203

Something nice
Posted on November 30, 2022 by David M Willis

203 thoughts on “Something nice”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    oh, gonna commit immigration fraud after all? =p

    1. Clif

      Is marriage immigration fraud?

      1. Freezer

        Very much so. If they can prove it.

        1. Freezer

          It’s why they require you be married X number of years (five, I think).

      2. Segnosaur

        I think getting married strictly for citizenship purposes is.

        On the other hand the 2 of them did have a pre-existing relationship going back, what, a few weeks at least, and the 2 of them have been seen together holding hand in public, almost living together/sharing her room. It might be a “rushed” marriage but an investigation would probably find enough there to consider it legitimate.

        1. Paradox

          Yeah, it’s entirely on INS to prove its a sham marriage

          That said, actual native born citizens get deported sometimes, because the entire system is messed up (Judges that preside over immigration cases can be fired for not meeting a quota of cases resolved, they are literally the only Judges in the US this can happen to, this results in a lot of rushed cases, and people fall through the cracks)

        2. Taffy

          That’s pretty fucked up. Like, where does this always-been-a-citizen even get deported to? Hopefully someplace that’s friendly to people who’ve been forcibly shipped there.

        3. thejeff

          Generally native born citizens only get deported if they’re brown and probably Spanish speaking.

        4. Ana Chronistic

          One twin a U.S. Citizen, the other faced deportation: https://kfor.com/news/one-twin-is-a-u-s-citizen-the-other-faces-deportation/

    2. James

      Or perhaps just help him get his university job back?

      1. Rabisch

        Let’s hope no. Jason is way a better person without that job.

        1. Decidedly Orthogonal

          How does his employment status as a T.A. affect his quality as a person? If he’s grown as a person, the job is immaterial, and if he hasn’t, not having the job is like a christian only being good so they can get into heaven.

        2. Ryan

          Some jobs bring out the worst in people for a variety of reasons.

    3. Tan

      This would be exceedingly counterproductive as regards achieving a relationship where the other partner has free agency. Also I don’t know that Ruth is an American citizen anyway?

      1. thejeff

        No reason to think she isn’t.

        1. Ryan

          Aside from her being Canadian?

        2. King Daniel

          I believe Sir is American if I’m not mistaken—which in turn’d make Ruth’s late mother to also have been American, and Ruth herself a presumable Canadian-American dual citizen.

        3. Taffy

          How far down does that go, anyway? Like, if I move to Japan and have a kid, my kid’s American by default, yeah? But if my kid moves to Brazil and has their own kid, is my grandkid also American? And do they have triple citizenship in America, Japan, and Brazil at that point?

          I just wanna know if I can set things up for my descendants to have omni-citizenship.

        4. Yumi

          Well, for some countries– including Japan, I believe– you have to give up one of those kinds of citizenships at a certain age. So that example wouldn’t work, but I don’t know about others.

        5. Tan

          The rules as per the US State Department: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/travel-legal-considerations/us-citizenship/Acquisition-US-Citizenship-Child-Born-Abroad.html

          (long story short is that Ruth is probably an American citizen)

        6. Songbird

          Some countries don’t really allow for dual citizenship, and a subset of those countries require you to have parents who have citizens of that country to be considered a natural-born citizen in the first place, so it varies. For example, I was born in an American hospital in Germany to American parents (my father was Air Force), and for most of my life I believed I had dual citizenship because that’s what my mother thought and that’s what she told me. Then when I was in college, my German prof informed me that Germany doesn’t really *do* dual citizenship. I looked it up, and it’s true that Deutschland didn’t do dual citizenship for kids born to foreign nationals until about 1997 or so (I was born earlier than that, so I was SOL on that front). Even then, the child in question would have to either default to German citizenship or relinquish it once they turn 23 years of age.

          So…yeah.

