The Price Of Progress
hi Jim
Comments (64)
The last few comics have had me thinking complicated thoughts about how goth identity can be a safe way to explore one’s gender expression without having to buy into the societal standard version. At the very least, it gets young women a way to try out femme clothes without getting the “Oh you look so cute and pretty in a pink dress!” And if someone tries something like that, ripping them a new one is very goth-appropriate behavior!
Isn’t Sam like, 15 now? Seems a little old to be under house arrest…
Jim's a good dad. Always happy to see more of him. ^_^
Thought that it would be better if Jim had Sam design what they thought was the appropriate punishment for their actions. I hope everything is now in the open. Jim needs to treat the teens to a feast of their choice. A school punishment would is not the end of the world. EG — I’d school issues in 9th grade summer school, got booted & was given a ride home by a madly giggling school parent.
I don't have kids, but I imagine if I had to super-ground a teen, I'd take their phone/tablet/laptop and consoles, and give them a six year old laptop with a CLI install of Arch and tell them, this is you internet device for a month: get back all you lost.
I never got grounded as a kid. Where we lived there was nothing to ground us from.
My parents were WAY happier to have me out of the house doing regular activities.
Going underground, Going underground,
What you see is what you get — You've made your bed, you better lie in it.
In the field of grounding, Jim is considered a bold and innovative new talent.
He just announced his new startup: Groundr
Jim is secretly enjoying this a little bit xD
“We’re workshopping Omega Ultragrounding-Mama-Jama”
Jeph, I have enjoyed this story far more than I was afraid I was going to. I did *not* enjoy my pre-teen or teenage years, and felt maybe a bit triggered by the bullying stuff, but I trusted your process and pressed on. You gave me the feels, made me think, and then made me laugh. Out loud. Bravo! Well-done!
And when I say I lol'ed, I'm serious. My husband was looking at me like I'd lost my fricking mind!
he's a good poppa and he raised a good gay angsty goober
Sam’s orientation remains undetermined, far as I recall.
Probably late to the game, but I notice that Sam's skin tone is returning to normal over the course of this arc.
In panel two, shouldn't that be "uuuup"? Upppp is just a raspberry.
Depends how you make the noise xD I can say "shut up" with a long P without blowing a raspberry - you just have to hold the consonant for a bit longer
He could source one of those old-timey ball-and-chain things.
He could replace her phone with a telegraph.
Electrician joke: so Sam is up to code? (I'm not an electrician, but I work for an electric utility. You pick things up.)
probably should put that one back down
Kid, you’re going to be grounded more than an 800KV transmission line.
You know, with a whole shop of raw materials, and the welding gear and all, I bet Faye could come up with ALL KINDS OF NEW GROUNDING STUFF. But Bubbles would veto it, wouldn’t she...
For a while I worked for a company that made grounding and grounding-test equipment for fuel-handling facilities. Very serious business -- no one wants static sparks while filling, e.g., a gasoline tanker.
Poor Sam... more grounded than the Rock of Gibraltar and Uluru combined 😂😂
Fun fact: The Rock of Gibraltar and Uluru are opposite ends of the same rock!
She's going to be doing hard labor for a while.
Dadding done right
Some kind of multiple-secret probation, perhaps?
Well...as long as he doesn't underground her. There must be lots of grounded characters out there.
Pizza girl won’t see the sun in our lifetimes
Here's going to take away her black lipstick
The worst fate that can befall a goth.
One must find the ground that exists UPON the ground
Unfortunately for Sam, Jim has recently been reading The Inferno.
best dad energy: your behavior needs correction but our relationship and how much I value you remains strong.
Jim will give her a Non-Fungible Grounding.
Oh good lord. Look at Bubbles in the top right corner. Then go to yesterdays strip. Bubbles, top right corner. NOT identical, but pretty close.
Maybe Jeph is making a Bubbles flip book.
You are Super Grounded! You're grounded, but you also have to wear this cape with the letter "G" on it!
Is it bright red? Like scarlet?
I suppose the most grounded you can be is buried.
Jim has dug a new subbasement level for Sam to occupy for a while. Until she's 18.
I'll give Sam points for audacity! It's not going to do anything to help her not be grounded... But still, points!
Eh, that's just the usual "teenager in trouble trying to talk their way out of it."
You're on...Double Secret Groundedness
Grounded², wherein you are grounded from even touching the ground. It's like "the floor is lava" game, but compulsory.
Jim is a good dad.
Innovative indeed. You might even call his ideas... groundbreaking. *claireface*
Even worse, BookBeard... Brun face.
Yes yes, Sam is awesome (and awesomely grounded) yadda yadda. No-one is talking about the important thing here. Has Jim grown a soul-patch???
It looks that way. And frankly, he's NOT rocking it.
omg shes so tall now!
She grew like 4 inches just from not grumpy-slouching!
"Brainstorming whole new levels of groundedness"? This sounds like a job Emily is quite capable of helping with, but won't because she's too cool.
I would be very afraid of any punishment scheme devised my Emily. It'd probably end up with both of us housed at a black site on an uncharted island.
I hope now we switch over to Iris talking to May about Willow while Momo teaches Iris how to perform yoga properly.
Remembering some recent strips, let me see... That would be Noodle girl talking to May about Dumpling girl while Momo is ignored...
Good effort, kiddo 😆
I like Jim's zigzag of moods here. There's something real-life about him that way.
I think Jim is very much on track with what needs to be done. :)