Dumbing of Age Book Eleven

Dumbing of Age

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3 days is still forever so long as that's when a FedEx package is arriving
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BUFFER WATCH Comics are currently drawn and uploaded through:

September 18, 2023

Tongue

by David M Willis on February 21, 2022 at 12:01 am
  • 03 – Trial and Sarah

└ Tags: liz, sarah

Discussion (193) ¬

[ Comments RSS ]
  1. Ana Chronistic
    Ana Chronistic
    February 21, 2022 at 12:05 am | #

    you SUFFOCATE christopher? you shove your tongue down his open mouth like the plumber’s snake? oh! oh! jail for sister! jail for sister for One Thousand Years!!!!

    • Ana Chronistic
      Ana Chronistic
      February 21, 2022 at 12:09 am | #

      FedEx nothing, try the USPS and a package sent in SEPTEMBER (2020)

      • John Campbell
        John Campbell
        February 21, 2022 at 12:20 am | #

        I had to renew my driver’s license in 2020. It took literally two months. And I did the actual renewal online; I didn’t send the form back to the DMV in the mail. I was driving on an expired license for several days because they just hadn’t gotten around to delivering the replacement. If my birthday were a month later and I lived in a state with voter suppression laws, I wouldn’t have been able to vote.

        • Rose by Any Other Name
          Rose by Any Other Name
          February 21, 2022 at 12:31 am | #

          So was I. The people at the BMV told me not to worry about it because everyone was delayed so the police were apparently not fining people for it.

          I drove on an expired license (with the BMV’s express instructions to do so) for three months.

          My birthday wasn’t anywhere near the election, though, so I didn’t have that issue.

          • mrnoidea
            mrnoidea
            February 21, 2022 at 12:57 am | #

            My birthday is regularly, like, a week after the election. It was frustrating in 2012 when I couldn’t vote, even though my 18th birthday was soooo close.

      • True Survivor
        True Survivor
        February 21, 2022 at 12:20 am | #

        Well you are Ana Chronistic, makes sense that time would get a little weird around you.
        Also, Fun Fact: Some of my relatives are friends with De Joy. They say he is being framed by the liberal media. I’m not sure I believe that one way or the other. I just stay quite and let them talk politics with the older folks while I enjoy their dog. She is very fluffy and very friendly and I love her so much.

        • milu
          milu
          February 21, 2022 at 5:49 am | #

          i would like to hear more about this dog, please.

          • Sunny
            Sunny
            February 21, 2022 at 11:25 am | #

            So would I. Dogs are infinitely better than politics.

            • True Survivor
              True Survivor
              February 21, 2022 at 12:23 pm | #

              Honey Bear is large auburn/orange goldendoodle. She is normally a very good girl but as might be expected of a COVID puppy who is half golden retriever, she is very excited whenever we first show up during a visit and runs in circles for a while in the front yard unable to contain her excitement. Also, she has a bad habit of stealing and eating paper.

              • Ana Chronistic
                Ana Chronistic
                February 22, 2022 at 12:00 am | #

                oooo I must pet this dog

      • Kyrik Michalowski
        Kyrik Michalowski
        February 21, 2022 at 1:46 am | #

        Can someone explain what is going on with fedex?

        • deathjavu
          deathjavu
          February 21, 2022 at 2:36 am | #

          Right? How in the hell can they charge for a given delivery service they basically have no intention of honoring? Seems like false advertising. (Currently bitterly waiting for a delayed package)

        • khn0
          khn0
          February 21, 2022 at 3:29 am | #

          If it’s like everywhere else in the world, they’re staffed for the 90’s (meaning already under- for then) and outsourcing all they can to uberized workers who rent vehicles to deliver mail, when not outsourcing the outsourcing, so it’s a bit like putting mail in Mario Bros II’s pipes (or Brazil’s pipes), and hoping it doesn’t land on lava or quicksand.

          • deathjavu
            deathjavu
            February 21, 2022 at 7:12 am | #

            Gah, 4 days late and there isn’t even an expected delivery date now, just a “delayed”. Rage rage rage.

            Got a new business model for FedEx, they could just charge a whole bunch for impossible delivery times like 1 hour and then just say it’s delayed. I mean, what’s stopping them?

        • L Rafaello
          L Rafaello
          February 21, 2022 at 7:58 am | #

          I have never had an issue with fedex or USPS, but I have had UPS fold a box containing two 40×60 panes of glass in half lengthwise. It was impressive.

          • Needfuldoer
            Needfuldoer
            February 21, 2022 at 2:57 pm | #

            United
            Parcel
            Smashers

      • Yet_One_More_Idiot
        Yet_One_More_Idiot
        February 21, 2022 at 2:55 am | #

        USPS nothing. My dad once showed me an email he had received from a friend in Australia, date-stamped 3 YEARS EARLIER.

        He’d assumed they had stopped writing to him, and they probably assumed the same thing. But really their email had just been delayed for 3 years for some bizarre reason. He wrote back apologising for the long delay but “I only just received your email yesterday”… xD

        • Decidedly Orthogonal
          Decidedly Orthogonal
          February 21, 2022 at 10:39 am | #

          That’s an interesting one. Sounds like a misconfiguration preventing different services servers from talking to each other. SMTP is a plain text protocol, so you can open that email in notepad and should be able to see the send and server delivery timestamps. 3 years is something all right.

          SMS has a doubling decay delivery attempt, so if you’ve ever wondered why your messages come in all out of order after your phone has been off/out of service, it’s because the server attempting to deliver messages keep doubling how much time they’ll wait before trying again. So the most recent messages will often come through first, while older ones may get held for nearly as much time as you were disconnected in the first place.

          • Masumi
            Masumi
            February 21, 2022 at 11:27 am | #

            Huh.
            Once, while I flew my hang glider off the high mountain for the first time, received several years old SMS on the phone I was carrying with me. It was spooky. I have no explanation.

            • Delicious Taffy
              Delicious Taffy
              February 21, 2022 at 12:11 pm | #

              Texting and gliding? That’s bold.