        7. Inahc

          wait, what? my SO and MIL are looking into german citizenship; SO’s grandmother is german, and supposedly that was enough for them to be eligible if she hadn’t hidden the paperwork (which has now been found, along with plenty of other drama).

          maybe it’s the “foreign nationals” bit there that matters, and they’re ok with dual citizenship so long as you can prove some ancestor was german…

        8. Inahc

          ..aha, they do have a few exceptions. “This rule does not apply to Germans who receive the other citizenship by law (e.g. children born in Canada to parents that hold German citizenship at the time of the birth of the child may be dual citizens by law), or…”

        9. Inahc

          oh neat, turns out I’m eligible for irish citizenship too, if I ever feel the need for an EU passport again 🙂

        10. Taffy

          Well, fuck. There goes my dream of having supercitizen great-great-grandkids. Earth sucks.

  2. darkoneko

    Ruth : “ask me what’s wrong”

  3. Raen

    …is she proposing? As only she could.

    1. Doctor_Who

      Pretty sure that would only help if Jason wanted to live in Canada.

      …He would make an interesting addition to the cast of Letterkenny.

      1. Needfuldoer

        Clint is her maternal grandfather and he lives within reasonable driving distance, so her mother could’ve been American. That would give her American citizenship by birthright.

    2. darkoneko

      or, y’know, finding him a job fitting of that visa ?

    3. Fay

      Eh, I think that would be giving Ruth even more power over him, which is what she’s trying to avoid.

  4. Sirksome

    How is she gonna solve that work visa problem though? Marry him? Only slightly joking. I don’t think a college RA has much clout in this situation.

    1. The Wellerman

      Who knows? She just might make a deal with Asher or something ?

      1. True Survivor

        Maybe her grandfather has clout?

        Also: Do you think Ruth will survive this timeline? She feels like she is reaching the end of an arc (and when your characters are out of arc – its time to go dark??). I heard she went out like a boss in the last one.

        1. Thag Simmons

          I don’t think we’re going to see any (more) major character deaths, and if we do I definitely don’t think Ruth would be one of them.

        2. Sirksome

          Yeah, she apparently died in a previous comic. I don’t know for sure I just know some more lore savvy commenters mentioned it. We probably don’t need a rehash of a Ruth death.

        3. Cholma

          Yep. She died in Roomies! saving Danny’s life. It’s where the line, “act with integrity, no regrets” comes from.

          Oh dear Cheese, I’ve been reading Willis’ stories for a loooong time.

        4. King Daniel

          (For those readers who don’t know the context of the publication date, Ruth’s Roomies! death was in or about 1999.)

        5. Liara

          March 19 1999, according to the person that posted the original upload dates onto the re-run on itswalky.com

        6. BowlerHatGuy

          “Yep. She died in Roomies! saving Danny’s life. It’s where the line, “act with integrity, no regrets” comes from.”

          Oh man, that explains so much.

        7. Liara

          Fun fact: Ruth has, in real time, been alive in DoA for longer than the time between her death in Roomies! and her DoA (re-)appearance

        8. Wereg

          I’m gonna bank on Grandfather Clout pulling Jason another job at the University.

        9. Bicycle Bill

          That’s what I was thinking too.  The grandfather has enough influence of one form or another to keep her under his thumb, so maybe he’s got other kinds of clout that can be brought to bear to assist Jason with his little problem.

        10. thejeff

          Her grandfather has some clout, but it’s hard to imagine Ruth asking him for help.

      2. Bryy

        ….. welp.

        Time to find out just how shitty Jennifer really is. (If she’ll allow it or not)

        1. Taffy

          Allow what? She doesn’t even go here.

        2. The Oracle

          What authority does Jennifer have over anyone to allow or disallow anything?

      3. Minkey93

        Or try and call in a favor with her granddad? A de is bargain. Could work given Jason’s family connections.

    2. Proxiehunter

      An RA doesn’t. Sir’s daughter might.

      1. Thag Simmons

        Even if he’s in that position, is Ruth willing to request a favour from Clint? Would he be willing to follow through?

