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The hospital waiting room?

50 (33.3%)

Faye on a trip down Deriver Denial?

26 (17.3%)

Emergency Cast Meeting?

45 (30%)

The police station, charged with the assault (or even murder) of Pintsize?

9 (6%)

Weird archetype-filled dream sequence for Faye in which she sees her life as a strange Pyroland-like fantasy and is Elightened?

20 (13.3%)

Total Members Voted: 139

[Smeagol]

Thank you! Does it count as fan-art if  I just compile if with various screen-grabs of actual-Jeph-drawn characters, though?

[cesium133]

New comic, but I can't see it yet. However...

"QC will be happy again someday I promise " 

[tut21]

The PNG isn't working, but there's a JPG:
http://www.questionablecontent.net/comics/2886.jpg

(Edit) And this:
http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2886

[Zalder]

That look on Dora's face. 

[jwhouk]

Comic.

Yes, Hannelore, you need a teddy bear. Just don't get the one from Ted 2.

How magnanimous of Dora.

EDIT to add: 

[Tova]

I need a bear too.

More Dora hate in 3... 2... 1...

[maxh]

I think Dora has come up with a decent solution.

[davedig]

Well, answers the insurance question.

[Oilman]

I'd say Dora was skating on very thin ice, at this point. Time to invoke Bellisario's Maxim, note the infirmation about the relationship dynamic, and move along...

[Penquin47]

I want a bear too.

Also answers the question of whether Faye's still fired: yes.  Yes she is.  As she should be.  Still, it sucks.

[maxh]

But it sucks less than if she lost her insurance.

[Oilman]

Where's the Worry Hat when you need it?

[Isyrion]

I think Dora is being fairly reasonable with this, but I have a feeling their friendship is over.  Dora is not one to keep what she feels is a negative influence in her life or shop.  Looks like the social circle is begining to implode now.

The one I'm feeling the most sorry for is Hanners, she came out of her shell fairly recently and doesn't know really how to handle a situation like this.

Hopefully Faye gets help, and the damage done to the relationships begins to get healed soon.

[DillyDolly]

Wow... 10 points off Team Dora for lousy tact! She could have put it better—like: "Tell her I'll keep her on insurance until she gets out of the hospital." Or something like that. Kind of crummy to go blabbing to others about firing Faye—especially when Faye is in such a fragile state.

[Oilman]

I think Dora has come up with a decent solution.

Also, leaves the door open to future business dealings - say, selling Faye's art on commission, which would be a logical way to tie up various loose ends, provide FAYE with a direction to go in and keep her in the main cast WITHOUT actually back-tracking on any important points.

But, agree that Dora is showing the social skills of a chimp at this point

[jheartney]

There's no call for snarky comments about Dora. As I thought, this is hitting her hard; she knows her decision precipitated Faye's crisis. At the same time she knows she was right to do what she did, and she's not going to back down. Faye's own behavior and choices were what landed her in hospital, and if anything this vindicates Dora's decision to draw the line. Even so, Faye was a very long-time friend, so this has got to tear up Dora emotionally.

The insurance bit was quite decent of Dora. It's not something she had to do.

Warning - while you were typing 5 other perspectives were added. Yours is old news before it's even posted.

[DillyDolly]

There's no call for snarky comments about Dora. As I thought, this is hitting her hard; she knows her decision precipitated Faye's crisis. At the same time she knows she was right to do what she did, and she's not going to back down. Faye's own behavior and choices were what landed her in hospital, and if anything this vindicates Dora's decision to draw the line. Even so, Faye was a very long-time friend, so this has got to tear up Dora emotionally.

The insurance bit was quite decent of Dora. It's not something she had to do.

Warning - while you were typing 5 other perspectives were added. Yours is old news before it's even posted.

I don't debate that, however, the way she is handling it is rather immature and also not fair to Hannelore.

[Dark Matter]

I certainly hope Dora doesn't get too much hate for this. Sure, maybe she's not acting in the best possible way at this point, but then again, nobody can act perfectly all the time, especially in a situation like this.

It seems pretty understandable to me that, after having fired Faye for drinking on the job, Dora would not want then to hire Faye back after Faye got so drunk she ended up in the hospital. As far as Dora can tell, none of the issues that led to the firing have been solved.

