B6
East Oregonian
PEANUTS
COFFEE BREAK
Thursday, July 11, 2019
DEAR ABBY
BY CHARLES M . SCHULZ
Friendship ends after birthday
party joke goes wildly wrong
FOR BETTER OR WORSE
BY LYNN JOHNSTON
B.C.
BY JOHNNY HART
PICKLES
BY BRIAN CRANE
BEETLE BAILEY
BY MORT WALKER
Dear Abby: I recently attended a
straight or cisgender.
friend’s party that was being given to
I’m sorry that the young per-
son was embarrassed. Your apol-
celebrate their son’s 18th birthday. I
ogy should have been directed at
thought it would be cheeky and fun
them, not their mother. But since the
to buy him a risque card from an
mother has now decreed you persona
adult boutique, thinking everyone
non grata, you will have to accept it.
would get a good laugh, and we’d
It’s unfortunate. The family overre-
have something to roast the young
acted. What could have been han-
man with. When he opened the card,
J eanne
dled as a simple teachable moment
he had this look of horror on his face,
P hilliPs
was blown out of proportion.
ran out of the room all teary-eyed
ADVICE
Dear Abby: I am about to blow
and went directly to his bedroom.
my top! I am a married father of
His mother picked up the card and
two in the military who works 12
immediately asked me to leave. I
hours daily to support my family. My wife
was really embarrassed but unsure about the
and I are college grads and have been mar-
reason.
ried five years. For those years we have main-
I gave them a week or so to cool off. I
tained residence in Hawaii. My wife doesn’t
called back only to be informed by the mother
work and tries to run a day care that is mildly
that I had violated her son’s sanctity of sexual
successful.
orientation because he identifies as a “they”
Our home is always dirty because, as she
and “prefers androgynous boys to women.”
puts it, she is not a housemaid. She doesn’t
She went on to explain that as a result of
cook often either. Many times I come home
my “indiscriminate sexism,” I’m no longer
so tired I can’t see, and the house is a mess.
allowed around the family.
This has caused arguments.
I feel I should’ve been informed of the
My thinking is, if she’s not going to take
child’s orientation being such an important
care of the house, she should get a job and help
aspect of his ... or rather, “their” identity, and
with the finances. The money she gets from
tried to explain it was an honest mistake and
the day care doesn’t go toward the household.
would never happen again. My friend said the
She considers it her spending money.
damage was done, and they can’t forgive that
I am ready to bounce and find greener
kind of arrogance and blatant disrespect for
pastures. I have tried talking to her, but she
“their” gender identity and sexual orientation.
ignores my complaints and plays the victim.
Was I insensitive for not asking first, or
We have already tried counseling. It doesn’t
should the parents have taken the initiative to
work because she goes back to her normal
inform me so I wouldn’t make such an egre-
gious error in what I assumed was a well-
self afterward. Help! — Peeved in the Pacific
Dear Peeved: Marriage is supposed to be
rounded friendship? Any advice would be
a partnership and, from what you have writ-
great. — Wanting to Scream in Eugene
ten, your wife is unwilling to contribute to it. I
Dear Wanting: I think one lesson to be
can’t change her and neither can you. Because
learned here is that some people are not com-
fortable with sexual humor. Another is that
counseling hasn’t resolved your obvious lack
of compatibility, it’s time to consult a lawyer.
it is a mistake to assume that everyone is
DAYS GONE BY
GARFIELD
BLONDIE
DILBERT
THE WIZARD OF ID
LUANN
ZITS
BY JIM DAVIS
BY DEAN YOUNG AND STAN DRAKE
100 Years Ago
From the East Oregonian
July 11, 1919
Tomorrow morning will witness the open-
ing of Pendleton’s newest financial institution,
the Inland Empire bank, situated at the corner
of Main and Court streets. The new bank will
start business with a capitalization of $250,000
which is exceeded by only two banks in the
state outside of Portland. J.W. Maloney, 36
years a resident of Umatilla county, is pres-
ident of the city’s newest bank. The Inland
Empire bank received its charter from the state
on March 17, 1919, and has also been made
a member of the federal reserve bank in the
twelfth district.