      2. Jamie

        She’s his granddaughter. And an orphan.

        1. Bryy

          He’s made it clear he doesn’t give a shit about either.

    3. Yumi

      Maybe she’ll try to get him a job that would allow for his work visa again? I don’t know, but my first thought was “adopt him,” and 1. Don’t think that would work and 2. What.

      So I think the job thing is at least more likely than that.

      1. The Wellerman

        Re: adoption, solutions to fickle conundrums are like pancakes — the first one is almost always the throw-away ?

      2. Creatrix Tiara

        there are very specific criteria that jobs need to follow to qualify for a work visa (H1-B, OPT, whatever Jason is on). It can’t just be any job and has to happen pretty much ASAP. The comic is gonna need to take significant liberties for Ruth’s plan to work.

        (my entire life has been governed by visas)

        1. Yumi

          Well, sure, that’s why I said “try”– I’d be skeptical of it working. Maybe Jason was reintroduced to get deported. That would kind of suck, honestly.

        2. The Wellerman

          It wouldn’t be the first time a character would have to leave the scene because of force mature. Speaking of which, I wonder if Liz will ever make an appearance again.

        3. Bicycle Bill

          You mean you don’t think this comic has taken ‘significant liberties’ with things already?

        4. Ana Chronistic

          Given his old position was with the college, likely F1 or (less likely) J1

      3. BBCC

        He’s on a student visa, not a work visa, which is part of the problem. Not sure what jobs, if any, he’s allowed to have with that one.

        1. Proxiehunter

          Nope, according to this strip he has a work visa. And we know her grandfather has enough pull with the college to get people reinstated to positions they shouldn’t be in. So I assume she’s going to try to get his TA job back.

        2. Yumi

          I don’t know what type of visa he maybe “should” be on, but according to the words literally in today’s and yesterday’s strips, it’s a work visa.

        3. thejeff

          Yeah, that’s just weird.

        4. Creatrix Tiara

          You can sort of work on a student visa in the US under the following conditions:

          – Just a regular student visa: No more than 20 hours a week on campus for minimum wage
          – CPT: Can work during your study but it has to be something related to what you’re studying (so like a paid internship, and this is also how I got a paid job to be my final MFA project)
          – OPT: 1 year (18 months for STEM majors) after graduation to work on something related to your degree – you don’t need to already have a job to get this (I did this after my MFA)

          A lot of people will try for a H1-B, which is what people tend to think of when they say “work visa”. It needs to be a 3 year job and your company has to sponsor it. There’s actually an issue with Twitter right now because of the sudden layoffs – a lot of people employed there are on H1Bs and if they got caught up in the layoffs they have to scramble to find a new job before they are in breach of visa.

          There’s also a billion other visa types but those are the main ones that relate to Jason’s situation.

    4. Yotomoe

      I thought maybe something like an RA’s assistant or some position at the campus.

      1. Yumi

        The Resident Assistant’s assistant? I like that. Ooo, and then he could get am assistant and it could be assistants all the way down.

        1. Thag Simmons

          Giving Jason a position as her direct report seems like the opposite of giving up power and control over him.

        2. Yumi

          Fair, but no one said he would be Ruth’s assistant.

        3. Yotomoe

          I think that only applies if she has the power to fire him or make him do stuff. He would have to be in a position where saying “no” might have consequences for him. Like if they’re both hired by the School and he’s just assisting Ruth in her duties, it’s not like she’s his BOSS. He’s just working a separate job from her that also assists her.

        4. Needfuldoer

          Jason still has the “inappropriate relationship with a student” charge on his record at IU, though. Unless he changes his mind and contests it (which will be an uphill battle, especially after all that time has lapsed), he might be automatically disqualified for any student-facing positions.

      2. Sirksome

        Can she do that? At most I could see her maybe recommending Jason for a job but I figured dude would be black listed from working on campus what with the whole boning a student thing.

        1. Yotomoe

          Eh, It’d be MIGHTY hypocritical for them to keep Ruth then, wouldn’t it?