At the same time as she is thinking this, it is also understandable that Dora would feel guilty about doing so and not want to increase that feeling of guilt by seeing or talking to Faye at this point. It would probably be best if they could talk it out, but the fact that she is not doing the best possible thing she could do does not make Dora a bad person.

Having said that, I do think the existence of at-will firing is a definite problem. This strip shows part of the reason: if it weren't for the fact that Faye and Dora are/were friends, Faye would just be fired period and would be facing a potentially devastating situation with medical costs.

[jheartney]

I don't debate that, however, the way she is handling it is rather immature and also not fair to Hannelore.

So you think Dora should have marched on in on just-recovering Faye to remind her of the recent trauma? WRT the firing, it's not a secret. I'm sure the whole main cast knows.

[tmofee]

i dont think dora is in the wrong here.

sometimes you need to make a firm stand. faye NEEDS help , and she also has a business to run.

she still cares for her, but im thinking this is the kick in the arse she needs to get better.

[greywolfe]

Faye is getting off easy.  Not Dora's fault that she's a chronic alcoholic.

[Dark Matter]

Wow... 10 points off Team Dora for lousy tact! She could have put it better—like: "Tell her I'll keep her on insurance until she gets out of the hospital." Or something like that. Kind of crummy to go blabbing to others about firing Faye—especially when Faye is in such a fragile state.

This is assuming that this is the first time she's told anyone about firing Faye, but the may she says it is fairly ambiguous, and Hannelore doesn't seem shocked so much as just saddened.

[jheartney]

Having said that, I do think the existence of at-will firing is a definite problem. This strip shows part of the reason: if it weren't for the fact that Faye and Dora are/were friends, Faye would just be fired period and would be facing a potentially devastating situation with medical costs.

Which is why we have COBRA: http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/faqs/faq-consumer-cobra.html

[DillyDolly]

I don't debate that, however, the way she is handling it is rather immature and also not fair to Hannelore.

So you think Dora should have marched on in on just-recovering Faye to remind her of the recent trauma? WRT the firing, it's not a secret. I'm sure the whole main cast knows.

There's a little magical thing these days called a text.

But that aside, she could have done a number of other things that would have been smarter - like send flowers or talk to Marten (totally a better choice than sending poor Hannelore)! Also, the way she worded it was pretty tactless. It was human, but lacked professionalism and came off sounding like she was rubbing the firing in Faye's face.

[Carl-E]

Personally, I think it's Dora who needs the bear.  It looks (to me) like there's a part of her that wants to go in and see Faye. 

And it's a part of her that she's denying.  Or rather, extinguishing.  Purposefully.  Not with malice, but rather in an ascetic way - she's willing to suffer the loss of a friendship for her principles. 


I know a few people like that.  Very few, fortunately.  The get more bitter as they age. 

[DillyDolly]

i dont think dora is in the wrong here.

sometimes you need to make a firm stand. faye NEEDS help , and she also has a business to run.

she still cares for her, but im thinking this is the kick in the arse she needs to get better.

You can set boundaries without kicking someone when they are down OR unfairly dragging others in between (using Hannelore like that as a go-between is uncool). I totally agree with Dora's choices (she really has to protect her business), but not how she is making them.

[swapna]

The insurance bit was quite decent of Dora. It's not something she had to do.

Well I wouldn't go that far. Not doing it would make her a horrible person, and it doesn't cost her anything (Faye doesn't get paid). It's not something she had to do, yes, but 'not ruining somebody's life even though you could'  doesn't get you a lot of brownie points.

[Omega Entity]

I'd say it's safe to assume that news of the firing had already made the rounds. I don't think it'd have been rude or out of place for her to tell the others, either - on the contrary, it would have been the responsible thing to do so that the others will be able to handle the fallout that she's unable to. She knows that the others will be able to support her better than she's capable of.