              • Clif
                Clif
                February 21, 2022 at 12:45 pm | #

                Well, you know, you got to do something to keep from being bored while up there by yourself. Just don’t drop the phone.

      • HeatherJean
        HeatherJean
        February 21, 2022 at 10:38 am | #

        2020? And you just got it now?

        Any chance it was stolenmisplaced by one of their temporary workers and held as evidence until now? Usually some sort of explanation is attached to packages that old.

    • Rose by Any Other Name
      Rose by Any Other Name
      February 21, 2022 at 12:27 am | #

      … shit. I need to order a plumber’s snake on Amazon.

      • ktbear
        ktbear
        February 21, 2022 at 12:53 am | #

        Thats…an actual tool right? Please tell me thats a tool. I mean for clearing drains not…Okay, Im gonna shut up now.

        • King Daniel
          King Daniel
          February 21, 2022 at 1:40 am | #

          Yeah, from memory it’s basically a supersize pipe cleaner (speaking of which, this is why pipe cleaners are called such—they weren’t originally for arts’n’crafts)

          • Needfuldoer
            Needfuldoer
            February 21, 2022 at 2:37 am | #

            A drain snake (also known as a closet auger or a drain auger) is a long spring made out of heavy gauge steel that’s fed down into a drain and spun around to break up or remove a clog that a plunger won’t budge.

            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbS6Akn2E4k

  2. Sirksome
    Sirksome
    February 21, 2022 at 12:08 am | #

    This was junior high?! Like middle school. Who even has time to care about that?

    • True Survivor
      True Survivor
      February 21, 2022 at 12:13 am | #

      I know. Middle-school is just hormone fueled hellscape anyway. Everyone is swore, confused, and crazy – best just to forgive and try to forget that whole sweaty mess.

    • Needfuldoer
      Needfuldoer
      February 21, 2022 at 2:38 am | #

      Ironic post/Gravatar synergy.

  3. Mr D
    Mr D
    February 21, 2022 at 12:08 am | #

    Jesus christ Liz

    • DudeMyDadOwnsaDealership
      DudeMyDadOwnsaDealership
      February 21, 2022 at 2:54 am | #

      Morose Self-inflicted Accuse-a-saurus Rex Older Sister,

      “Guilt and Apologies Aren’t For Girls That Are Fun To Hang Around” Younger Sister…..

      Both have different dads….

      Any Chance Mama Clinton was born blind and is a world famous Earth and Metal Bender with a killer wit?

      • RassilonTDavros
        RassilonTDavros
        February 21, 2022 at 9:25 am | #

        Sadly, I’m pretty sure that would also make her a cop.

        …well, okay, an ex-cop who realized that the police weren’t actually making any long-term change for the better or solving any of the societal problems she’d hoped they would and quit the force to find herself.

  4. Corlanthis
    Corlanthis
    February 21, 2022 at 12:09 am | #

    Cannot help but feel I’ve stumbled through a wormhole here.

    • Needfuldoer
      Needfuldoer
      February 21, 2022 at 2:39 am | #

      Ball State is in the Gamma quadrant?

      • Shadowsnail
        Shadowsnail
        February 21, 2022 at 11:04 am | #

        Everyone at Ball State is chillaxian’ like a Talaxian.

        P.S. Are you a friend of DeSoto?

        • Shadowsnail
          Shadowsnail
          February 21, 2022 at 12:16 pm | #

          D’oh! I mixed up my quadrants. I guess they’re gettin’ bizarre like a Jem’Hadar instead.

  5. Kyrik Michalowski
    Kyrik Michalowski
    February 21, 2022 at 12:09 am | #

    3 days is an eternity from the right perspective, a mayfly would kill for 3 days instead of just one.

    That being said, not letting Sarah know about it was a dick move. At least let her know that you are interested in Chris when/if he becomes available.

    • Thomas
      Thomas
      February 21, 2022 at 5:32 am | #

      Liz is right, of course. Since this is Dumbing of Age, three days last for six whole months!

  6. True Survivor
    True Survivor
    February 21, 2022 at 12:09 am | #

    Sarah is holding on to a grudge from middle-school? That seems kinda petty. Of course, I’ve never been cheated on (not that I’ve ever had the opportunity to be).

    • Thag Simmons
      Thag Simmons
      February 21, 2022 at 12:12 am | #

      Assuming it was anything resembling a serious relationship, it’s a really shitty thing to do and it absolutely is the sort of thing that you still feel bitter about years down the line.

      • Thag Simmons
        Thag Simmons
        February 21, 2022 at 12:17 am | #

        To be clear, this is middle school, it very easily could not have cleared the bar of resembling a serious relationship.

    • Mr D
      Mr D
      February 21, 2022 at 12:14 am | #

      Take in account, middle school for Liz, not Sarah.

      • Bix902
        Bix902
        February 21, 2022 at 12:50 am | #

        I don’t think Liz and Sarah are that far apart in age. I thought that this was still Sarah’s sophomore year?

        • Mr D
          Mr D
          February 21, 2022 at 1:21 am | #

          At the very least 2 years apart.

          • King Daniel
            King Daniel
            February 21, 2022 at 1:41 am | #

            Sarah’s 20, and according to her Liz is 18.

          • Carms
            Carms
            February 21, 2022 at 2:12 am | #

            nah they’re like, 15 months apart. There’s a bit where Joe is calculating how long their mum spent not-pregnant, and Sarah gives him the timeline.

            • Needfuldoer
              Needfuldoer
              February 21, 2022 at 2:41 am | #

              This one:

              https://www.dumbingofage.com/2021/comic/book-12/01-sister-christian/quickmath/

      • crow
        crow
        February 21, 2022 at 1:05 am | #

        Maybe Sarah is mad at the wrong person in that case

    • CrazyJ
      CrazyJ
      February 21, 2022 at 12:20 am | #

      To be fair, it was Liz who brought it up because she simply is incapable of comprehending all the other reasons Sarah is escorting her back to Ball State. To Sarah it’s probably not much more than an afterthought.

