Just grab that drink out of her hand and shoot it, Marla. If nothing else, she should realize you’re exasperated with her. Of course, she’ll then get mad at you for getting exasperated with her because you’re the child and therefore all your concerns are just “sweating the small stuff”.
…
Moving along… “Your father and I”?! Did that mean Marla’s dad was still alive and died off-panel between now and her wedding. I thought that had already happened and was part of Marla’s back story.
It appears to be so. I’m at once confused and a little pleased that Norm chose not to tackle this particular problem in-panel. It might have gotten a little dark for a relatively new strip.
As a newly minted shift manager, literally my first two hours in, one of my employees got a call saying her mother had developed complications from an ordinary illness and slipped into a coma.
This was not a conversation I was prepared for, and despite being empathetic and deeply concerned, I didn’t know what I was even -allowed- to do. I managed to handle it well, and offered to let her go home. She wasn’t prepared to face what was waiting for her, and wanted to stay for an hour to work through the shock (her team loved her and we were all very supportive).
Now imagine Stuart handling that. The only two options are that he becomes an -unforgiveable- !@$&%bag and loses all dimension as a character, or that he handles it with an uncharacteristic level of empathy and it forever becomes a callback to be made any time anyone thinks of him as a hero.
That was nice of you. The exact opposite happened to me once. I had just got to work when my neighbor called to let me know my sister had just tried to commit suicide by slashing her wrists. I told the store manager (who I was taking over for) what happened and he said “Gee, that sucks. Seeya.” And walked out the front door (even though he was parked out back). The next day called me to give me shit because my fav NFL team just got blown out in the conference championship game. I hate that man to this day.
Wow. Just wow.
I thought the day my Dad died was bad. I got the call from my brother but I could not leave because I was writing my staff’s annual reports. We were given a month to write them but had to include comments from senior managers and they did not provide them until the last day. So I had to stay in work until they were finished. I then left early in the afternoon.
Because I had time off that afternoon, I was told I was not entitled to time off for his funeral.
That employer erroneously emailed us all end-of-contract notices a few months later and rapidly had to send out a retraction. I had already printed, signed, scanned and returned my acceptance. So that was how I got out of there.
Those who have never worked in customer service never do get it.
Just grab that drink out of her hand and shoot it, Marla. If nothing else, she should realize you’re exasperated with her. Of course, she’ll then get mad at you for getting exasperated with her because you’re the child and therefore all your concerns are just “sweating the small stuff”.
…
Moving along… “Your father and I”?! Did that mean Marla’s dad was still alive and died off-panel between now and her wedding. I thought that had already happened and was part of Marla’s back story.
It appears to be so. I’m at once confused and a little pleased that Norm chose not to tackle this particular problem in-panel. It might have gotten a little dark for a relatively new strip.
As a newly minted shift manager, literally my first two hours in, one of my employees got a call saying her mother had developed complications from an ordinary illness and slipped into a coma.
This was not a conversation I was prepared for, and despite being empathetic and deeply concerned, I didn’t know what I was even -allowed- to do. I managed to handle it well, and offered to let her go home. She wasn’t prepared to face what was waiting for her, and wanted to stay for an hour to work through the shock (her team loved her and we were all very supportive).
Now imagine Stuart handling that. The only two options are that he becomes an -unforgiveable- !@$&%bag and loses all dimension as a character, or that he handles it with an uncharacteristic level of empathy and it forever becomes a callback to be made any time anyone thinks of him as a hero.
More likely, though, Norm just forgot.
I have no idea why “inhuman” autocorrected to “a hero,” but I’m sure you all knew it was a typo.
That was nice of you. The exact opposite happened to me once. I had just got to work when my neighbor called to let me know my sister had just tried to commit suicide by slashing her wrists. I told the store manager (who I was taking over for) what happened and he said “Gee, that sucks. Seeya.” And walked out the front door (even though he was parked out back). The next day called me to give me shit because my fav NFL team just got blown out in the conference championship game. I hate that man to this day.
Wow. Just wow.
I thought the day my Dad died was bad. I got the call from my brother but I could not leave because I was writing my staff’s annual reports. We were given a month to write them but had to include comments from senior managers and they did not provide them until the last day. So I had to stay in work until they were finished. I then left early in the afternoon.
Because I had time off that afternoon, I was told I was not entitled to time off for his funeral.
That employer erroneously emailed us all end-of-contract notices a few months later and rapidly had to send out a retraction. I had already printed, signed, scanned and returned my acceptance. So that was how I got out of there.
At some point, Marla’s dad dies, but they never acknowledge it until her wedding, and then never after that.