All in all, I think Dora's handling this rather smartly, and dare I say, considerately. She's helping in likely the only way she knows how, without sacrificing her ability to keep detached and avoid being seeped in the toxicity that is Faye right now. She's likely not in any emotional place to deal with it, especially considering her recent severing of her ties with Sven. That she's willing to delay the paperwork so that Faye won't have to pay out for her care shows that she does does still care for Faye, but recognizes that the appropriate thing right now is distance. Everything's still raw, and she'd likely cause more trouble than good at this juncture in trying to insinuate herself in Faye's recovery process, nor would she want to be considering the situation. And it appears that she's sorry that she's just not capable of being a better friend at the moment, with a dash of guilt for maybe feeling partly responsible for the current scene. Which is unwarranted, imo - Faye would have hit bottom eventually, it'd just have been a different catalyst.

I'm willing to bet that after some time has passed (likely a good deal of it), that they might one day be able to come back together as friends. but both, and especially Faye, need to resolve their issues before even attempting that.

[jheartney]

I don't debate that, however, the way she is handling it is rather immature and also not fair to Hannelore.

So you think Dora should have marched on in on just-recovering Faye to remind her of the recent trauma? WRT the firing, it's not a secret. I'm sure the whole main cast knows.

There's a little magical thing these days called a text.

But that aside, she could have done a number of other things that would have been smarter - like send flowers or talk to Marten (totally a better choice than sending poor Hannelore)! Also, the way she worded it was pretty tactless. It was human, but lacked professionalism and came off sounding like she was rubbing the firing in Faye's face.

Really? A text is a better way to convey this than an in-person message? Remember that Dora had to ask Hanners what Faye's condition was; Faye might not be in any condition to be checking email and texts. As to Marten, note that he's not available unless Dora goes barging into the hospital room, which I should think would have been very tactless in the circumstances.

ETA: What Omega Entity said.

[Omega Entity]

I'd also say that Dora isn't equipped to help Faye with her problems, and she knows this. Like I said, she's doing what is likely the best thing she can do at this stage in the game. Bowing out is the wise thing, in this case.

[Oilman]

No-one involved in this arc has handled it well.

FAYE has created the whole issue. Marten, through his own naivety and lack of perception, has enabled it. Pintsize just acted as a free antagonist. Angus appeared to enable it, to some degree; he certsinly wasn't seen to raise it as a relationship issue. Dora acted as an enabler on a personal level, to some degree on a work level, and then mishandled the situation at work by acting precipitately over an issue that was probably inevitable at some point.

Sven, Marigold, Dale and Claire aren't really involved, for various reasons, nor are the various secondary characters like Emily, Clinton and Steve. Tai's louche behaviour hasn't helped.  HANNERS has her own issues, and is showing herself as sympathetic and practical when it matters, not fir the first time either.

Kicks up the backside all round, I think

[Smallest]

I'm torn between 'aw Hanners.' and 'panel 3, called it. (under spoiler)'

[Tova]

And there it is, rolling in.

Dora is being as tactful as she could possibly be in this situation.

Suggestion she should have left it ambiguous over whether she was still fired? That would be crappy.

Telling her via text? Sorry, but you've got to be flipping joking. That is the most tactless thing I can think of.

Walking in would be shitty. Saying anything that gives her false hope about her job would be shitty. Doing anything suggested by people accusing her off being shitty would in fact be shitty.

[Channelore HellicottAtham]

I think Dora's doing the right thing all-round, even regarding actually mentioning the firing, too. It'll answer Faye's (and probably everyone else's) biggest questions of her right now: whether Faye is indeed still fired, and for Faye's sake the insurance information. She shouldn't feel pressured into putting Faye back on, and I don't think it's necessarily a terrible outcome for Faye either. Faye HAS to pull herself together now, whether that means soldiering on or going to rehab / counselling first. She cannot limp on in this emotional limbo just because her work allows her to maintain her status quo of taking out problems / bitchiness upon coworkers and customers and to muddle on through, neither very happy and fulfilled, but not unhappy enough to make a change.

On that note I very much hope that it inspires her to take stock of her life limbo too, perhaps look at what she's doing, where she's going, who and what she wants to be. In a way Dora's going to cop the flak for this and may feel herself that she is going to lose her friends because of her response to Faye's actions. It would be very easy to just take her back because she chose the least useful and a very destructive way to deal with her problems, but firing Faye is right for her business responsibilities and also for Faye. Another point I guess is that if she's no longer required for the cafe she can take the time out to attend rehab, visit family, without feeling she's passing over shifts or using up sick leave.

