A12
East Oregonian
PEANUTS
COFFEE BREAK
Friday, June 21, 2019
DEAR ABBY
BY CHARLES M . SCHULZ
Waiter’s effort at small talk
explodes into savage tirade
FOR BETTER OR WORSE
BY LYNN JOHNSTON
B.C.
BY JOHNNY HART
PICKLES
BY BRIAN CRANE
BEETLE BAILEY
BY MORT WALKER
Dear Abby: Last week I was
gest he get professional help for
out with my family of 13 for din-
his anger issues. If this is how he
ner. My sister-in-law was sitting
behaves in public, I shudder to
imagine what he’s like in private.
relaxed in her chair, stretching her
Dear Abby: When my son was
back and extending her stomach.
9 he was diagnosed with Type 1
The waiter came over and, try-
ing to make small talk, asked her,
diabetes. He is now a college grad.
“What’s the occasion? Are you
Because I couldn’t fix his diabetes,
pregnant?” My sister-in-law isn’t
I have tried to fix everything else
J eanne
pregnant, but her posture may have
in his life, and it hasn’t been pretty.
P hilliPs
suggested it.
He was home for a visit the
ADVICE
day his graduate school applica-
Well, my brother, her husband,
tion was due. I bulldozed him into
went off on the man, calling him
taking some punctuation advice
names, swearing, and causing a
on his letter of intent that turned out to be
loud, uncomfortable scene. We all agreed
wrong. A few months later a rejection let-
the waiter was stupid to ask the question,
ter arrived, and I’m afraid my grammatical
but wasn’t my brother wrong here? He
error caused it. I’m afraid his dreams were
embarrassed all of us, and I don’t think
dashed because he trusted me. He doesn’t
there was any malicious intent on the part
think the mistake had anything to do with
of the waiter. My brother stands behind his
the rejection, but I suspect he’s trying to
outburst and insists he wasn’t wrong.
protect my feelings because he’s such a nice
This has happened before, and I’m sure
person.
it will happen in the future. What’s your
How important is perfect grammar on a
suggestion for a better way to handle a sit-
uation like this, so maybe I can get through
grad school letter of intent? If my son has an
to my brother? — Lost My Appetite in
above-average GPA, research experience,
above-average GRE scores, but a grammat-
Georgia
ical error in his essay, could that one error
Dear Lost: The waiter should have quit
put him out of contention? — Trying To
winners after he asked if your party of 13
Meddle No More
was celebrating a special occasion. To have
Dear Trying: I seriously doubt that a
asked whether your SIL was pregnant was
misplaced comma would cause your son to
a blunder, which I am betting was reflected
be rejected from graduate school if he had
in his tip. While I appreciate your broth-
er’s desire to “protect” his wife, he accom-
all the other necessary qualifications. Lis-
plished nothing positive by creating a scene
ten to what he’s telling you, stop flogging
and embarrassing the family.
yourself and, from now on, quit trying to
Because you mentioned that this has
bulldoze him and let him fly on his own.
happened before and may happen in the
There is nothing to feel guilty about. With
practice, you’ll get the hang of it.
future, it’s time for “the family” to sug-
DAYS GONE BY
GARFIELD
BLONDIE
BY JIM DAVIS
BY DEAN YOUNG AND STAN DRAKE
100 Years Ago
From the East Oregonian
June 21, 1919
Today is strawberry day in Milton, but
last night it was Pendleton’s turn. At least
the members of the city council, the city offi-
cials and a few invited guests had a straw-
berry festival, the guests of Judge James A.
Fee, who is now the full fledged city attor-
ney. The repast was served to the judge and
his 13 guests at Hohbach’s French restau-
rant. Big ripe strawberries and cream, cake,
ice cream and ginger ale freezes comprised
the tempting menu with which the judge cel-
ebrated his formal installation. The straw-
berry feed was effected as a promise at the
time the judge was voted in by unanimous
action of the council.
