridureyu
    Ridureyu
    April 28, 2011 at 1:36 am | #

    Time to start shipping those two.
    Clearly, Sarah was showing her tongue as part of some obscure mating ritual.

  18. Garrub
    Garrub
    April 28, 2011 at 1:40 am | #

    I felt that creating this Gravatar was pretty mandatory.

    • Garrub
      Garrub
      April 28, 2011 at 1:41 am | #

      also, that is not the gravatar I made. what.

      • Plasma Mongoose
        Plasma Mongoose
        April 28, 2011 at 2:18 am | #

        It takes about 10 mins on average for the new grav to show up.

        • Rikushadow5
          Rikushadow5
          April 28, 2011 at 11:10 am | #

          Maybe I should just refresh every hour or so for the Livejournal Emotion Faces Thing.

          • Rikushadow5
            Rikushadow5
            April 28, 2011 at 11:48 am | #

            Y’know, because you change your Gravatar every day or so.

            • Plasma Mongoose
              Plasma Mongoose
              April 28, 2011 at 6:38 pm | #

              True, true, I change my gravatar more often than I change my munderwear.

              • Bekah
                Bekah
                April 28, 2011 at 7:46 pm | #

                Munderwear eh?

                I am intrigued sir, and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.

                • Plasma Mongoose
                  Plasma Mongoose
                  April 28, 2011 at 8:09 pm | #

                  Munderwear: It’s underwear that makes you go MMMMMM! 😀

              • Rognik
                Rognik
                April 28, 2011 at 7:46 pm | #

                Wow, thank you for that TMI moment there.

                • Plasma Mongoose
                  Plasma Mongoose
                  April 28, 2011 at 8:07 pm | #

                  You call that TMI? Clearly you haven’t explored the internet very much yet if that’s all it takes to think TMI. 🙂 😛

  19. Makkabee
    Makkabee
    April 28, 2011 at 8:18 am | #

    Wow… for the first time ever, I actually feel sorry for Billie.

    Having tried acting like a decent (or at least polite) human being for once and getting burned for it, I wonder how long (if ever) it’ll be before she tries again?

  20. Zem
    Zem
    April 28, 2011 at 9:06 am | #

    Ooh, burn.

    Ten bucks say she’ll try to convince her not to see her as a friend of dweeb Joyce the next strip, and she’ll drop even further for Sarah as a result.

    Do it.

  21. begbert2
    begbert2
    April 28, 2011 at 10:57 am | #

    I can think of a few dozen different ways to express disinterest/dislike of a person you’ve just met, but I honestly would never have thought of doing *that*. What the hey?

  22. Romanticide
    Romanticide
    April 28, 2011 at 11:34 am | #

    Did either Billie or Sal made a mess in the bathroom or something? O-o

  23. Andee
    Andee
    April 28, 2011 at 2:14 pm | #

    Sarah reminds me of Snoopy and/or Woodstock.

    • Rognik
      Rognik
      April 28, 2011 at 7:53 pm | #

      ||||| ||| ||||| || ||||
      || |||| || |||| |||||||

  24. Jason
    Jason
    April 28, 2011 at 3:49 pm | #

    As DW pointed out, Sarah HAS seen Billie in public before (at the RA meeting), so she could be thinking many things:

    1. This is one of Joyce’s friends. Bleh.
    2. This is a freshman. Bleh.
    3. This girl is obviously an (underage) drunk. Bleh.
    4. This is the girl who started a fight with the RA. Bleh.
    5. This is the girl who thinks that being a cheerleader is a big deal. Bleh.
    6. This is the girl who yelled in Joyce’s FAAAAACE after Joyce tried to help her after Ruth threw her. Bleh.
    7. I hate people. Bleh.

    • Dahlia
      Dahlia
      April 28, 2011 at 4:27 pm | #

      Yeah, that’s why I gigglesnort’d, because I think Sarah HAS remembered seeing Billie before (and Billie, self-centered as she is, did not notice because she doesn’t give a flying f*ck about anybody else but herself), knows Billie fulfills the cheer-leader stereotype to a “T”, and is probably all “DO NOT WANT. BLEEEEEEEH.”

  25. Menachem Schmuel
    Menachem Schmuel
    April 28, 2011 at 4:49 pm | #

    This friendship is meant to be.