Just some random thoughts. I know Dora's temper is rather.. temperamental.. but she's not above shouldering responsibility where needed.

[CMGeorge]

Dora is stuck between the emotional reaction and the logical. The emotions are telling her that all of this is her fault, that she was the one to end a friendship, and that she sent Faye to the hospital. The logic is telling Dora that no, Faye screwed her own life up, and that Dora was right to fire her to protect her livelihood.

That conflict between the two results in Dora hanging out outside the hospital feeling like crap, not inside where she likely wants to be.... and also results in a goodwill gesture delivered in a less than tactfully worded way.

[Penquin47]

Regarding Dora telling people that Faye is fired: Hanners works at the coffee shop too.  At a small business like that, I would imagine the first thing Dora did when other employees got into work is tell them what happened.  If for no other reason than because they'd ask "Hey, where's Faye?"

[DillyDolly]

And there it is, rolling in.

Dora is being as tactful as she could possibly be in this situation.

Suggestion she should have left it ambiguous over whether she was still fired? That would be crappy.

Telling her via text? Sorry, but you've got to be flipping joking. That is the most tactless thing I can think of.

Walking in would be shitty. Saying anything that gives her false hope about her job would be shitty. Doing anything suggested by people accusing her off being shitty would in fact be shitty.

Shitty is pulling Hannelore into it. She has a gazillion anxiety disorders and isn't that close to Faye. Marten would have made more sense to talk to as he's been very close with both of them and handles this stuff way better. 

[Tova]

I think you are underestimating Hanners.

[Meilu]

The insurance bit was quite decent of Dora. It's not something she had to do.

Well I wouldn't go that far. Not doing it would make her a horrible person, and it doesn't cost her anything (Faye doesn't get paid). It's not something she had to do, yes, but 'not ruining somebody's life even though you could'  doesn't get you a lot of brownie points.

Not doing it doesn't make her a horrible person, and it does cost her money. It may not be much, it depends entirely on how her small business group insurance plan is structured. It's also a little risky to not fire her immediately, given that Faye could turn around and point to the incident as being prior to being fired and claim to have been clean ever since. Firing her for being a recovering alcoholic is a different beast than firing someone for drinking on the job. I'm not saying Faye would do that, just pointing out there's legal nuance that's potentially problematic even in employment-at-will states.

[DillyDolly]

Regarding Dora telling people that Faye is fired: Hanners works at the coffee shop too.  At a small business like that, I would imagine the first thing Dora did when other employees got into work is tell them what happened.  If for no other reason than because they'd ask "Hey, where's Faye?"

While this is true, how many bosses do you know would expect their current employees tell an ex employee they are still fired? Makes it even worse when you think about it.

[swapna]

And there it is, rolling in.

Dora is being as tactful as she could possibly be in this situation.

No. It really wouldn't have hurt treating Hanners nicer, and maybe talking to her as a person rather than 'telephone between Faye and Dora'.

Suggestion she should have left it ambiguous over whether she was still fired? That would be crappy.

Telling her via text? Sorry, but you've got to be flipping joking. That is the most tactless thing I can think of.

Walking in would be shitty. Saying anything that gives her false hope about her job would be shitty. Doing anything suggested by people accusing her off being shitty would in fact be shitty.

No, the information was good, but she could have called. Of course it's not a very good situation, and neither way of communication is going to be pleasant, but you really don't have to drag in a friend who you know is very sensitive to those things (remember Hanners' Reaction to the Dora/Marten breakup?) and treat her like crap

[DillyDolly]

The insurance bit was quite decent of Dora. It's not something she had to do.

Well I wouldn't go that far. Not doing it would make her a horrible person, and it doesn't cost her anything (Faye doesn't get paid). It's not something she had to do, yes, but 'not ruining somebody's life even though you could'  doesn't get you a lot of brownie points.

Not doing it doesn't make her a horrible person, and it does cost her money. It may not be much, it depends entirely on how her small business group insurance plan is structured. It's also a little risky to not fire her immediately, given that Faye could turn around and point to the incident as being prior to being fired and claim to have been clean ever since. Firing her for being a recovering alcoholic is a different beast than firing someone for drinking on the job. I'm not saying Faye would do that, just pointing out there's legal nuance that's potentially problematic even in employment-at-will states.