      • True Survivor
        True Survivor
        February 21, 2022 at 12:21 am | #

        I like your Avatar. Very handsome.

      • Spencer
        Spencer
        February 21, 2022 at 12:23 am | #

        Sarah did bring it up when Liz asked if Joyce had any hot friends a few days ago, however.

        I think it’s at the level of “buried it, unless it can be used as ammunition” for the both of them.

  7. Suet
    Suet
    February 21, 2022 at 12:11 am | #

    Is it too unreasonable to call Horny Jail on Liz?

    • Dean
      Dean
      February 21, 2022 at 12:22 am | #

      She was a minor. Horny probation would probably be sufficient.

      • mrnoidea
        mrnoidea
        February 21, 2022 at 12:42 am | #

        Horny Juvy?

      • Decidedly Orthogonal
        Decidedly Orthogonal
        February 21, 2022 at 12:45 am | #

        Depending on the state and her birthday, she’s possibly *still* a minor.

        • King Daniel
          King Daniel
          February 21, 2022 at 1:43 am | #

          Are there any states where 18 is still a minor?

          • anonymsly
            anonymsly
            February 21, 2022 at 2:04 am | #

            Not since 1995, iirc.

          • Spriteless Auntie
            Spriteless Auntie
            February 21, 2022 at 9:03 pm | #

            In Nebraska age of sexual consent is 19, unless the two people are less than a year apart in which case it does not qualify as statuatory rape. But 18 year olds are still adults who can vote and all

  8. Nono
    Nono
    February 21, 2022 at 12:12 am | #

    Okay, so… how did Christopher end up dating Sarah if cold and standoff-ish wasn’t his thing? Was she in a coma?

    • RassilonTDavros
      RassilonTDavros
      February 21, 2022 at 12:20 am | #

      My guess is that the cold shoulder was part of what Christopher initially found attractive about Sarah, only for it to start causing communication issues he didn’t anticipate once they were actually in a relationship.

      • anonymsly
        anonymsly
        February 21, 2022 at 1:54 am | #

        Yeah, I wouldn’t be surprised if the guy thought cold = cool and that she’d warm up and ‘be normal’ the more she got to know and trust him. Which is now how Sarah do.

    • DailyBrad
      DailyBrad
      February 21, 2022 at 12:20 am | #

      I could see it being that Sarah ramped up her school efforts and got less warm with him as a result, especially if she was still trying to get the scholarship she currently has. We’ve seen that her education is vital to her, so it’s possible her priorities shifted. It happens.

    • K. Ivan Ruppert
      K. Ivan Ruppert
      February 21, 2022 at 5:41 am | #

      I believe it’s been established that Sarah has not always been as closed-off as she is these days.

      • Wack'd
        Wack'd
        February 21, 2022 at 10:42 am | #

        Au contraire, it’s been repeatedly established that Sarah “doesn’t have an origin story.” At the earliest point we’ve seen her in flashbacks, she self-defines as a “bongoy killjoy misanthrope.”

  9. probskay
    probskay
    February 21, 2022 at 12:13 am | #

    exceptionally funny to find out that this was in junior high school and not any time later

    • Bryy
      Bryy
      February 21, 2022 at 12:37 am | #

      I interpret it as Liz using a phrase.

      • probskay
        probskay
        February 22, 2022 at 8:00 pm | #

        now that you point it out, that probably is the intention

  10. BBCC
    BBCC
    February 21, 2022 at 12:14 am | #

    I’d imagine that this Christopher situation is more of a microcosm of their relationship in general. I’m just enjoying the Sarah backstory.

  11. ADLegend21
    ADLegend21
    February 21, 2022 at 12:14 am | #

    I LOVE that this is in middle school and not like 8 months ago lol

  12. RassilonTDavros
    RassilonTDavros
    February 21, 2022 at 12:18 am | #

    I’m trying to remember if dating was even a thing people did when I was in Junior High.

    …come to think of it, what grade range would “Junior High” have been where Sarah and Liz grew up? For me, “Intermediate” or “Middle” was grades 6-8, but I understand that it can vary widely.

    • Darkoneko
      Darkoneko
      February 21, 2022 at 12:20 am | #

      as a french person, i have no idea what age any of those actually mean

      • DailyBrad
        DailyBrad
        February 21, 2022 at 12:21 am | #

        Highschool would be 14-18, middle school/junior high is typically about 12-13/14, age-wise.

        • Nono
          Nono
          February 21, 2022 at 12:51 am | #

          If anime has taught me anything, 13-14 is practically peak relationship drama time.

      • khn0
        khn0
        February 21, 2022 at 3:39 am | #

        But did you not grew up with US shows about high school and college?

        Ok, I forget the actors were always 20 whatever age they were supposed to be…

    • CrazyJ
      CrazyJ
      February 21, 2022 at 12:24 am | #

      My Junior High School was grades 7-9, with 9th grade I think being somewhat optional (some students going to high school for 9th grade, but it was more the exception rather than the rule).

    • mrnoidea
      mrnoidea
      February 21, 2022 at 1:06 am | #

      Dating was definitely all the rage in my middle school. By college, though, the majority of people seemed more focused on schoolwork and part-time jobs than anything else.

      • Clif
        Clif
        February 21, 2022 at 12:59 pm | #

        There was hanging out together and then there was dating. Actual dating required transportation, which in the 1960’s required a car and more than a learners permit, which pretty much restricted it to high school seniors and the occasional junior. For girls, you could subtract as much as three years, since they typically didn’t have to drive to date.

        But you can get a lot of relationship drama out of hanging out.

        • thejeff
          thejeff
          February 21, 2022 at 1:49 pm | #

          Depends where you are too. If you’re in an urban area, there are a lot of ways to meet up and go places without a car.

          But yeah, in general girls are likely to start dating earlier, car or not. For many reasons, many of them creepy.