50 Years Ago
From the East Oregonian
July 11, 1969
The 1966 Ferrari which topped 160 miles
an hour on Interstate 80 North a few months
ago probably won’t be sold at auction after
all. The sports car was impounded when its
owner, Daniel James Gruener, 23, Ketchum,
Idaho, was arrested for possession marijuana
following a high-speed chase by Oregon State
Police. A show cause hearing was conducted
this week in Umatilla County Circuit Court
on whether District Attorney Joe Smith could
sell the auto. Proceeds would go to the coun-
ty’s general fund. The prospect of auctioning
TODAY IN HISTORY
BY SCOTT ADAMS
BY BRANT PARKER AND JOHNNY HART
BY GREG EVANS
BY JERRY SCOTT AND JIM BORGMAN
off the Italian auto dimmed considerably when
Lucretia G. Goldsmith, La Jolla, Calif., a rela-
tive of Gruener, showed that she held a $17,000
lien on the auto. Circuit Court Judge Henry
Kaye said the state was within its rights in seiz-
ing the car, and planning to sell it, but that any
proceeds from the sale would have to go first
toward satisfying the lien. Car buffs say that is
more than the Ferrari would bring at auction.
25 Years Ago
From the East Oregonian
July 11, 1994
Swimming spectators at the Pendleton Invi-
tational Swim Meet had their need for speed
fulfilled this weekend. Toby Wilcox of Herm-
iston led a group of swimmers from across
the state who broke 20 meet records at the
annual summer event. Wilcox broke three
meet records. The 18-year-old bettered Scott
Ericson’s 1989 mark (57.65) in the 100 meter
freestyle race by more than a second with a
time of 56.42 seconds. Wilcox broke his own
record that he set in 1993 in the 50-meter free-
style race, finishing in a time of 25.31 seconds
compared to last year’s mark of 26.19 seconds.
The Hermiston swimmer also broke the meet
record in the 100-meter butterfly with a race
time of 1:02.57. The old mark of 1:02.90 was
set in 1983 by Bart Pippenger. Wilcox also cap-
tured first in the 200-meter freestyle and the
400-meter individual medley.
On July 11, 1972, the
World Chess Championship
opened as grandmasters
Bobby Fischer of the United
States and defending cham-
pion Boris Spassky of the
Soviet Union began play in
Reykjavik, Iceland. (Fischer
won after 21 games.)
In 1859, Big Ben, the
great bell inside the famous
London clock tower, chimed
for the first time.
In 1914, Babe Ruth made
his Major League baseball
debut, pitching the Boston
Red Sox to a 4-3 victory over
Cleveland.
In 1915, the Chicago
Sunday Tribune ran an arti-
cle titled, “Blues Is Jazz and
Jazz Is Blues.” (It’s believed
to be one of the earliest, if
not the earliest, uses of the
word “jazz” as a musical
term by a newspaper.)
In 1937, American com-
poser and pianist George
Gershwin died at a Los
Angeles hospital of a brain
tumor; he was 38.
In 1955, the U.S. Air
Force Academy swore in its
first class of cadets at its tem-
porary quarters at Lowry
Air Force Base in Colorado.
In 1960, the novel “To
Kill a Mockingbird” by
Harper Lee was first pub-
lished by J.B. Lippincott and
Co.
In 1979, the abandoned
U.S. space station Skylab
made a spectacular return
to Earth, burning up in the
atmosphere and showering
debris over the Indian Ocean
and Australia.
Today’s
Birthdays:
Actress Susan Seaforth
Hayes is 76. Singer Peter
Murphy is 62. Actress Lisa
Rinna is 56. Rock musician
Scott Shriner (Weezer) is
54. Pop-rock singer Andrew
Bird is 46. Rapper Lil’ Kim is
44. Pop-jazz singer-musician
Peter Cincotti is Actor David
Henrie is 30. Actor Connor
Paolo is 29. Tennis player
Caroline Wozniacki is 29. .
Thought for Today:
“Life is a lot like jazz —
it’s best when you impro-
vise.” — George Gershwin
(1898-1937).
PHOEBE AND HER UNICORN
BY DANA SIMPSON
BIG NATE
BY LINCOLN PEIRCE