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A week of Yelling Bird Strips.

5 (8.3%)

It goes off pretty good - and we don't see a moment of it.

7 (11.7%)

It's a comic laugh riot - and we only hear of it like a "noodle incident."

7 (11.7%)

We follow along - and find out why Jim shaved the "soul patch" off.

6 (10%)

She tells him what she does for a living. "CHECK PLEASE!"

0 (0%)

"Intriguing!" (Or some variant thereof.)

0 (0%)

It's just coffee, for crying out loud.

9 (15%)

The Marriage Proposal takes place by the third cup.

0 (0%)

A week of Steve eating pancakes.

2 (3.3%)

Angus gets the rejection letter.

2 (3.3%)

Angus becomes COLBERT'S REPLACEMENT!

8 (13.3%)

Space Waffles and Ham with the Finest Space Tea!

1 (1.7%)

As usual: SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT. (Ka-BOOOM!)

13 (21.7%)

Total Members Voted: 58

[ankhtahr]

Yes, she is.

I guess he was referring to her reaction to kissing being mentioned. Maybe it's because it's about her father. Maybe she just doesn't like it. Who knows.

[Schmorgluck]

Her father being involved may partially explain her reaction.

[Thrillho]

It does seem a tiny bit 'young' for a thirteen year old though.

I'm reminded of the film Angus, Thongs And Perfect Snogging which is an absolutely deluded portrayal of 15 year old girls.

[Sidhekin]

All thirteen-years-old are not equally 'young'.

Nor is a given thirteen-years-old usually equally 'young' in every aspect:  Physical, emotional, social, intellectual ...

It's been years since I had any dealings with thirteen-years-olds, so it might not matter much, but I didn't find Sam's reaction unusual for an extrovert girl her age.

If anything, it's that "extrovert" aspect I'd find unusual.  Except in comics.  Everyone in comics wear their hearts on their sleaves ...

[Thrillho]

I'm fully aware that not all thirteen-year-olds will be equally young, but this seemed immature regardless.

[Is it cold in here?]

Just barely past 12, with an apparently overprotective parent and less than a full complement of friends. On top of that she lives in a universe where immaturity is rife at all ages.

Fair observation, but not surprising.

[Thrillho]

Hadn't considered her lack of peer influence.

[ZoeB]

Also: Sarah Foster Tate's real name is Kerry? Damn, my mind is blown...

Also into SF and Star Trek fandom at the time. One of the gals the ST:TOS uniform was made for.

[Loki]

Am I the only one who sees Sam's expression in the last panel as more of "horrified fascination" than "disgust"?

[Sidhekin]

"Fascinated disgust", perhaps?

[Hotel Papa]

Am I the only one who sees Sam's expression in the last panel as more of "horrified fascination" than "disgust"?

Nope, that is horrified fascination. It's Sam after all. French kissing brings that activitiy in the neighborhood of frogs. (God, that pun is entirely unintentional. I still like it...)

I also like todays specials...

[KOK]

She looks neither horrified nor disgusted to me. That eww is very insincere.

[Method of Madness]

What KOK says, she has a huge smile on her face when saying it. Also, how is this immature for a thirteen-year-old?

[Rimwolf]

Looks like Dora is giving Sam espresso. Jim will be so thankful afterward. 

I believe the specials blackboard says "Have your drink prepared by an unpaid child"

[Method of Madness]

unpaid child

Damn it, Dora, they're called interns.

[Schmorgluck]

Also, how is this immature for a thirteen-year-old?

Precisely because she's thirteen, not nine. But I acknowledge your mileage may vary.

[Method of Madness]

I guess?

[Thrillho]

Exactly. The thirteen year olds I knew weren't all 'OMG FRENCH KISSINGGGGGG,' they were all 'how quickly can I lose my virginity?'

I mean not all of them, obviously, as Schmorgluck says, mileage may vary - but it just seemed unlike even the most immature thirteen year olds I've ever met.

But again, it's been acknowledged that she is largely removed from her peer group and sheltered by her father.

[Method of Madness]

And she's also talking about her father.

[Zebediah]

Sam doesn't need to worry. At the rate he's going, if Jim keeps talking there won't be much kissing.

[Mlle Germain]

Exactly. The thirteen year olds I knew weren't all 'OMG FRENCH KISSINGGGGGG,' they were all 'how quickly can I lose my virginity?'

Maybe I'm odd, but at 13 (and Sam's 12, as far as I know) I was definitely not worried about losing my virginity and neither were any of my friends. At that point, I was not in any way concerned with having a boyfriend. Sure, there were girls in my class who were very proud of having a boyfriend (though I'm not sure whether they lost their virginity at 13), but not the majority; I would say less than 30%.
Having a bit of a crush on someone and talking to your friends about it is of course a different thing, but I also didn't do that at 13, but more like 14 or 15 - and same for my friends. It's not like anyone said "OMG you're too young for sex or relationships", we were just interested in different things.

Granted, Sam's behaviour is pretty immature, but just wanting to have sex is not per se a sign of maturity - it can be the exact opposite.

[Thrillho]

That depends on your definition of maturity, given that wanting to have sex is part of puberty and as such, physical maturity, given that your hormones are changing [/douchiness]

I wouldn't say you're odd, I was exaggerating anyway, but the point is you wouldn't be like OH MY GOD FRENCH KISSING OOOOOOOOH at age 13, surely?

Who knows. Maybe we're all wrong. Maybe we're out of order. Maybe the whole freakin' system's out of order.

[Loki]

Looks like Dora is giving Sam espresso. Jim will be so thankful afterward. 

I believe the specials blackboard says "Have your drink prepared by an unpaid child"

Woha. Well spotted.

[Sidhekin]

Nice reading of the specials, Rimwolf!  (I tried, and gave up, but I do believe you have it right.)

