Dumbing of Age Book Twelve

Dumbing of Age

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adulting lesson three: ADULTING IS A RUBBISH WORD AND I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU'VE GOT ME SAYING IT
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June 1, 2026

Caught

by David M Willis on May 4, 2018 at 12:01 am
  • 03 - Faz Is Great
└ Tags: jason, walky

Discussion (109) ¬

[ Comments RSS ]
  1. Ana Chronistic
    Ana Chronistic
    May 4, 2018 at 12:05 am | #

    “also, you didn’t make fun of me saying ‘Waw-kay‘”

    • PB
      PB
      May 4, 2018 at 12:50 am | #

      I just read that earlier today for the first time. And so I thank you. 😀

  2. CleverTrousers
    CleverTrousers
    May 4, 2018 at 12:06 am | #

    Do the patrons ever read the comic ahead of time and keep refreshing the page so they can have something insightful to say thirty seconds after it goes up?

    • Maveric1984
      Maveric1984
      May 4, 2018 at 12:06 am | #

      Yes

    • SailorCake
      SailorCake
      May 4, 2018 at 12:07 am | #

      I always wonder that too :O

    • Doctor_Who
      Doctor_Who
      May 4, 2018 at 12:07 am | #

      I assure you, I have never had anything insightful to say in my life.

      • CleverTrousers
        CleverTrousers
        May 4, 2018 at 12:13 am | #

        Patreon is your TARDIS!? You charlatan!

        • Dean
          Dean
          May 4, 2018 at 12:31 am | #

          The Doc is on the $100/month ‘Get the comic before Willis writes it’ level.

          • Doctor_Who
            Doctor_Who
            May 4, 2018 at 12:35 am | #

            Considering the buffer, that means it’s late July here. So I’ve already gotten to see Deadpool 2, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Incredibles 2, and Solo.

            But the main benefit is the DoA comics.

            • Reltzik
              Reltzik
              May 4, 2018 at 12:47 am | #

              ….. wait, what does a time-traveler need with an advanced-viewership perk, again?

              • Cholma
                Cholma
                May 4, 2018 at 12:56 am | #

                Silly boy! Next you’ll be asking dumb questions like: “why does God need a starship?” 😀

                • Reltzik
                  Reltzik
                  May 4, 2018 at 1:01 am | #

                  Or “How is it that movie actually had a good line in it?”

                • Pablo360
                  Pablo360
                  May 4, 2018 at 8:16 am | #

                  Or “How much wood could a woodchuck chuck with those tiny little woodchuck arms?”

                • Deanatay
                  Deanatay
                  May 4, 2018 at 8:17 am | #

                  You’d be surprised how many terrible movies are so totally quotable.

      • Dana
        Dana
        May 4, 2018 at 12:16 am | #

        +1 Insightful.

    • Yumi
      Yumi
      May 4, 2018 at 12:08 am | #

      Almost definitely– more so the looser you’re willing to be with “insightful.”

    • Pablo360
      Pablo360
      May 4, 2018 at 12:16 am | #

      I’m pretty sure that’s Ana Chronistic’s entire MO

  3. JetstreamGW
    JetstreamGW
    May 4, 2018 at 12:06 am | #

    Meh. No harm no foul 😛

  4. miados
    miados
    May 4, 2018 at 12:06 am | #

    Adults let you pick which side of the coin to flip, but reveal that it is going to be a dice roll. sorry walky.

    • DSL
      DSL
      May 4, 2018 at 3:59 am | #

      No, we tell you it WAS a dice roll after the coin flip.

  5. Jengoci
    Jengoci
    May 4, 2018 at 12:08 am | #

    Oh yeah, Walky, now you go being a little brat because things didn’t go your way, stupid kid

    • DailyBrad
      DailyBrad
      May 4, 2018 at 12:11 am | #

      He’s drunk for probably the second time in his life and just got dumped earlier today. Cut the dude a little slack.

      • Delicious Taffy
        Delicious Taffy
        May 4, 2018 at 12:23 am | #

        No, he must behave perfectly at all times. Otherwise, the Old Gray will awaken.

    • Puckish Rogue
      Puckish Rogue
      May 4, 2018 at 12:22 am | #

      Don’t worry about it, he’s got a coming hangover to deal with

    • CleverTrousers
      CleverTrousers
      May 4, 2018 at 12:40 am | #

      Hey, the QC forum discourse is here.

      • Yumi
        Yumi
        May 4, 2018 at 1:01 am | #

        It’s funny seeing how the two forums view each other. (I prefer this one, personally. I mostly lurk in QC, and almost always regret posting because I know it means I’m going to go back to check for replies and what have you, and it’s often not an enjoyable space to engage in.)