50 Years Ago
From the East Oregonian
June 21, 1969
A 44-year-old Stanfield man has been
charged with manslaughter in the death
of a Hermiston man who succumbed two
months after a fight. John Gifford will enter
a plea Monday in Circuit Court to the man-
slaughter charge. Dist. Atty. Joe Smith said
Gifford was accused of hitting John David
Boyd, 28, over the head with a club during
a fight in a Hermiston tavern in February.
After the grand jury returned a true bill in
the case, Gifford was arrested by Hermiston
police. Gifford was arraigned and today was
freed on bond.
25 Years Ago
From the East Oregonian
June 21, 1994
Steve Caldwell of Hermiston is the man
pilots turn to when they can’t put their own
planes together. For the past four years he’s
specialized in Glassair planes, which are
built by Stoddard-Hamilton Aircraft, Inc.,
in Arlington, Wash., a little north of Seat-
tle. Typically, retired military pilots buy the
speedy two-seaters that slice though the sky
at up to 327 miles per hour. The company
produces the planes in five models — but
they come unassembled and can take up to
a year and a half for a professional, such as
Caldwell, to complete.
TODAY IN HISTORY
DILBERT
THE WIZARD OF ID
LUANN
ZITS
BY SCOTT ADAMS
BY BRANT PARKER AND JOHNNY HART
BY GREG EVANS
BY JERRY SCOTT AND JIM BORGMAN
On June 21, 1964, civil
rights workers Michael H.
Schwerner, Andrew Good-
man and James E. Chaney
were slain in Philadel-
phia, Mississippi; their bod-
ies were found buried in an
earthen dam six weeks later.
(Forty-one years later on this
date in 2005, Edgar Ray Kil-
len, an 80-year-old former
Ku Klux Klansman, was
found guilty of manslaugh-
ter; he was sentenced to 60
years in prison, where he
died in January 2018.)
In 1788, the United States
Constitution went into effect
as New Hampshire became
the ninth state to ratify it.
In 1973, the U.S.
Supreme Court, in Miller v.
California, ruled that states
may ban materials found
to be obscene according to
local standards.
In 1977, Menachem
Begin of the Likud bloc
became Israel’s sixth prime
minister.
In 1982, a jury in Wash-
ington, D.C., found John
Hinckley Jr. not guilty by
reason of insanity in the
shootings of President Ron-
ald Reagan and three other
men.
In 1988, “Who Framed
Roger Rabbit,” a com-
edy fantasy starring Bob
Hoskins that combined live
action and legendary ani-
mated cartoon characters,
premiered in New York.
In 1989, a sharply divided
Supreme Court ruled that
burning the American flag
as a form of political protest
was protected by the First
Amendment.
In 2002, one of the worst
wildfires in Arizona history
grew to 128,000 acres, forc-
ing thousands of homeown-
ers near the community of
Show Low to flee.
In 2013, President Barack
Obama nominated James
Comey, a Bush-era Justice
official, to head the FBI, suc-
ceeding Robert Mueller. The
Food Network said it was
dropping Paula Deen, barely
an hour after the celebrity
cook posted the first of two
videotaped apologies beg-
ging forgiveness from fans
and critics troubled by her
admission to having used
racial slurs in the past.
Today’s
Birthdays:
Songwriter Don Black is 81.
Rock musician Don Airey
(Deep Purple) is 71. Actor
Josh Pais is 61.Country
singer Kathy Mattea is 60.
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown
is 59. Writer-director Lana
Wachowski is 54. Actress
Juliette Lewis is 46. Rock
singer Brandon Flowers is
38. Pop/rock singer Lana
Del Rey is 34. Pop singer
Rebecca Black is 22.
Thought for Today: “In
America, to look a couple
of years younger than you
actually are is not only an
achievement for which you
are to be congratulated, it is
patriotic.” — Cynthia Prop-
per Seton, American writer
(1926-1982).
PHOEBE AND HER UNICORN
BY DANA SIMPSON
BIG NATE
BY LINCOLN PEIRCE