"Fascinated disgust", perhaps?

... or perhaps "scandalized"?

"Delightfully scandalized"?

... meh ...

[brew]

Exactly. The thirteen year olds I knew weren't all 'OMG FRENCH KISSINGGGGGG,' they were all 'how quickly can I lose my virginity?'

I mean not all of them, obviously, as Schmorgluck says, mileage may vary - but it just seemed unlike even the most immature thirteen year olds I've ever met.

There's definitely a world outside the one you've lived in.

[Mlle Germain]

I wouldn't say you're odd, I was exaggerating anyway, but the point is you wouldn't be like OH MY GOD FRENCH KISSING OOOOOOOOH at age 13, surely?

No, you're right, I wouldn't have. At not at 12, as Sam is, either. And not when I was younger either. But then I used to be way more introverted as a little kid than Sam is. And also, rather more reasonable and not nearly as much up to adventures and shenanigans. My best friend was quite a bit more like Sam in that respect, though, so I still often went along with things I would never have come up with on my own.

What I meant with kids wanting to have sex being very immature: Very often this "OMG I totally want a (probably much older) boyfriend and make out and have sex" is purely a manifestation of peer pressure and trying to appear "cool" and succumbing to this is a form of severe emotional immaturity - not with everyone, of course, but quite often; and this is not restricted to people at 13, but rather roughly 13-17.
Also, I think a lot of little girls who think that having sex at 13 is sooooo cool end up pretty badly hurt (emotionally), because they let themselves be pressured into things that they are actually not mature enough for.

[KOK]

Just barely past 12, ...

Where have you got that from? She was 13 when Jim and Dora went on a date, which is some time ago now. Does anyone have a clue how long?

[Method of Madness]

13 is just barely past 12. It's the smallest number integer that's past 12.

[Loki]

Smallest *natural* number

[Method of Madness]

Fixed it.

[Is it cold in here?]

Twelve in this reference. There's no contradiction if she's just on the edge and Jim rounded up.

[Method of Madness]

If Jim said she's 13, she's 13. Comic is highest canon.

[Platypodes]

When I was 13, some of the girls I knew were starting to think the idea of french kissing was cool, one or two had done it, and some were still just a little bit grossed out by the idea.

Besides cultural influences, there's the fact that kids hit puberty at varying ages.  I think Sam is a late developer.  She's shown zero indication of interest in boys/sexy things, zero desire to act or appear sophisticated or leave behind any of her "kid" mannerisms, and she doesn't have any curves yet.

[niceboiiiii]

the comics this week were (in a word) AMAZEBALLS!

(Edited out the spam and banned the spammer - Method)

[Platypodes]

Reading back over the thread, I see nobody has noted that Jim seems to have dyed his hair for this date.  He must really want to impress!

Even more so when Sam uses the coffee shop WiFi to satisfy her curiosity about what Ms. Reed looks like.

Hahaha!  If she thinks french kissing is gross....

[Kugai]

I'm just waiting for the moment where Sam and Veronica meet.

Veronicas new Padawan?   

[Storel]

When I was 13, some of the girls I knew were starting to think the idea of french kissing was cool, one or two had done it, and some were still just a little bit grossed out by the idea.

Besides cultural influences, there's the fact that kids hit puberty at varying ages.  I think Sam is a late developer.  She's shown zero indication of interest in boys/sexy things, zero desire to act or appear sophisticated or leave behind any of her "kid" mannerisms, and she doesn't have any curves yet.

Exactly, plus she doesn't have any peer pressure because she hardly has any friends her own age, and apparently none she likes enough to hang out with much. So yeah, I find her a very believable 13.

[Platypodes]

Yeah, and those things might build on each other.  Because she doesn't have a lot of friends, she hasn't given in to peer pressure to take up conventional pubescent girl interests, and then, because all the other girls have gone gaga for boys and fashion, she becomes even less interested in hanging out with them...

Alternately, maybe Sam used to have closer friends, but, being a strong-willed sort who doesn't give in to peer pressure easily, she lost interest in the other girls when they got all giggly and fashionable and stopped wanting to do fun stuff like catching frogs in the swamp.

[Sidhekin]

Reading back over the thread, I see nobody has noted that Jim seems to have dyed his hair for this date.  He must really want to impress!

Even more so when Sam uses the coffee shop WiFi to satisfy her curiosity about what Ms. Reed looks like.

Hahaha!  If she thinks french kissing is gross....

That depends on how you put it, doesn't it?

[Barmymoo]

I au paired for a family with a 12 year old girl, and we once had a discussion about sex which basically consisted of her saying "but that sounds GROSS, why would anyone want to do that?!". I find Sam a believable 13, and agree that she's probably pre-pubescent.

[Method of Madness]

Whether a character has started puberty or not doesn't seem like it should be discussed here.

[Barmymoo]

It's relevant to her behaviour - hormonal changes alter teenage behaviour significantly and Sam acts like a child, rather than an adolescent.

[Thrillho]

Precisely.

[Method of Madness]

It's relevant to her behaviour - hormonal changes alter teenage behaviour significantly and Sam acts like a child, rather than an adolescent.

That's fair.

[jwhouk]

Whether a character has started puberty or not doesn't seem like it should be discussed here.

Boy, Pablo Wapsi would have a field day with that comment, considering his comic's current storyline.

[Method of Madness]

Who? Also, if it's part of the storyline, that's completely different.

[Sidhekin]

Paul Taylor of Wapsi Square.  And yes, it's very much part of the current storyline.

[Method of Madness]

So that's completely different. But May explained why it's relevant here, so it doesn't really matter anymore.

[jwhouk]

So - who wants to start a new thread? I'm net.challenged at the moment. 

[Method of Madness]

Whoever wants to will.