        • CleverTrousers
          CleverTrousers
          May 4, 2018 at 1:48 am | #

          I just get angry.

          • Yumi
            Yumi
            May 4, 2018 at 2:55 am | #

            I posted there tonight and got a very condescending response, so I get that too.

        • Needfuldoer
          Needfuldoer
          May 4, 2018 at 2:23 am | #

          I generally prefer the traditional message board format over Reddit-style branching comments for general discussion, but I don’t go over there much. I’m not really into much of what they talk about outside comic discussion, and it always felt a little too easy to accidentally come across as a jerk.

          This place is alright. You’re all good folks.

          • Yumi
            Yumi
            May 4, 2018 at 2:59 am | #

            Format style, I agree, though I’m coming around to how comments are structured here. I mostly stick to the comic discussion there as well, but it still seems to get too jerkish, too often, too fast.

            • chris73
              chris73
              May 4, 2018 at 4:18 am | #

              Toe the line or else

  6. Passchendaele
    Passchendaele
    May 4, 2018 at 12:08 am | #

    Adulting lesson four: if possible, leave no witnesses

    • Pablo360
      Pablo360
      May 4, 2018 at 12:15 am | #

      Adulting lesson five: Never assume that an adult does not have britjas at their disposal.

      • Tacos
        Tacos
        May 4, 2018 at 12:20 am | #

        Adulting lesson six: Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200.

        • Marsh Maryrose
          Marsh Maryrose
          May 4, 2018 at 12:24 am | #

          Adulting lesson seven: If you have a choice between being smart and being lucky, choose lucky.

        • King Daniel
          King Daniel
          May 4, 2018 at 12:24 am | #

          Adulting lesson seven: Confess your sins, ready for the moment of adrenaline when you finally face your opponent.

          • Yumi
            Yumi
            May 4, 2018 at 12:28 am | #

            Adulting lesson eleven: Don’t get in duels, you morons, and if you do, don’t act surprised about someone getting shot.

            • miados
              miados
              May 4, 2018 at 12:45 am | #

              adulting realization number whatever.

              10,000 dollars is not a lot of money to have, but it is a lot of money to owe.

            • Stellar
              Stellar
              May 4, 2018 at 12:50 am | #

              Adulting Lesson Eleventy Two:

              Fifty nuggets for second breakfast only sounds like a good idea.

            • Pablo360
              Pablo360
              May 4, 2018 at 8:17 am | #

              Adulting Lesson Negative Eighty-Eight: When someone asks you if you’re a god, say yes.

            • OBBWG
              OBBWG
              May 4, 2018 at 12:17 pm | #

              Adulting lesson 133.7:

              Accept those things you cannot change.
              Have courage to change the things you can change.
              Have the wisdom to know where to hide the bodies.

              • Stellar
                Stellar
                May 4, 2018 at 1:00 pm | #

                Adulting Lesson 1984

                Big Brother Is Watching You

  7. Stephen Bierce
    Stephen Bierce
    May 4, 2018 at 12:09 am | #

    It Don’t Mean Nothing, the words that they say
    It Don’t Mean Nothing, these games that people play
    It Don’t Mean Nothing, no victim no crime…
    It Don’t Mean Nothing till you sign it on the dotted line!

  8. carl320
    carl320
    May 4, 2018 at 12:09 am | #

    Jason, adulting all over the place.

  9. DailyBrad
    DailyBrad
    May 4, 2018 at 12:10 am | #

    Next chapter, Walky BS’s his way into being in Texan law enforcement, in:
    Walky, Texas Ranger.

    • Marsh Maryrose
      Marsh Maryrose
      May 4, 2018 at 12:18 am | #

      And after that, he BS’s his way into an acting gig. But since there’s already a SAG-AFTRA actor named “David Walkerton,” he takes the stage name Walky Phoenix.

      • Delicious Taffy
        Delicious Taffy
        May 4, 2018 at 12:22 am | #

        Walky doesn’t rhyme with Joaquin, though?

        • Marsh Maryrose
          Marsh Maryrose
          May 4, 2018 at 12:34 am | #

          Close enough for punning. As I hear it, as least as much within pun-range as Walky for Walker.

          • Delicious Taffy
            Delicious Taffy
            May 4, 2018 at 12:41 am | #

            Wait. Is it not pronounced “JOE-uh-kwinn”?

            • Reltzik
              Reltzik
              May 4, 2018 at 12:48 am | #

              Wah-keen.

            • Yumi
              Yumi
              May 4, 2018 at 12:57 am | #

              Quick, how do you think you pronounce “Oaxaca”?