        2. Nova

          I mean… Ruth is also a student. She’s not in a position to affect anyone’s grades and has essentially no power other than whatever modicum she gets by threatening femurs.

          Contextually, there isn’t any hypocrisy here.

        3. thejeff

          RAs are still banned from relationships with students under their supervision. That’s why they moved Jennifer off the floor.

          It does seem to be a lower level of offense than for a TA though.

        4. Yotomoe

          Now I don’t know how much power an RA has but even if she can’t effect their grades can she not effect their living situation?

      3. darkoneko

        so she want to school to rehire the dude that got fired for banging a student, as a RA ?

    5. Huesatlight

      marriage would leave her in power over him. Jason has the kind of problem that throwing a lawyer at can really help.

      1. Yotomoe

        WELL WHO DO WE THROW THEN?

        1. BBCC

          Jacob’s brother might know someone in immigration law.

        2. Ana Chronistic

          Technically, ALL OF SARAH’S CLASSMATES may know someone in immigration law

    6. Xaeon

      Unless they need a new male RA? They didn’t actually find out about Jason and Sal. He was accused by another TA who thought they were making it up to drag him down with them when they got fired for it. If they can continue to employ an RA who absolutely definitely had sex with one of their students, then hiring one who maybe might have once shouldn’t be a problem especially when they were probably accused of sleeping with a female student and will be overseeing males. Ruth would be the perfect one to make that argument.

      1. Sirksome

        I think another problem with this is Sal. She’s the type not to make a big deal of most things but she does really hate Jason because of the whole sex/power imbalance thing resulted in her kinda being taken advantage of. Jason working back on campus would kind of be a middle finger to her. Would probably be a bad look to dump on Sal just to make Ruth feel less guilty.

        1. Yotomoe

          Wait was Sal mad about that? Didn’t she initiate it? And I’m not saying that makes it right. I guess I’m just a bit confused why she would be vehemently against it.

        2. Sirksome

          A strip like this makes me feel like she’s still mad.

          https://www.dumbingofage.com/2021/comic/book-11/05-as-long-as-its-free/larf/

          She did initiate it but either through obliviousness or what have you he never held up his end of the bargain to improve her grade and was kind of an asshole through their entire brief coupling. I doubt she’d enjoy him having anymore academic authority over her.

        3. Taffy

          What bargain? He didn’t agree to do that. She assumed there was one, but he was confused/annoyed when she brought it up, so how is that in any way a bargain?

          That Slipshine was pretty hot, but it didn’t contain anything of the sort.

        4. Sirksome

          I mean that’s ultimately part of the problem, right? That’s why I said he was probably oblivious to it. It was all kind of implied and he either didn’t get it or didn’t care and when Sal talked to him about it and clarified he was pretty obnoxious about the whole thing, despite its leading to banging again.

          https://www.dumbingofage.com/2013/comic/book-3/03-answers-in-hennessy/more-quietly/

          I’m not trying to argue the morality or anything. The fact is Jason took advantage of a power dynamic over Sal and she’s rightfully sour on the dude for it. Worse than that he kind of just gave up on her. He assumed the worst about her from the beginning and then was more concerned about his academic career than actually teaching her math. I doubt she’d appreciate him being back in an authority role of any kind at the school.

        5. Yotomoe

          I just reread through the entire history of Sal and Jason’s experience with each other in order (it’s only 4 pages) and I’m honestly really confused by Sal being mad at Jason in general. I mean don’t get me wrong, he’s a posh dick. But like…Sal never seemed bothered about the sex and since Jason seemed to always go FAR out of his way to never let boinking her influence his grades on her AND told her that fucking him would not influence his grading her, I legitimately h\have trouble figuring out why she’d hate him for that, specifically.

          So I can only really see that “Fuck you forever” as more of a playful “oh I don’t like you, you suck” sorta thing most of their interactions have been and not specifically cuz she felt like he took advantage of her with sex. Then again she snipes at him about “getting off on power imbalance” I dunno it feels weird reading it all at once like that.

