Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT
WCDT Strips 3806-3810 (13-17 August 2018)
derris_kharlan:
--- Quote from: JoeCovenant on 15 Aug 2018, 03:31 ---
--- Quote from: derris_kharlan on 15 Aug 2018, 01:24 ---Caveat for this post: I’m not yet a parent (though I hope to be someday)
Jim’s treatment of Faye is out of line.
--- End quote ---
A 'professional' in charge of my child's well-being failed miserably and caused her great pain and anxiety.
--- End quote ---
But see, that’s the key difference. Jim didn’t put Faye in charge of Sam, there was no discussion on his part about what the limits are or should be, or what he expected of Faye. When you take your child to a medical professional there is that kind of understanding both by law and by cultural custom. I could understand if Faye had actually done something seriously dangerous, but allowing a tween/teen to use a dremel is not relatively dangerous. Sam could have injured herself worse using a standard hammer. Would you say Jim’s reaction would be fair to Faye if Sam had hit herself with a hammer and broken her finger instead? I doubt it.
Again, Faye did make a mistake IMO, but not making sure she saw Sam operating the tool safely for a bit first. But Jim is more at fault here than Faye for not properly supervising his daughter in the first place and setting ground rules. Then Sam is at fault for being an idiot when Faye gave her the opportunity to try something. Jim needs to take responsibility for not laying down the ground rules and arranging things with Faye if he was going to let Sam freely spend time there. Not beat up on poor Faye who already feels bad and took the responsibility to go to him after the accident.
P.S. Soery to hear about your daughters and yours bad experience with the dentist, that’s awful.
OldGoat:
In truth, Jim's "no power tools" edict is absurd. If you know nothing of the business but wander in there selling, what?, stubbed toe insurance or coffee service, your first impression before encountering any of the staff will be, "DAMN that's a lot of power tools!" (That's before you catch sight of Bubbles and say, "DAMN that's a big war 'droid sans armor!") There's be a few strips about his dialing back on it, probably with Veronica's intercession.
Jim's the grown-up, but he's out of his depth with his tomboy daughter. Fact is, Samantha's two Xs instead of a Y and an X may actually be mediating damned fool behavior that would have gotten Samuel killed. She's a challenge for any parent.
Veronica, OYOH, has her own stuff around not parenting Marten, at least not in any conventional way. Sam is her opportunity for a do-over. (click to show/hide)I won't be surprised if come the next Mothers' Day strip Sam addresses Veronica as "Mom" or refers to her as her mother.
Sam, as noted in an earlier comment, has maternal abandonment issues that she's just starting to work through.
With the richly deserving exception of Corpse Witch, Jeph doesn't send his QC characters to Hell in a handbasket. (There was Sara, but that was early on and the poor allosaurus was starving. Yelling Bird is still around somewhere else, giving people Hell.) Jeph's setting up an arc about their growth and development into a family.
TheEvilDog:
--- Quote from: OldGoat on 17 Aug 2018, 10:35 ---In truth, Jim's "no power tools" edict is absurd.
--- End quote ---
I wouldn't say absurd, as it not only protects Sam, but also Faye, Bubbles and Dora. We have no idea what insurance they have, or if it covers injuries to people who aren't employed there. I'm not talking about Jim suing Faye and Bubbles. I mean health insurance, liability and several other problems that could have arisen. If Sam had been seriously injured, Faye and Bubbles could have been liable. A quick check and a broken arm can cost around $2500. We have no idea what kind of money Union Robotics is making at the moment, but I imagine that they can't spare that kind of money.
--- Quote --- If you know nothing of the business but wander in there selling, what?, stubbed toe insurance or coffee service, your first impression before encountering any of the staff will be, "DAMN that's a lot of power tools!" (That's before you catch sight of Bubbles and say, "DAMN that's a big war 'droid sans armor!") There's be a few strips about his dialing back on it, probably with Veronica's intercession.
--- End quote ---
But to Jim, its all an unknown and outside of his purview. He's right and understandable to be cautious about the equipment. Likewise, Faye and Bubbles are an unknown and from Jim's perspective, until recently they were working in an illegal fight club and workshop. That kind of thing would set alarms blaring in Jim's head.
--- Quote ---Jim's the grown-up, but he's out of his depth with his tomboy daughter. Fact is, Samantha's two Xs instead of a Y and an X may actually be mediating damned fool behavior that would have gotten Sam killed. She's a challenge for any parent.
--- End quote ---
You're right. Jim is out of his depth. He runs a time intensive business with long hours. He's divorced and from what we've seen, it wasn't amicable. A bitter divorce could have had an effect on Sam. But the fact that he's protective of her doesn't mean he's bad one. Sam is probably worth more to Jim than anything else in his life and I don't mean a monetary value. Remember, Sam is his only child, but not only that, but she is still a child (or at the latest an early teen). She's rambunctious, an explorer and a little troublemaker. But he's there for her, he works mornings to spend the afternoons and evenings with her. Jim's got a bad situation, but he's making the best of it.
--- Quote ---Veronica, OYOH, has her own stuff around not parenting Marten, at least not in any conventional way. Sam is her opportunity for a do-over. (click to show/hide)I won't be surprised if come the next Mothers' Day strip Sam addresses Veronica as "Mom" or refers to her as her mother.
--- End quote ---
Then again, Veronica has had some major missteps in dealing with Marten, even with him as an adult, in particular when she came to visit after the Break-up and perhaps added more to Marten's suffering rather than help alleviate it.
But at the same time, Sam isn't Veronica's daughter. Yeah, she's dating Jim, but in this instance, she has an outside perspective that she's a little blind to herself when she deals with Marten. That outside perspective allows her to get to the heart of the problem a little easier. But yes, it could be that Veronica has learned from her mistakes.
--- Quote ---Sam, as noted in an earlier comment, has maternal abandonment issues that she's just starting to work through.
--- End quote ---
Maybe she does, maybe she doesn't. The divorce could have been water off a duck's back for Sam, as she is living with her father. Sam's actions might speak more to the explorer in her, not quite having the experience to think before she leaps.
--- Quote ---With the richly deserving exception of Corpse Witch, Jeph doesn't send his QC characters to Hell in a handbasket. (There was Sara, but that was early on and the poor allosaurus was starving. Yelling Bird is still around somewhere else, giving people Hell.) Jeph's setting up an arc about their growth and development into a family.
--- End quote ---
Or its a story about Faye needing to live up to her responsibilities; as a business owner, as a friend, as a partner and as an adult. Its great that she's friends with Sam, but there comes a point where Faye can't be a friend and working at the same time when she's at UR.
Or it could be a story about Sam taking those first few steps into becoming an adult. To think before she acts. She's growing up and can't remain someone who lives on instinct.
Or it could be a story about Jim learning that he can't protect his daughter forever, but maybe its time to start trusting her to look after herself.
OldGoat:
"No power tools" in a place full of them certainly looks absurd to me. Jim will at some point realize this, and no-nonsense Veronica will likely be the person to have pointed it out to him, although ultra-logical Bubbles could do it, too.
As for her parents' divorce and her mother's absences from her life running off Sam like water off a duck's back - it doesn't work that way, my friend, it just does not work that way. Some people stuff it and manage to fake it, sometimes for years, but it will sooner or later erupt.
None of the other scenarios suggested are mutually exclusive.
Tova:
This thread's storm-in-a-teacup reaction is more absurd than Jim's reaction by orders of magnitude.
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