              • Marsh Maryrose
                Marsh Maryrose
                May 4, 2018 at 1:10 am | #

                Many years ago, I saw a restaurant in San Francisco that was named “WA-HA-KA!” I took me over a minute to get it.

            • Marsh Maryrose
              Marsh Maryrose
              May 4, 2018 at 1:01 am | #

              Wah-keen or Hwah-keen. (In Spanish, the first syllable is “hwah” but the interviewers I’ve heard just go with “Wah,” and for all I know that’s how he pronounces it too.)

              • Terry
                Terry
                May 4, 2018 at 2:23 am | #

                I can speak from experience on this one. My own last name has a “correct” way to pronounce it and the way everyone pronounces it. My family just pronounces it the way everyone does because it is easier than correcting them. We’ve done it this way for as long as I’ve been alive. Since my great grandparents and my grandfather are dead, no one I know pronounce it the correct way anymore.

                • Liquid Len
                  Liquid Len
                  May 4, 2018 at 7:58 am | #

                  One instance if someone making pains to correct the pronunciation of his name is NY Red Bulls player Alex Muyl. For the longest time, commentators mis-pronounced it “mee-YOOL” or sometimes just mule (like the animal). Last season he corrected the press and said it’s pronounced “moo-EEL”.

  10. Mr. Random
    Mr. Random
    May 4, 2018 at 12:15 am | #

    Breaking the law is okay if it’s necessary, until people find out.

    • Yumi
      Yumi
      May 4, 2018 at 12:16 am | #

      Depends on the law

      • Delicious Taffy
        Delicious Taffy
        May 4, 2018 at 12:20 am | #

        Are anti-buggery laws fair game, though? Asking for a friend. And also for myself.

        • Yumi
          Yumi
          May 4, 2018 at 12:24 am | #

          Are…all participants humans?

          • Delicious Taffy
            Delicious Taffy
            May 4, 2018 at 12:26 am | #

            Shit, I thought was, until you asked.

            • Delicious Taffy
              Delicious Taffy
              May 4, 2018 at 12:28 am | #

              NOW look what you did. Can’t even refer to self with first-person pronouns, anymore.

              • Pablo360
                Pablo360
                May 4, 2018 at 8:19 am | #

                Soon all other pronouns will suffer the same fate.

                • Delicious Taffy
                  Delicious Taffy
                  May 4, 2018 at 11:22 am | #

                  In that case, should continue messing up HTML and grammar, for the cause.

    • BenRG
      BenRG
      May 4, 2018 at 5:00 am | #

      The history of politics suggests that even after people find out, breaking the law when necessary can be deemed ‘okay’ and not deserving of further action.

      • Mr. Random
        Mr. Random
        May 4, 2018 at 9:16 pm | #

        Ah, nullification. The true loophole we all love until we hate.

  11. Screwball
    Screwball
    May 4, 2018 at 12:18 am | #

    Adulting, I’m not happy with it, I wanna cancel my subscription…

  12. AutobotDen
    AutobotDen
    May 4, 2018 at 12:23 am | #

    Walky needed to hear that.

  13. Bagge
    Bagge
    May 4, 2018 at 12:34 am | #

    Kinda good.

    You know, sorta.

  14. doombunny88
    doombunny88
    May 4, 2018 at 12:34 am | #

    I have to wonder. What are all the adulting rules? Cuz I certainly never got them. Though I think I’m doing okay. *I say as I eat tiny tortilla chip crumbs and drink salsa out of the jar*

    • Reltzik
      Reltzik
      May 4, 2018 at 12:53 am | #

      Adulting rules basically are “Whatever I can get away with without suffering injury or loss of life, property, social standing, or harm to people I care about.”

      It’s very much like kid rules, only with more complicated consequences, less illusion that the rules are or can be benign, sensible, or fair, and harsher penalties for screwing up. And people are less likely to bail you out.

    • DailyBrad
      DailyBrad
      May 4, 2018 at 2:18 am | #

      What are the rules (what-are-the-rules), What are the ruuuuuuuules

    • Bagge
      Bagge
      May 4, 2018 at 2:44 am | #

      Whatever the rules, you don’t get to make them. You just get to live in fear of them.

      http://www.dumbingofage.com/2012/comic/book-2/06-strange-beerfellows/cereal/

  15. TheLurkerAbove
    TheLurkerAbove
    May 4, 2018 at 12:36 am | #

    Or as we say around these parts, you can do anything you want as long as you don’t get caught.

  16. PSadlon
    PSadlon
    May 4, 2018 at 12:37 am | #

    Even good kids aren’t necessarily good 24/7/365 and the reasons behind doing wrong sometimes matter more than the fact it was wrong.