    • Keulen
      Keulen
      February 21, 2022 at 10:08 am | #

      Middle school (what I guess some would call junior high) for me was grades 6-8, around ages 12-14 I think. I don’t know if other kids started dating and stuff at that point, but I know I definitely didn’t until high school. But then, I’ve always been terrible at telling when someone was into me romantically.

    • woobie
      woobie
      February 21, 2022 at 9:00 pm | #

      7th – 8th grade for me; 12 – 13 years old.

  13. Wack'd
    Wack'd
    February 21, 2022 at 12:18 am | #

    I think it’s fair to feel traumatized and hurt by things people did to you in middle school. There’s definitely stuff I carry. I do think, however, it has to be done with the understanding that middle schoolers are all basically monsters, and holding that hurt against the people they grow up to be is maybe a bit silly.

    • TheStranger
      TheStranger
      February 21, 2022 at 1:40 am | #

      You’re gonna have a hard go convincing me that “people change” in a world where a troglodyte who makes fun of the disabled and dismisses rape accusations with “nah she ugly” finds 60 million people willing to say “yeah! That! That’s what we need in a President!!!”

      People don’t change. People mature physically, they age, they tell themselves “I’m not that person anymore,” but they betray themselves with every vote they cast for the mean and the petty; every fleck of spittle they hurl at service workers; every haughty sniff that the poor deserve their plight, and should not be helped by the government, but by individuals who want to use them to earn Brownie Points for heaven, or else simply to have someone to feel superior to.

      People don’t change. Or, if anything, age makes them focus MORE on their own self-interest to the exclusion of all else. Not less.

      • King Daniel
        King Daniel
        February 21, 2022 at 1:44 am | #

        Oh hi Rachel, didn’t know you could access the comments. How are things going at IU so far this semester?

        • Delicious Taffy
          Delicious Taffy
          February 21, 2022 at 2:55 am | #

          Ouch. You didn’t have to come at ’em with a flamethrower.

        • Joyfulldreams
          Joyfulldreams
          February 21, 2022 at 3:07 am | #

          This is so much better than any comeback I could have thought of. A+, Five Stars, applause, the works.

        • Schpoonman
          Schpoonman
          February 21, 2022 at 12:30 pm | #

          Marry me.

      • eh, whatever
        eh, whatever
        February 21, 2022 at 5:42 am | #

        Some people change, others not. It really is that simple.

      • Inbar Fink
        Inbar Fink
        February 21, 2022 at 8:25 am | #

        … I think it’s really weird to go from a comment that says “it’s valid for Sarah to be hurt and traumatized by something that happened to her in middle-school, but you shouldn’t necessarily judge Liz forever for it because she was still a kid and what she did as a developing middle-schooler isn’t necessarily an indicator of what she would do as an an adult” and go “well, but Donald Trump exist and so forgiveness for past misdeeds is inherently wrong, everyone is always the same forever”.
        Like you DO remember that in this case we’re not discussing forgiveness for being a racist, sexist, capitalist monster, we are discussing a 14-years-old making out with her sister’s boyfriend? Those are kind of different things that deserve to get different framing.

        • Clif
          Clif
          February 21, 2022 at 1:04 pm | #

          Welcome to the Internet.

          Though I don’t disagree.

      • Tempo
        Tempo
        February 21, 2022 at 8:58 am | #

        The entire point of the comic is that people can change. Joyce and Becky were fundamentalist Christians and young earth creationists, among other things, now Joyce is an atheist and Becky wants to be a scientist.

        • Ike
          Ike
          February 21, 2022 at 10:05 am | #

          Not to mention Joyce’s arc is based on Willis themself.

          • Clif
            Clif
            February 21, 2022 at 1:08 pm | #

            Wait. That would indicate that Willis could change. We all know that that’s impossible.

            Next thing you’ll be wanting me to believe that reading the comic could help change people.

      • Keulen
        Keulen
        February 21, 2022 at 10:13 am | #

        Some people are little shits as kids and remain terrible as adults. Other people do change for the better as they grow up. The idea that nobody changes at all from when they were a kid in school is utterly ridiculous.

        And I might remind you that in the last election we replaced one president with sexual harassment and assault allegations against him with another.

    • Slartibeast Button, BIA
      Slartibeast Button, BIA
      February 21, 2022 at 2:12 am | #

      “holding that hurt against the people they grow up to be is maybe a bit silly.”

      Because it is important to give them a chance to fuck you over again.

      I don’t buy that people get more moral just because they are older. They get smarter, and have a better idea what they can and can’t get away with, and more inclined to avoid the consequences of their actions. But that has nothing whatsoever to do with admitting they were wrong or not wanting to do it again if they thought it would be a net benefit to them.

      • Delicious Taffy
        Delicious Taffy
        February 21, 2022 at 3:02 am | #

        Now, you know that’s not what was said. I know you do, because you quotes it directly.

      • Joyfulldreams
        Joyfulldreams
        February 21, 2022 at 3:17 am | #

        Middle Schoolers are monsters because they’re idiots who literally haven’t lived enough life yet to actually fully understand the consequences of their actions, nor have enough perspective to make (what we might consider to be) rational decisions.

        It has nothing to do with morality or admitting they were wrong or whatever. It just means that it is literally silly to hold against a grown person the actions and decisions they made when they were literally too young to have the sort of decision-making skills of a grown person. You ought to look at how they behave as an actual adult–yknow, like, recently?– rather than how they behaved as a child, in order to get a decent picture of whether or not they might fuck you over.

    • Keulen
      Keulen
      February 21, 2022 at 10:27 am | #

      Middle school for me sucked because I was bullied quite a lot by some kids for acting different from them, and I’ve realized after being diagnosed recently that it was probably because I’m autistic. I’m not gonna hold that against them now that we’re all adults, because while some of them might still be jerks, I’m assuming some of the kids who bullied me back then became better people as they grew up.