          And I almost hate to say it. If we’re talking power imbalance, Jason brings up an excellent point. If Sal got caught she was probably just gonna get a slap on the wrist. If/When Jason got caught He lost his job and is at risk of getting Deported. In a weird way I feel like SAL had more of the power in that situation.

          So I’m stuck in a place where I can only read it as either Jealousy, which I don’t believe for a second, or more likely the hatred she harbors for Ruth and the disdain she harbors for Jason mixing together and making a Hatebaby.

          I dunno I never put this much thought into it but I kinda wanna see Sal and Jason talk it out again.

        6. Sirksome

          @Yotomoe-I think it gets a bit complicated at this point and it’s open to interpretation. Jason was in a position of authority over her and while he was concerned and hypothesized Sal would get a slap on the wrist while he would get fired, there’s also just as likely a chance no one would believe Sal. Women, especially black women don’t get a lot of credit in these situations. It would be her word against his and if Jason chose to fight the accusation whose word do you think the university would believe?

          That aside I can see it both ways. I doubt she sees the whole thing as a big deal, but Jason was also just kind of a dick to her in general. He perved on her as soon as they met, then immediately dismissed her and profiled her as a thug either based on the way she dresses and talks or some slight racism if we don’t want to be generous. Then of course he failed to teach her anything. Took her offer of sex happily, without returning in favor what she assumed was implied quid pro quo. Then basically washed his hands of her. And when they met again, Jason apparently attempting to be a gentleman and escort a drunk Sal home, also made that all about himself and verifying his own insecurities about his teaching ability.

          Sal has a lot of reasons to dislike Jason, because he apparently only really cared about the sex and not teaching her or helping her in any way. Having a laugh at his expense doesn’t really make them even.

          Now that I said all that I do doubt it’s really a big deal now. Sal doesn’t really hold grudges. At worst I think he’s just a reminder of a bad decision she made.

  5. Kyrik Michalowski

    People don’t have to be drunk in order to want to help you Jason. Though to be fair, knowing she has had problems might be why he is concerned.

    1. Kyrik Michalowski

      Actually, does Jason know that Ruth has had a drinking problem in the past?

      And when did she find out about his visa?

      1. Rotunda

        Characters are allowed to talk without us listening in.

        1. Kyrik Michalowski

          This is like the tree falling down with no one around to hear it. We can only speculate whether it happened or not.

        2. Taffy

          What nobody ever considers is, what if the tree falls and it’s too far away to hear but someone still sees it fall? It can be as silent as the moon, but I still seent it.

      2. Thag Simmons

        He can probably guess and she found out when they started bonding about being immigrants

      3. Liara

        Pretty sure she was drunk the first 3 or 4 times they met, and I seem to remember Jennifer trying to get him to cut her off the first time they were at his bar

  6. True Survivor

    I really like Ruth: she cares, she worries, she tries (and not just to get your femurs out in one quick pull).

    She has learned to be vulnerable (which like getting leg bones out in one pull is very hard).

    1. Slartibeast Button, BIA

      She removes his femurs and he claims some kind of disability visa thing.

  7. Leorale

    She’s sozzled, cucumbered, she’s out of her tree.

    1. Proxiehunter

      Absolutely coathangered.

    2. True Survivor

      Those green things aren’t her irises – they are martini olives floating around in vodka.

    3. Leorale

      oh, right, she’s Canadian. In that case, she’s sodden, slambasted, she’s utterly hosed.

      (I don’t think she’s really any of these things, they’re just fun to say.)

  8. RassilonTDavros

    Who is being nice? Ruth is being nice. How can that be?

  9. Stephen Bierce

    Can’t recall if I’d shared this here earlier.

    1. Opus the Poet

      Song based on a Vonnegut novel, nice.

  10. Suet

    No boozles, no assumption.