  26. gangler
    gangler
    April 28, 2011 at 4:50 pm | #

    I don’t get it. When was Billie talking about Sarah as if she wasn’t in the room?

    • Cha
      Cha
      April 28, 2011 at 5:46 pm | #

      She means Joyce, who has done that before, I think.

      • gangler
        gangler
        April 28, 2011 at 6:05 pm | #

        Ah, that makes sense. Iirc Joyce did it within just a couple strips of meeting Sarah.

  27. Hello, Mr. Anderson
    Hello, Mr. Anderson
    April 28, 2011 at 4:59 pm | #

    Sarah obviously is of the mindset that anyone who is friends with Joyce can be safely written off.

    • Henry
      Henry
      April 28, 2011 at 6:24 pm | #

      Which may not be a bad mindset…

  28. Cha
    Cha
    April 28, 2011 at 5:47 pm | #

    In love with Billie’s face.
    …just sayin.

    • gangler
      gangler
      April 28, 2011 at 6:06 pm | #

      I know you softballed it over, but it’s gotta be done.

      In love with Billie’s FAAAAAAAAACE!!? You say?

  29. Lokitsu
    Lokitsu
    April 28, 2011 at 6:12 pm | #

    The proper revenge would be to bring another new person to meet Sarah and once the tongue comes out, slap a smear of wasabi on it!

    • gangler
      gangler
      April 28, 2011 at 6:29 pm | #

      I don’t see why Wasabi has the reputation it does. It’s just flavorful. Nothing unpleasant about it.

      • Plasma Mongoose
        Plasma Mongoose
        April 28, 2011 at 6:42 pm | #

        I tried wasabi due to its rep but I found that I don’t particularly like the taste of it, at least it’s not as disgusting as mayo.

      • Rognik
        Rognik
        April 28, 2011 at 7:59 pm | #

        It is powerfully flavorful. For one such as myself, who doesn’t like spicy foods, it can be downright crippling. Namely, eating a glob of wasabi is not something you’d like to do.

      • Alex
        Alex
        April 28, 2011 at 9:01 pm | #

        Wasabi is great. Especially the real stuff not the $2.99 per pint stuff.

        • Hello, Mr. Anderson
          Hello, Mr. Anderson
          April 28, 2011 at 11:57 pm | #

          I, for one, love spicy food. Wasabi was one of those condiments my friends and I used to dare one another to stuff in our mouths. We killed so many taste buds back then. Good times

  30. Lina
    Lina
    May 1, 2011 at 1:37 pm | #

    I don’t usually party. I’ve been to a frat a grand total of once, refused to play beer pong, danced quite a lot, and kept an eye on my more drunken friends to make sure they didn’t do anything unsafe. I however, see nothing at all wrong with getting drunk sometimes. I don’t do the big party thing, but getting drunk with a few friends, ten maybe, in a safe environment with hilarious outcomes? I see nothing wrong with that. I think a few of the other commentators here have come off as kind of overly aggressive and judgmental (at least to me), and so i just kind of wanted to say that. I know that sort of thing isn’t what billie is referring to, but a lot of people here seem to have jumped on the whole “drinking is ok, getting drunk is bad” bandwagon, and I just don’t feel like that’s necessarily fair. I get drunk maybe once every two months or so, and I always do it responsibly, and I just don’t see anything wrong with that. Again, I get that I’m not the typical extreme that is being discussed here, but I just felt like saying that you don’t necessarily have to avoid getting drunk to be above that sort of scene, and that there is nothing morally wrong with it in my book, as long as it’s not being used as an escape (in which case it’s more dangerous than morally wrong).

    • Jess
      Jess
      December 3, 2014 at 5:59 am | #

      You’ve been to more frat parties than me, and I’m in my 3rd year of college! lol

  31. Lina
    Lina
    May 1, 2011 at 1:38 pm | #

    Also, yaaaaaay run-on sentences.

  32. Vincent
    Vincent
    March 4, 2014 at 6:52 pm | #

    Reminds me of Snoopy saying “bleah!” and sticking out his tongue after kissing Lucy when trying to beat her in an arm wrestling match. If I’m remembering how that Peanuts strip goes correctly.

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