    • BBCC
      BBCC
      February 21, 2022 at 12:50 pm | #

      I don’t think it is, depending on the specifics about what happened. Sometimes if you hurt or traumatize someone, one of the consequences is they don’t forgive you, even if you’ve changed.

      But then I had a “friend” who was emotionally abusive when I was very young and I wasn’t even the worst case of her fucking with someone, so that might have coloured my perspective on that, but she had people remarking that her level of lying and lack of care about hurting others was not normal since she was like six.

  14. Darkoneko
    Darkoneko
    February 21, 2022 at 12:20 am | #

    the Fedex trauma is real uh

    • Kyrik Michalowski
      Kyrik Michalowski
      February 21, 2022 at 12:35 am | #

      What is going on with fedex?

      • Needfuldoer
        Needfuldoer
        February 21, 2022 at 2:46 am | #

        Willis ordered a Transformer, they neglected to deliver it for multiple days in a row, once getting as far as the next door neighbor’s house before turning around, even though the tracking info said it was on the truck.

        (My guess is it kept getting scanned as “on the truck” along with a pile of other boxes, but those didn’t actually fit on the truck so they were left at the depot with a bogus scan.)

  15. carcinoGeneticist
    carcinoGeneticist
    February 21, 2022 at 12:20 am | #

    I bet the driver is absolutely fascinated by this grade-A drama going on right behind them with complete disregard for their presence.

    Bets on them chiming in at some point before the ride’s over?

    • Katerly
      Katerly
      February 21, 2022 at 12:27 am | #

      Ten minutes ago he started to ask if they minded if he turned the radio on during this hour drive and then *this* happened. He’s now wondering if it would be rude to put in headphones or start taking notes for a young adult novel

      • Geneseepaws
        Geneseepaws
        February 21, 2022 at 3:01 am | #

        Take +5 for yer comment.

  16. Shitbird
    Shitbird
    February 21, 2022 at 12:21 am | #

    Yeah, I really don’t care for Liz and sympathize a lot with Sarah.

  17. Spencer
    Spencer
    February 21, 2022 at 12:21 am | #

    I mean, yeah, that seems right.

    Sarah dates a guy, this guy thinks she doesn’t actually like him, and then he’s told that actually she really cares deep down and that means she never has to say or act on this.

    (Please disregard that for months I was real insistent that Liz never swiped Sarah’s boyfriend)

    • Axel_Grease
      Axel_Grease
      February 21, 2022 at 2:05 pm | #

      I took Liz’s side, turns out she knew Sarah was dating him all along.

      • Spencer
        Spencer
        February 21, 2022 at 2:32 pm | #

        Well yeah, but then we get the info that Sarah’s usual behaviour made him feel that she didn’t like him and Liz runs defense that he just has to ignore that everything Sarah constantly does to affirm that she can’t stand other people.

        She kissed a guy who thought Sarah didn’t like him. That sounds like the kind of thing a 14 year old would do.

  18. Katerly
    Katerly
    February 21, 2022 at 12:22 am | #

    LOL that has such a “now that I said it out loud….whoops” energy and I love it

  19. Bagge
    Bagge
    February 21, 2022 at 12:23 am | #

    Well, I got my story time

  20. Stephen Bierce
    Stephen Bierce
    February 21, 2022 at 12:24 am | #

    *plays Julie Brown’s “Earth Girls Are Easy” on the radio of a pickup truck overtaking their car*

  21. DailyBrad
    DailyBrad
    February 21, 2022 at 12:25 am | #

    So, Sarah’s the Dorothy Zbornak, Liz is clearly Rue, Joyce is Rose, so who can be Sophia?

  22. Rakeesh
    Rakeesh
    February 21, 2022 at 12:28 am | #

    I mean, if Liz has never expressed remorse for it-and makes a habit of blaming her for it-why wouldn’t she ‘hold a grudge’? That’s not holding a grudge, that’s just not letting your sister treat you like shit.

    • Sam
      Sam
      February 21, 2022 at 12:45 am | #

      Also there is the acting like she would do it again in the present day if the opportunity existed. So it is like. You learned nothing and would do it again. You can’t exactly forgive and forget a past behaviour that is still something they would do again now.

  23. Cholma
    Cholma
    February 21, 2022 at 12:30 am | #

    This whole thing reminds me of a certain song:
    🎵 Lord help the Mister, that comes between me and my sister,
    And Lord help the Sister, that comes between me and my man! 🎵

    • Ray Radlein
      Ray Radlein
      February 21, 2022 at 12:49 am | #

      Love me some Puppini Sisters

      • Cholma
        Cholma
        February 21, 2022 at 1:13 am | #

        Never heard of them. The song is from “White Christmas” with Bing Crosby & Danny Kaye. It was sung by the “Haynes Sisters” (Rosemary Clooney & Vera-Ellen). Great movie!

        • Ray Radlein
          Ray Radlein
          February 21, 2022 at 1:56 am | #

          They’re a trio that does a lot of old sing tunes, and also does swing covers of new songs and some originals (which I had thought that one was)

          • Cholma
            Cholma
            February 21, 2022 at 3:27 am | #

            Cool animation on that. Here’s the original from White Christmas. Later in the movie, the girls can’t perform for some reason, so Bing & Danny wear their outfits and lip sync to the song. 😀

    • Schpoonman
      Schpoonman
      February 21, 2022 at 12:33 pm | #

      That song leapt into my head a few weeks ago and I hadn’t heard it in maybe 15 years. Your turn with the brain cell?

  24. Cmasta1992
    Cmasta1992
    February 21, 2022 at 12:43 am | #

    This is middle school? Sarah get over it!

    • Needfuldoer
      Needfuldoer
      February 21, 2022 at 2:31 am | #

      She’s gonna carry that grudge a long time.

  25. frogger44
    frogger44
    February 21, 2022 at 12:47 am | #

    Well now. That clears up a lot from yesterday. If this was Junior High-age, then she would’ve been around 12 – 15 years old? Old enough to try and save her sister’s relationship and also old enough to know better than to stick her tongue down his throat after a few days. Me thinks Chris pretty much hedged his bets on the younger sister giving him attention and was right.