    • PB
      PB
      May 4, 2018 at 12:51 am | #

      Adulting lesson 4!

  17. Ainara
    Ainara
    May 4, 2018 at 1:15 am | #

    Adulting lesson 3: keep it classy, keep it sexy, you know how it is

  18. BenRG
    BenRG
    May 4, 2018 at 1:55 am | #

    Well, Walky, you’ve done your good deed for the day, it seems!

  19. Keulen
    Keulen
    May 4, 2018 at 2:13 am | #

    Adulting lesson number whatever: adulting is no fun.

  20. TemporalShrew
    TemporalShrew
    May 4, 2018 at 2:46 am | #

    Look at Jason over here, exhibiting more positive human emotions than he has the whole comic, like gratitude and joy.

    Gotta be the booze.

    • Mordecai
      Mordecai
      May 4, 2018 at 3:33 am | #

      No dandruff though, he’s sobered up

      • TemporalShrew
        TemporalShrew
        May 4, 2018 at 3:56 am | #

        Whoa, you’re right! I’ll be damned, he’s properly improving, if only just.

  21. Valerie
    Valerie
    May 4, 2018 at 4:14 am | #

    I don’t think that counted as gaslighting? It was just a lie. A big lie, but not one meant to make anyone question their perception of reality, which I think is what gaslighting technically does.

    • Joe Covenant
      Joe Covenant
      May 4, 2018 at 4:57 am | #

      Un-named bartender has had ‘her’ reality altered, surely…?
      Jason hasn’t actually been given a job at all!
      (You could argue that ‘his’ reality has also been altered, cos he’s certainly acting like he think’s he’s the bartender too!)

      • Eldritch Gentleman
        Eldritch Gentleman
        May 4, 2018 at 5:17 am | #

        I’d blame that on alcohol rather than any skill at manipulating people Walky might have. Still let the little guy dream, he’ll be paying for it soon enough anyway.

        • DailyBrad
          DailyBrad
          May 4, 2018 at 6:37 pm | #

          He’s craftier than he looks. See, his handling of parent-teacher time and how he turned the situation to his advantage making a good impression with Dorothy’s parents, without a drop of booze.

          He’s got this Peter Pan complex stuff in his head, but I think there’s a pretty decent adult in there if he could polish it and realize he doesn’t have to toss out his entire personality. Just, iron out some of the stuff for proper avenues to express it.

      • Kamino Neko
        Kamino Neko
        May 4, 2018 at 11:26 pm | #

        Those first and last sentences are ill-punctuated. I had to pause after a brief ‘WTF’ moment to process that you were using quote marks for emphasis, and not questioning the bartender and Jason’s gender identities. This is a definite situation when proper use of punctuation is important…

    • Nelly Dreadful
      Nelly Dreadful
      May 4, 2018 at 3:28 pm | #

      Technically, I think this is more accurately qualified as a “Bavarian Fire Drill.”

  22. BenRG
    BenRG
    May 4, 2018 at 5:01 am | #

    I think that the time has come for Walky to walk back to the dorms through the driving rain whilst someone plays a tenor sax in the background.

    • Ryek Hvek
      Ryek Hvek
      May 4, 2018 at 6:45 am | #

      I’ll just put this over here, then

    • Bagge
      Bagge
      May 4, 2018 at 7:47 am | #

      For Walky, making his way back to the dorm through rain has rather different associations.

      http://www.dumbingofage.com/2014/comic/book-4/01-the-only-dope-for-me-is-you/terrible/

      • Bagge
        Bagge
        May 4, 2018 at 7:47 am | #

        NEVER MIND, I made my self sad sharing that strip, so yeah, I think you were perfectly spot on.

  23. FacelessDeviant
    FacelessDeviant
    May 4, 2018 at 6:30 am | #

    Someone will know. Lack of discretion is what got those guys there to begin with 😛

  24. Pablo360
    Pablo360
    May 4, 2018 at 8:20 am | #

    Adulting lesson number zero: What even are numbers

  25. Tealjoy
    Tealjoy
    May 4, 2018 at 9:44 am | #

    The hover text, I can’t breathe hahaha

  26. abysswatcher1993
    abysswatcher1993
    May 4, 2018 at 3:18 pm | #

    Jason, have you watched Hamilton? So Walky doesn’t need to know the one you banged was his sister? Are you ready to make the Walkerton Pamphlet?

