# Do you get the joke (For Better or For Worse) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 7, 2012, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-the-joke-for-better-or-for-worse/608718 "2012-01-07T10:11:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-the-joke-for-better-or-for-worse/608718/1 "2012-01-07T10:11:40Z")
I know this comic is not that funny, but it comes in my local Sunday paper. I’ve read it many times, yet I’ve never encountered a strip that had a joke that didn’t make sense. Before reading the description at the bottom, does this strip make any sense to you? And, after reading the bottom, does it still not seem like the author removed the one part that would make it make sense? ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-the-joke-for-better-or-for-worse/608718/2 "2012-01-07T12:13:33Z")
Link? ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-the-joke-for-better-or-for-worse/608718/3 "2012-01-07T13:27:16Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > does it still not seem like the author removed the one part that would make it make sense? Oh, definitely. 😛 I see what you’re doing. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-the-joke-for-better-or-for-worse/608718/4 "2012-01-07T14:09:41Z")
That’s pretty meta. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-the-joke-for-better-or-for-worse/608718/5 "2012-01-09T23:53:43Z")
These are the last 2 Sunday FBoFW strips: [Jan 8, 2012](http://www.gocomics.com/forbetterorforworse/2012/01/08) [Jan 1, 2012](http://www.gocomics.com/forbetterorforworse/2012/01/01) Both are pretty straightforward jokes, IMO… ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-the-joke-for-better-or-for-worse/608718/6 "2012-01-10T00:19:01Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > These are the last 2 Sunday FBoFW strips: > > [Jan 8, 2012](http://www.gocomics.com/forbetterorforworse/2012/01/08) > [Jan 1, 2012](http://www.gocomics.com/forbetterorforworse/2012/01/01) > > Both are pretty straightforward jokes, IMO… Yeah, hardly a big mystery to these eyes ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-the-joke-for-better-or-for-worse/608718/7 "2012-01-10T09:31:59Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > Oh, definitely. 😛 > > I see what you’re doing. I wish I was that clever. It was the 1/1 version, and my problem is that I thought a parent would have been there last time, too, so I assumed the parent must have been in the room with the child. And I couldn’t figure out why the child would be making more racket with the mom in waiting room, at least, as presented. Apparently some people do just drop their kids off or something. ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-the-joke-for-better-or-for-worse/608718/8 "2012-01-10T12:00:30Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I wish I was that clever. It was the 1/1 version, and my problem is that I thought a parent would have been there last time, too, so I assumed the parent must have been in the room with the child. And I couldn’t figure out why the child would be making more racket with the mom in waiting room, at least, as presented. > > Apparently some people do just drop their kids off or something. I think you are overthinking. My take on it is that the kid is trying to manipulate/get sympathy from the mom by exaggerating the amount of pain she’s in. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-the-joke-for-better-or-for-worse/608718/9 "2012-01-10T14:18:50Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > …my problem is that I thought a parent would have been there last time, too, so I assumed the parent must have been in the room with the child. And I couldn’t figure out why the child would be making more racket with the mom in waiting room, at least, as presented. I would say this is quite logical. > [@](#): > > Apparently some people do just drop their kids off or something. I imagine some do, but like you I wouldn’t expect that – my folks didn’t just drop me off at the doctor’s or the dentist’s. > [@freckafree](#): > > I think you are overthinking. My take on it is that the kid is trying to manipulate/get sympathy from the mom by exaggerating the amount of pain she’s in. I agree that’s the point. Perhaps it’s not so much overthinking by **BitT** as underthinking by Johnston in setting the premise. The idea that Mom wasn’t within earshot during the previous visit strikes me as rather farfetched. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-the-joke-for-better-or-for-worse/608718/10 "2012-01-10T15:08:52Z")
> [@Gary\_T](#): > > I would say this is quite logical. > > I imagine some do, but like you I wouldn’t expect that – my folks didn’t just drop me off at the doctor’s or the dentist’s. > > I agree that’s the point. Perhaps it’s not so much overthinking by **BitT** as underthinking by Johnston in setting the premise. The idea that Mom wasn’t within earshot during the previous visit strikes me as rather farfetched. It may seem farfetched now, but when I was a child it was fairly common for parents to be out of earshot during doctor visits precisely because some children are more cooperative without an “audience”. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-the-joke-for-better-or-for-worse/608718/11 "2012-01-10T15:40:23Z")
The joke is that For Better or for Worse is never funny. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-the-joke-for-better-or-for-worse/608718/12 "2012-01-10T19:32:07Z")
My parents were never in the room when the dentist was working on me as a kid. If they were, they stopped after my first or second visit, since none of the ones I can remember in any detail were they there. Hell, I’m not even entirely sure they stayed in the waiting room! ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-the-joke-for-better-or-for-worse/608718/13 "2012-01-10T21:00:40Z")
Without looking at the strip in question, I’ll also note that current FBoFW strips take place, I think, in the sorta-past. She’s rerunning strips from when the kids were actually kids. I believe she’s updating it to seem a little more “current,” but there’s still a very 80s-y approach to life on display. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-the-joke-for-better-or-for-worse/608718/14 "2012-01-10T21:33:25Z")
Let’s make it really simple: Maybe on the kid’s last dentist visit, it was the dad who brought her. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-the-joke-for-better-or-for-worse/608718/15 "2012-01-10T22:58:18Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Before reading the description at the bottom, does this strip make any sense to you? What do you mean by “the description at the bottom”? What “Description”? When I saw this in the paper, I do remember thinking the last panel text should have been something like “Her dad brought her last time.”