  26. Derek
    Derek
    February 21, 2022 at 12:49 am | #

    Can someone from the USA please explain what Junior High is? Where I’m from we have primary (grades 1-6), secondary (grades 7-9) and tertiary (grades 10-12) schools.
    Also if you’re feeling generous please also explain what the heck is a freshman or a sophomore because I keep seeing those words and never understanding them.

    • Yotomoe
      Yotomoe
      February 21, 2022 at 12:52 am | #

      Elementary is usually (1-5)
      Middle/Junior High is usually (6-8)
      and High school is (9-12)

      • mrnoidea
        mrnoidea
        February 21, 2022 at 1:01 am | #

        Freshman = 9
        Sophomore = 10
        Junior = 11 (not to be confused with Junior High)
        Senior = 12 (not to be confused with senior citizens)

        • Slartibeast Button, BIA
          Slartibeast Button, BIA
          February 21, 2022 at 2:04 am | #

          Note that these names are repeated for the first four years of college or university.

          • Derek
            Derek
            February 21, 2022 at 2:25 am | #

            WHY?!

            • Needfuldoer
              Needfuldoer
              February 21, 2022 at 2:28 am | #

              Because!

            • Yotomoe
              Yotomoe
              February 21, 2022 at 2:40 am | #

              What, you want us to come up with 4 new names?

            • Slartibeast Button, BIA
              Slartibeast Button, BIA
              February 21, 2022 at 3:00 am | #

              I am not familiar with the actual history of the terms, but in the Good Old Days (i.e. before 1950) high school was usually set up as 4 years long. Finishing high school was all that was expected of people who weren’t going to be failures in life.

              (And back in the 19th century, a “school-leaving certificate,” basically a diploma for 6th grade (age 11-12) was the standard.)

              College was also four years long, but was not a thing expected of most people. College was a luxury only for upper class or upper middle class people, or for those professions which required more education like medical doctors or engineers. So for those relatively small number of people, college was sort of like a second round of high school.

              The modern notion that everyone has to go to some kind of college to not be a failure in life only developed in the second half of the 20th century.

            • Clif
              Clif
              February 21, 2022 at 11:45 am | #

              Tradition.

              • Clif
                Clif
                February 21, 2022 at 12:05 pm | #

                Actually, like a lot of things uniquely American, it was actually a bit of British society practice frozen in time into American culture. In this case, the terms apparently came from usage at Cambridge, although the origins go much further back. Freshmen are literally fresh men or newcomers. Sophomore comes from the Greek, sophos meaning wise and morose meaning dull or foolish. Basically a smart fool. Seniors, or 4th years, were originally called sophesters, the wise, and 3rd years were junior sophs. But junior and senior were long considered opposing terms, with senior designating the older person with more responsibility, and so Senior replaced Sophester and Junior replaced Junior Sophs.

                And that’s why.

          • Shadowsnail
            Shadowsnail
            February 21, 2022 at 12:02 pm | #

            When I went to college, they said that “freshman” was used as derogatory sometimes, so we were supposed to say “first-year” instead. Then we started saying “freshlings”, because we were a bunch of dorks.

            • Clif
              Clif
              February 21, 2022 at 12:12 pm | #

              Makes sense. But literally anything can be used in a derogatory manner. It all depends on context, you “commenter,” you.

              • Schpoonman
                Schpoonman
                February 21, 2022 at 12:36 pm | #

                I got an email from a local supermarket saying their employees were “heroes” and at this point in the ongoing pandemic I think it counts as derogatory.

      • Bicycle Bill
        Bicycle Bill
        February 21, 2022 at 1:52 am | #

        In my area the public elementary schools covered grades 1 through 6; junior high was grades 7, 8, and 9; and senior high school was grades 10, 11, and 12.  One or two of the elementary schools also offered half-day kindergartens.  That pattern still holds true today; the only exception is that ‘junior high’ designation has been replaced with ‘middle school’.

        We also had a couple of religious schools (Catholic and Lutheran); for them, grade school ran from 1st through 8th grade, and then directly to a four-year high school (grades 9 through 12) — and ditto on the half-day kindergartens.

    • Bix902
      Bix902
      February 21, 2022 at 12:56 am | #

      Generally in the US elementary school is kindergarten through 5th grade (some going through 6th). Middle School is usually 6th through 8th and high school is 9th through 12th. Freshman is a first year high school or college/university student. Sophomore is second year, junior is third year, and senior is 4th year. Sometimes people use “super senior” to refer to someone who is in their 5th year or more of college/university.

    • drs
      drs
      February 21, 2022 at 2:29 am | #

      The US has thousands of school districts so there’s no uniformity. I went to a 1-8 elementary school, though in 7th grade jumped to a high school (9-12) that had a 7-8 grade program attached, so I guess in a sense I went to middle school. This is the first time I’ve had that thought and I’m in my 40s now, we didn’t use the phrase then.

      But in general middle/junior high could be 6-8, 7-8, or 7-9. I would default to the latter but I watch a lot of anime, and Japan does seem to stick to a 1-6, 7-9, 9-12 division.

      For US ages, just add 5: you start 1st grade at age 6, start 12th grade (senior year) at 17, etc.

    • Doki
      Doki
      February 21, 2022 at 10:24 am | #

      Since I don’t think anyone’s said the actual ages yet… middle/junior high school would generally be 11-13.

  27. Yotomoe
    Yotomoe
    February 21, 2022 at 12:51 am | #

    https://i.imgur.com/S6PY1XU.png

    More Becky and Dina.

    • The Wellerman
      The Wellerman
      February 21, 2022 at 1:03 am | #

      Splendid Yoto! 😆

      Feeling inspired, I see! 😉

    • Cholma
      Cholma
      February 21, 2022 at 1:15 am | #

      Ha! That was good!