Some companies (even small ones) offer health insurance as part of severance. It's still decent of Dora, but she could have handled it better.

[Omega Entity]

While this is true, how many bosses do you know would expect their current employees tell an ex employee they are still fired? Makes it even worse when you think about it.

On the contrary - Dora is being consistent, and that in itself is a good thing even in regard to Faye. To be inconsistent would be to allow boundaries to be mercurial, and boundaries are important, especially to someone who is getting over an addiction of any kind.

[jheartney]

Regarding Dora telling people that Faye is fired: Hanners works at the coffee shop too.  At a small business like that, I would imagine the first thing Dora did when other employees got into work is tell them what happened.  If for no other reason than because they'd ask "Hey, where's Faye?"

While this is true, how many bosses do you know would expect their current employees tell an ex employee they are still fired? Makes it even worse when you think about it.

It would be bad to make a junior employee tell them they're fired in the first place, but relaying that the firing is still in place is another matter - It's the default case. Besides, it's actually good news Hanners gets to deliver - Faye's not on the hook for astronomical hospital bills.

[Omega Entity]

No, the information was good, but she could have called. Of course it's not a very good situation, and neither way of communication is going to be pleasant, but you really don't have to drag in a friend who you know is very sensitive to those things (remember Hanners' Reaction to the Dora/Marten breakup?) and treat her like crap

The best thing Dora can do right now is to minimize contact with Faye, including calling. At this point, it'd only cause more problems, and would be rubbing salt in the giant, gaping wound that is currently Faye.

[Tova]

Precisely as many as the number of bosses in an unusual situation such as this one. Under normal cir

Regarding Dora telling people that Faye is fired: Hanners works at the coffee shop too.  At a small business like that, I would imagine the first thing Dora did when other employees got into work is tell them what happened.  If for no other reason than because they'd ask "Hey, where's Faye?"

While this is true, how many bosses do you know would expect their current employees tell an ex employee they are still fired? Makes it even worse when you think about it.

cumstances, not many, no.

I have to just agree to disagree over whether Dora is treating Hanners like crap. I think she is treating her like an adult.

Edit: posting on a phone in a tiny window is shit.

[DillyDolly]

While this is true, how many bosses do you know would expect their current employees tell an ex employee they are still fired? Makes it even worse when you think about it.

On the contrary - Dora is being consistent, and that in itself is a good thing even in regard to Faye. To be inconsistent would be to allow boundaries to be mercurial, and boundaries are important, especially to someone who is getting over an addiction of any kind.

First off, you can have boundaries and still act like a human being and have tact at the same time. Believe me. BTDT in a way 400 times this (long story).

Second, I'm not even talking about the boundaries between Faye and Dora. I'm talking about how Dora is acting—especially towards Hannelore. You want to talk about bad boundaries? There's an example right there. You do not send your friend/employee to tell your ex-friend/employee her employment terms. That's unprofessional at the very least. At the most it's cowardly. It would have been better to have delivered the news herself (phone/internet/text/whatever) or maybe have Marten do it.

[Tova]

It would have been worse to have delivered the news herself. Not better!

[swapna]

No, the information was good, but she could have called. Of course it's not a very good situation, and neither way of communication is going to be pleasant, but you really don't have to drag in a friend who you know is very sensitive to those things (remember Hanners' Reaction to the Dora/Marten breakup?) and treat her like crap

The best thing Dora can do right now is to minimize contact with Faye, including calling. At this point, it'd only cause more problems, and would be rubbing salt in the giant, gaping wound that is currently Faye.

Well, yes. As I said, neither way of contact will be pleasant (for any party), but it would be direct, and communication is still happening, no matter if it goes through her employees or over telephone. The only thing indirect communication is avoiding is having to deal with Faye crying or something.

[Omega Entity]

The tactful thing, in this case, was to have it relayed, not direct contact of any kind. If I were in Faye's position, the last thing I'd want would be to hear directly from my ex-friend/ex-boss in any way, shape, or form, in any instance.