This strip is based on an actual experience in the beginning of my freshman year at college. I was walking alone, and was whistling Weird Al Yankovic’s “Buckingham Blues.” This guy was maybe 20 feet in front of me. He dropped his bag on the sidewalk, turned around, rushed to me, and started shoving me against my chest.
Anyhow, I was not as bold as Lenny or Bruno, and explained that I was simply whistling a song. Of course, I had never met (or realized I’d met) anyone gay at that point, and so i was mostly just flustered and confused. I wonder how I would have reacted a couple years later… Hm. Hopefully a bit better.
The problem with picking on someone and their choices too much, is that they begin to expect it. But I like that Bruno is a 3 dimensional character, where sides like this show perhaps a less pretty side of her personality.
I always try my best, when feeling like others are being ridiculous, to see if the same finger can be pointed at me. And I try not to be a moral dick about it to others.
This has been a consistently popular strip. For me, I think it was simply the first thing I thought of, “my, that might get confusing.”
This storyline came about because the summer after dropping out of UMass, I house sat in New Orleans, a mix of wanting to be close to my brother who was living there at the time, and not knowing what to do next with my life.
Lenny’s Mug reads, “Jove’s Drink.”
These numbers may seem a bit low, but it was based on my own situation. I was paying in-state tuition at a UMass, and also was receiving various loans and financial aid.
The problem when authoritative figures (parents, teachers, bosses, etc) no longer have authority, is that the relationship between power and powerless has already been established and gotten used to. In this case, I’m not sure who’s more blind to the change, Bruno or her dad.
if the last two strips seemed out of place…. they were. I grabbed the files from the wrong folder. So… back to our regularly scheduled program: Bruno readying to go to New Orleans.
I think a lot of Bruno is about the inner struggle to stand up to outside pressures. I think she is perhaps being a tad rude and insensitive here, but I agree with where she stands. She is an adult, and he is trying to tell her what to do. it might be wise to listen to him, but he has no authority.
Meh. Who knows. :)
Do as I say and not as I do is an argument which can’t stand up against much pressure. And Bruno is FULL of pressure.
At least her Dad realizes that authority won’t work and is attempting to negotiate.