    • Jeff K!
      Jeff K!
      February 21, 2022 at 6:05 am | #

      I love how much Becky’s blushing in panel one, and you manage to get her to blush MORE in the next one!
      Initiate Overblush Protocol!

    • Clif
      Clif
      February 21, 2022 at 12:15 pm | #

      I approve on Amber’s behalf.

    • milu
      milu
      February 21, 2022 at 4:36 pm | #

      haha excellent! i love the teeth =B
      (i’ve only now managed to see it, i seem to have an issue with imgur lately for some reason)

    • ElderlyMarxist
      ElderlyMarxist
      February 21, 2022 at 5:17 pm | #

      this is so beautiful, love it (& v charming/in-character)

  28. Kravis
    Kravis
    February 21, 2022 at 12:57 am | #

    Since we’re on the subject of tongues going down in throats, how about we go back to Becky and Dina?

    • Spencer
      Spencer
      February 21, 2022 at 1:01 am | #

      We’re gonna cut back to them in the commons eating lunch and Becky’s just “wow, Dina, that was amazing! I’m so glad I’ve now come to grips with my fear of sex!”

      • Clif
        Clif
        February 21, 2022 at 12:21 pm | #

        They will be having cereal for lunch.

    • Slartibeast Button, BIA
      Slartibeast Button, BIA
      February 21, 2022 at 2:03 am | #

      “You’ve got your tongue down her throat, and her legs up on the mantelpiece…” – Bogus Computer Psychiatrist

      • Clif
        Clif
        February 21, 2022 at 12:25 pm | #

        Are there non-Bogus Computer Psychiatrists?

        I mean, I didn’t even know computers required psychiatrists.

        • King Daniel
          King Daniel
          February 21, 2022 at 6:10 pm | #

          No no, a Bogus Computer Psychiatrist is a psychiatrist who specializes in treating Bogus Computers.

    • BubbaFett
      BubbaFett
      February 21, 2022 at 5:44 am | #

      How about we don’t and let them have some privacy

  29. Judas Peckerwood
    Judas Peckerwood
    February 21, 2022 at 1:44 am | #

    That’s like double-forever in junior high.

  30. NinjaNick
    NinjaNick
    February 21, 2022 at 2:03 am | #

    Still feels like yesterday to some people.

  31. Tan
    Tan
    February 21, 2022 at 2:35 am | #

    For reference, as of this particular moment, 3 days ago was 6 months ago.

    https://www.dumbingofage.com/2021/comic/book-11/05-as-long-as-its-free/standing/

    • Delicious Taffy
      Delicious Taffy
      February 21, 2022 at 2:59 am | #

      I’d forgotten about the door-lecturing douchebag. If only that forgetting had stayed forgotten.

  32. Delicious Taffy
    Delicious Taffy
    February 21, 2022 at 3:00 am | #

    If it really was junior high, it just straight-up doesn’t matter.

  33. Amós Batista
    Amós Batista
    February 21, 2022 at 4:08 am | #

    USA got a real issue with delivery, isn’t? Like, I’ve seen a lot of news and funny videos, about mailing issues and shit…

  34. Biscuit
    Biscuit
    February 21, 2022 at 6:26 am | #

    Sheesh, can’t “cold and standoffish” people just be allowed to be that way without everyone making a federal case about it? Especially in junior high?

    I had an ex-boyfriend in junior high accuse me of being weird and cold because I didn’t feel ready to let him grab my boobs.

    • Spencer
      Spencer
      February 21, 2022 at 10:13 am | #

      There’s no degree of “cold and standoffish” to justify making demands of someone else’s body, but that’s not really “cold and standoffish” in this context.

      With Sarah, the issue is that she rarely makes any effort at showing she cares about people. She only really knows how to care in big, dramatic ways, and that’s tended to work so far in the series for Joyce because she’s had others to do the immediate support.

      With this guy, as Liz is conveying it, Sarah didn’t even give this guy any indication she cared about him. It’s exhausting to feel like you’re the only person making any effort to connect with another person, and eventually “I care, I’m just bad at showing” is just indistinguishable from not caring.

  35. Sharkfin Bangs
    Sharkfin Bangs
    February 21, 2022 at 8:49 am | #

    People really don’t get how long siblings will bring up stuff you did. Siblings can be like that. If Liz was a stranger it would be weirder, but siblings? There are probably a lot more stories both ways.

    • thejeff
      thejeff
      February 21, 2022 at 1:32 pm | #

      OTOH, with a stranger that would likely be all you remembered, so it wouldn’t be at all weird to bring it up – “Hey, I remember you, you’re the one who stole my boyfriend back in junior high.”

      Siblings are different as you say and it’s more likely to be brought up more gently as teasing rather than a long term grudge, since you’ve had a whole ton of other experiences with them.

      Unless it’s a pattern or seen as one, in which case each instance might reinforce the grudge with one case serving as the go-to example.

  36. Amós Batista
    Amós Batista
    February 21, 2022 at 8:58 am | #

    Shoving the tongue down in someone throat. This must be how young people are dating nowadays *taking notes*

  37. Keulen
    Keulen
    February 21, 2022 at 10:19 am | #

    Hey, it looks to me like Liz isn’t the horrible monster so many people in these comments are making her out to be.

    • Deviant
      Deviant
      February 21, 2022 at 12:17 pm | #

      Yeah, I mean she waited THREE days before making a move on her sisters boyfriend!

      • Delicious Taffy
        Delicious Taffy
        February 21, 2022 at 12:21 pm | #

        If the move worked, it couldn’t have been a very strong relationship. Also they were basically toddlers, which is the biggest reason it shouldn’t matter.

        • Deviant
          Deviant
          February 21, 2022 at 12:25 pm | #

          Yeah, I had to look up the age for junior high and you’re right. Relationship drama during that time doesn’t matter.

          Unless its a part of a longer pattern.

