She was taking them down, not putting them up. She didn’t want to embarass Brad.
Ah.
Though of course if he’d been watching her for more than half a second, he’d have seen whether she was putting something up or taking it down.
If she was taking them down, does that mean they’ve been up since last Christmas?
Aside from the points that Bill and BA raise, why would it be so embarrassing to say “Thanks for helping, can you help take them down?”?
And why couldn’t she say right at the beginning, “I’m taking them down, not putting them up.”
The way her body is positioned in panel one, it looks like she’s putting them up rather than taking them down. Besides, all she would have to do is drop the laurel and move the ladder over to the next one. “You can start from here,”
“why would it be so embarrassing to say “Thanks for helping, can you help take them down?”?”
It’s hard to say “you did all that work for nothing”. But as this isn’t really exertion but finesse and style it really wouldn’t be that bad. And she could have said that at the beginning.
But … *why* were they up in the first place is a significant enough question to spoil the gag. (That and the second panel simply can’t coexist with the first.)
The *mean* way to interpret this (and its just too mean) is she thinks Brad did a really crappy job…..
My father-in-law has an 11 ft wide set of windows in his apartment off the back of our house, with transom windows above. As always, we hung icicle lights in the transoms the weekend after Thanksgiving. But it takes two strings, and this year one of them didn’t light. We hung the survivor in the middle, but it looked tacky. So a week later I went out and got a new string (miracle of miracles – 11 ft long), took down the old string and hung the new. They may have had a similar experience with an old ragged garland.
Probably not relevant to the joke, but she gave every indication of being about to fall off the ladder.
She was enjoying that feeling when a parent knows their child has developed a giving heart and mind. He jumped right in to help her. He was a bit of a slacker early on in the strip, not as bad as the kid in Zits, though. Although her eyes in the last panel show that she is a bit gobsmacked.
“But … *why* were they up in the first place is a significant enough question to spoil the gag. (That and the second panel simply can’t coexist with the first.)”
Naw.
Somebody (probably dad) put the old ones up. Mom noticed they’re looking a bit old, and decided that it was time to get new ones. So she sent dad off to go buy new garlands, and was almost done pulling the old ones down, when (the strip happens).
Am I the only one who sees Brad being a bit show-offy here, rather than just having a kind and helpful heart? *I* went to the fire academy, where *I* learned how to use a ladder properly,so *I*…
OK, another possibility just occurred to me….She WAS putting them up while hubby went to get more that they just bought. She was shutting him up in the last panel to allow Brad to move on so she could finish it herself. While I do think Brad has developed socially over the years, I also agree with James P. that he can be a bit grandiose.
I think John K @12:03 PM has it. That makes a lot more sense. The explanation that she’s taking them down brings up too many unanswered questions.
Had the same idea as John K and WW.
Two years ago I made a return to my earliest Christmas decorating knowledge. In the classroom when I was young there would be a Christmas tree for the class to decorate – my first experience with same – and we would bend paperclips to make hangers. From time to time something would come up with Robert and my tree(s) and I would use a paperclip.
About a decade or more ago we started putting up artificial roping over the dining and living room windows. We would juggle and juggle them to get them to stay in place. Two years ago I stopped and thought about it. I got some large size paperclips, opened them flat – hung one on each corner (and in the living room 2 one in the middle of the double window) and then hung the roping from them – so much easier – I just needed to remember first grade.
Comics I Don't Understand 
She was taking them down, not putting them up. She didn’t want to embarass Brad.
Ah.
Though of course if he’d been watching her for more than half a second, he’d have seen whether she was putting something up or taking it down.
If she was taking them down, does that mean they’ve been up since last Christmas?
Aside from the points that Bill and BA raise, why would it be so embarrassing to say “Thanks for helping, can you help take them down?”?
And why couldn’t she say right at the beginning, “I’m taking them down, not putting them up.”
The way her body is positioned in panel one, it looks like she’s putting them up rather than taking them down. Besides, all she would have to do is drop the laurel and move the ladder over to the next one. “You can start from here,”
“why would it be so embarrassing to say “Thanks for helping, can you help take them down?”?”
It’s hard to say “you did all that work for nothing”. But as this isn’t really exertion but finesse and style it really wouldn’t be that bad. And she could have said that at the beginning.
But … *why* were they up in the first place is a significant enough question to spoil the gag. (That and the second panel simply can’t coexist with the first.)
The *mean* way to interpret this (and its just too mean) is she thinks Brad did a really crappy job…..
My father-in-law has an 11 ft wide set of windows in his apartment off the back of our house, with transom windows above. As always, we hung icicle lights in the transoms the weekend after Thanksgiving. But it takes two strings, and this year one of them didn’t light. We hung the survivor in the middle, but it looked tacky. So a week later I went out and got a new string (miracle of miracles – 11 ft long), took down the old string and hung the new. They may have had a similar experience with an old ragged garland.
Probably not relevant to the joke, but she gave every indication of being about to fall off the ladder.
She was enjoying that feeling when a parent knows their child has developed a giving heart and mind. He jumped right in to help her. He was a bit of a slacker early on in the strip, not as bad as the kid in Zits, though. Although her eyes in the last panel show that she is a bit gobsmacked.
“But … *why* were they up in the first place is a significant enough question to spoil the gag. (That and the second panel simply can’t coexist with the first.)”
Naw.
Somebody (probably dad) put the old ones up. Mom noticed they’re looking a bit old, and decided that it was time to get new ones. So she sent dad off to go buy new garlands, and was almost done pulling the old ones down, when (the strip happens).
Am I the only one who sees Brad being a bit show-offy here, rather than just having a kind and helpful heart? *I* went to the fire academy, where *I* learned how to use a ladder properly,so *I*…
OK, another possibility just occurred to me….She WAS putting them up while hubby went to get more that they just bought. She was shutting him up in the last panel to allow Brad to move on so she could finish it herself. While I do think Brad has developed socially over the years, I also agree with James P. that he can be a bit grandiose.
I think John K @12:03 PM has it. That makes a lot more sense. The explanation that she’s taking them down brings up too many unanswered questions.
Had the same idea as John K and WW.
Two years ago I made a return to my earliest Christmas decorating knowledge. In the classroom when I was young there would be a Christmas tree for the class to decorate – my first experience with same – and we would bend paperclips to make hangers. From time to time something would come up with Robert and my tree(s) and I would use a paperclip.
About a decade or more ago we started putting up artificial roping over the dining and living room windows. We would juggle and juggle them to get them to stay in place. Two years ago I stopped and thought about it. I got some large size paperclips, opened them flat – hung one on each corner (and in the living room 2 one in the middle of the double window) and then hung the roping from them – so much easier – I just needed to remember first grade.