  27. chris73
    chris73
    May 4, 2018 at 3:55 pm | #

    Walky (and Jason) could do a lot worse then having a look at this: https://www.artofmanliness.com/articles/semper-virilis-a-roadmap-to-manhood-in-the-21st-century/

    • 3oranges
      3oranges
      May 4, 2018 at 4:20 pm | #

      I think they could do a lot better than something that takes evolutionary psychology to mean fighting, hunting, and marriage with children – for every male, regardless of what they think is their orientation – are essential to manhood, even if it dodges some of the toxicity that suggests.

      I mean, just poking around a little, this is a source that talks about things like women as the traditional gatekeepers of sex, to be earned by men, which both ignores a lot of history and is an unhealthy way of thinking about relationships. We can do better.

      • chris73
        chris73
        May 4, 2018 at 4:55 pm | #

        Its a better path than what Jason, running from his Father, and Walky, I don’t even know what hes doing, are on right now though

        • 3oranges
          3oranges
          May 4, 2018 at 5:55 pm | #

          Walky, yeah, he has no idea what he’s doing. Because he’s been very privileged, and only just realized staying a child forever won’t work out for him. But that doesn’t mean he needs to be given a single path to tough-guy fatherhood, a male counterpart of the single path Joyce came in expecting. He needs to find some kind of responsible adulthood, but there are different forms of that to suit different people.

          For Jason, this one depressing day aside, you can look at the path he actually wanted to follow. He’s not simply running from his father, but trying to make it on his own. Instead of just leaning on his inheritance, taking a risk trying to establish himself in a foreign country. Trying to become someone worthwhile to other people, someone who can help others, in the form of a good teacher. He’s been awful at actually achieving such ideals, but do the ideals themselves fall short of what’s offered there? I don’t think all the battlefield courage stuff is what he needs; what he’s actually been missing is better understanding and respect for those around him.

          I think they both might get their eventually, it’s just slow. University is partly a time to find your way, and that’s important because everyone’s way is different.

          • chris73
            chris73
            May 4, 2018 at 6:04 pm | #

            “tough-guy fatherhood”

            So you didn’t really read the whole article then

            • Yumi
              Yumi
              May 4, 2018 at 6:13 pm | #

              Honestly, at that length, for a discussion of a webcomic, who would

            • Inahc
              Inahc
              May 4, 2018 at 6:16 pm | #

              what, is there a shocking twist at the end? was the majority of the argument a dream all along? 😛

              • Inahc
                Inahc
                May 4, 2018 at 6:29 pm | #

                …sorry, that was mean. :/

                • SgtWadeyWilson
                  SgtWadeyWilson
                  May 4, 2018 at 8:44 pm | #

                  …but it was also funny.

            • 3oranges
              3oranges
              May 4, 2018 at 10:07 pm | #

              I actually even looked at more than the one article. Tough guy applies even if it’s careful not to suggest bullying, and apparently fatherhood is key for manhood of even gay men. Like I said, it isn’t what these characters are missing, and while it probably helps some men it’s no more of a one-size-fits-all then it was when people first started rebelling against limiting gender roles.

              • 3oranges
                3oranges
                May 4, 2018 at 10:26 pm | #

                Afterthought: if there was much about listening and being more aware of the challenges and needs faced by those different from you, as Jason needed to actually be an effective helper for Sal, I definitely missed that.

      • thejeff
        thejeff
        May 4, 2018 at 7:25 pm | #

        History says a lot about this and little of it good.
        For all of our current problems, actual traditional masculinity was usually far worse. There may be some floundering involved now, but it’s nothing like the “good old days”. Thankfully.

        Like you said, this guy tries to dodge the worst of the toxicity. In some ways it sounds a lot like the theoretical ideals of the old days – chivalry and all that, skimming over all the nastiness that was masked by those ideals in the real societies that created them.

        • Doom Shepherd
          Doom Shepherd
          May 4, 2018 at 7:34 pm | #

          Any real society based on ideals is going to have to conceal a lot of nastiness. Idealists can be really horrible, which is why so many utopias that worked so well as philosophical treatises turned into dystopias when put into practice.

    • thejeff
      thejeff
      May 4, 2018 at 7:09 pm | #

      Oh, so that’s where you’re getting the whole “We need to get back to traditional masculinity” shtick from. I’d wondered.

      So, without digging too deeply into that site, what specifically do you think Walky and Jason could learn from it? Which of their flaws would be corrected by applying those principles?
      I’m not sure either of their current dilemmas would really be addressed by taking on a more protective role towards women, for example.

      How about other characters? Would Danny benefit from some proper manliness? How about Ethan?
      Are there guys in DoA that already are on the right path?

      Or, flipping it around, are there reasons this approach couldn’t be applied to the problems the women in the cast face?

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