          • Delicious Taffy
            Delicious Taffy
            February 21, 2022 at 12:37 pm | #

            Oh, a pattern would be a different matter. It’d mean Liz routinely did that sort of thing. Of course, Sarah being Sarah, I can’t imagine it would be difficult for Liz to “steal” her boyfriends by presenting herself as a pleasant alternative. Not that I’m saying she’d be justified in doing so, naturally, just that it’s plausible.

            • Deviant
              Deviant
              February 21, 2022 at 12:41 pm | #

              I never did understand the whole “steal” idea.

              What about the boyfriends agency?
              Was he just innocent in this whole thing, not making any decisions about the thing?

              • thejeff
                thejeff
                February 21, 2022 at 1:39 pm | #

                Nah, he’s a jerk too, but that doesn’t make Liz any less of a jerk for it.

                • thejeff
                  thejeff
                  February 21, 2022 at 2:54 pm | #

                  Though, to be strictly accurate, we don’t know from this account how Christopher reacted to Liz sticking her tongue down his throat. It’s possible, if not likely, that he rejected her but Sarah found out and ended it anyway.

              • Axel_Grease
                Axel_Grease
                February 21, 2022 at 2:02 pm | #

                He is just a jerk that is long gone, Liz and Sarah are sisters and must see each other semi-regularly. Emotions are going to fester and there is only one outlet.

      • a/snow/mous/e
        a/snow/mous/e
        February 21, 2022 at 3:49 pm | #

        Christ could have died and risen again by that time!

  38. Deviant
    Deviant
    February 21, 2022 at 12:23 pm | #

    Wait, this happened in junior high? As in age 10-14?

    Unless this is part of a pattern, being mad over this is ridiculous. Whats next, Sarah giving Liz grief over Liz stealing the good bucket in the kindergarden sandbox?

    • Tan
      Tan
      February 21, 2022 at 12:56 pm | #

      As in like 4-5 years ago and probably Sarah’s first boyfriend.

    • thejeff
      thejeff
      February 21, 2022 at 1:45 pm | #

      That Sarah says, back when we first learned of this “I only didn’t tell you so you wouldn’t want to see him” suggests some kind of pattern. Whether explicitly trying to steal boyfriends or just other stuff Sarah had isn’t clear. Or whether it’s continued since then of course.

      It’s also interesting that when we first heard of it, Liz’s defense was that Sarah hadn’t told her she was seeing him, but here it’s clear that she knew.

      • Tan
        Tan
        February 21, 2022 at 5:55 pm | #

        Looking back at the comic you mention ( https://www.dumbingofage.com/2021/comic/book-12/01-sister-christian/pickyeater/ ), it sounds an awful lot like these are two separate events. Perhaps Christopher was the first time and the other more recent. If so, presumably we’ll be hearing more about it tomorrow

  39. Bysmerian
    Bysmerian
    February 21, 2022 at 12:37 pm | #

    You know, the fact this is coming out now instead of years prior puts some things in a different light.

    I mean, Sarah never apparently considered Christopher had approached her sister because he was trying to assess some very real relationship issues.

    Also telling might be that Sarah assumes in this story that he made the first move.

    Where this is heading, I don’t know.

    • Bysmerian
      Bysmerian
      February 21, 2022 at 1:11 pm | #

      Crap, for some reason I remembered the conversation differently. Bleh. That’ll teach me to post the next morning based on what I remember from right before I go to bed.

  40. Clif
    Clif
    February 21, 2022 at 12:39 pm | #

    Well, Liz was in Junior High. So say 14, with Sarah being 15 or 16 and the boy being 17. And then, of course, five or six years for it to fester.

    • thejeff
      thejeff
      February 21, 2022 at 1:40 pm | #

      It’s not necessary that Christopher was older – I don’t think we’ve seen any sign of his age.

  41. Spencer
    Spencer
    February 21, 2022 at 2:34 pm | #

    So wait

    Is Sarah the Raidah in this case for what went down between her, Jacob and Joyce?

    • Spencer
      Spencer
      February 21, 2022 at 2:36 pm | #

      On second thought, that comparison doesn’t gel like I thought it did.

  42. Emily
    Emily
    February 21, 2022 at 3:17 pm | #

    …this was in junior high, and they’re just talkin about it now? 😐

    • Rectilinear Propagation
      Rectilinear Propagation
      February 22, 2022 at 4:45 am | #

      It might be Liz’s first time explaining why Christopher approached her but it’s not their first time talking about it at all.

  43. Roe
    Roe
    February 21, 2022 at 5:17 pm | #

    Thinking about how the last three days in this storyline have been going on since August…

  44. Juanoku
    Juanoku
    February 21, 2022 at 10:08 pm | #

    I now understand why Liz hates her
    Dick move

  45. Rectilinear Propagation
    Rectilinear Propagation
    February 22, 2022 at 4:34 am | #

    Freaking FedEx, man!

    I ordered something from a clothing store that turned out to use them for shipping and they held onto my package for a week before even trying to send it out.

  46. Rectilinear Propagation
    Rectilinear Propagation
    February 22, 2022 at 4:59 am | #

    Also, the “Sarah shouldn’t be upset by this” comments are weird considering it was Liz who brought it up. Sarah already told her why she was taking her back to college. Liz is the one who decided that this was “all for revenge” and brought this up.

    (Pretend I have a super cut of all the times “all for revenge” got said in Pat & Liam’s LP of The Phantom Pain.)

  47. ziggy78eog
    ziggy78eog
    February 22, 2022 at 8:33 am | #

    So, if Liz was in Junior High, when she was caught making out with Sarah’s bf, that would make her, what? 12? 13? A 13 year old girl was tounging a High School boy, and that High Schooler just went with it. I wonder who Sarah was more angry at, Liz, for initiating it, or her bf, for, for making out, with a 13 year old girl.

    • thejeff
      thejeff
      February 22, 2022 at 8:48 am | #

      Sarah’s almost 2 years older, but only one grade ahead. We don’t know how old Christopher was, but it’s likely not that much worse than making out with her.

      She could of course have been mad at him for making out with her sister, but she can ditch him and not have to deal with him again. She’s stuck with Liz.

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