    And Ruth is our lady of assumption.

  11. Cmasta1992

    Ruth didn’t havr a drinking problem did she? I want to be snarky but not shitty here

    1. Cmasta1992

      (And then my phone betrayed me by misspelling have)

      1. Leorale

        She did, yeah. I always got the impression that Billie’s drinking problem led to her depression, and Ruth’s depression led to her drinking. (Though, in fairness, when those two are doing really badly, it’s hard to differentiate the problems.)

        Ruth used to drink to self-medicate her depression. Then she got actual treatment for depression, including meds that could interact with alcohol, and she abstained for a while. Much later on, she drank anyway, and had an allergic reaction. Iirc, Billie and Jason had to take her to the hospital.

        Ruth is doing better these days, and is on different meds that don’t interact with alcohol. She’s probably able to drink in moderation on occasion, but she’s gotta keep her head on straight.

        1. thejeff

          Alcohol in moderation might not interfere with her new meds, but that assumes she can drink in moderation. Or on occasion.

          I somehow doubt the self-described alcoholic is really now able to drink responsibly.

    2. Thag Simmons

      Little bit, yeah

    3. King Daniel

      Ruth has described herself in the past as having been a “teenage alcoholic”. She was already 20 years old when first introduced in DoA (she’s now 21, as of a few chapters ago), so her association with drinking goes a ways back.

      1. Cmasta1992

        Thank you Guardians of the Archives for keeping me honest

        1. Leorale

          ♡

  12. JD

    i say this with only the most sincere respect possible, but ever since the timeskip jason has looked a little bit like a dapper butch lesbian and its incredibly hot.

    1. sultryglebe

      No wonder Ruth’s into him!

  13. Yotomoe

    The whole power imbalance thing often concerns me. Part of why I’m super content to stay the lowest rung in society I can (while still surviving) is I like not having to feel like I have power over anyone. That I’m not taking advantage of somebody by merely being.
    (Especially since I get crushes super easily and would prefer being the one with someone above me than the other way around.)

    1. The Wellerman

      Hard same. The captialist social pyramids of today just seem to bring the worse out of everyone, and I want not to partake of that toxic crap.

      1. Leorale

        It’s also possible to have mutual and complementary power with people in your arenas, and respect each other for each other’s various strengths, and help each other with each other’s various weaknesses/deficits. You can be cognizant and careful with your privileges and powers, and so can they, and it can all work out OK.

      2. khn0

        This is not a choice that is given to most of us to be taking advantage or not, whether if we are in the lowest tier of proletarian or much higher. The fact we need, to survive each day, a certain sum of labor from people from other countries puts us, per se, in this situation of power imbalance, even if we have no immediate power over it. We’d have it only if we could find other sources of energy, food, raw materials; what means we would have a decision power over the production, its allocation and sources, in other word, we’d have a situation a revolution would have already happened.
        In other words, the reproduction of the conditions of capitalism is what grant us power on other countries while in the same time denying us the possibility of declining this power.
        Guilty but not responsible for it?
        I don’t have that answer.

    2. Cmasta1992

      I’m the exact opposite. I want as much power as I can reasonably and legally get so no one can have influence over me. I don’t necessarily want to exert power on someone but I don’t want someone to have that option against me

      1. Joy

        You’re not the only one.

    3. Needfuldoer

      Somebody needs to watch “soft skills” training videos. “Crushing the Will of the Weak With No Remorse” is a popular one.

      (No joke, “how to succeed at communicating” courses exist, and they just seem a little bit too sociopathic to me…)

      1. cmasta1992

        Yeah I meant less like those 80s Sales Guy Make Anyone Believe You power and more like: Let’s say you live in your parent’s house. They’re good parents. Feed you, encourage your goals nothing bad. Just normal ass parents. They’ve got rules, like you got to be at home by 11 so we can lock the doors up. That’s a perfectly reasonable request, but it is still determining what I can and can’t do. That’s power over me. So I move out and get my own place. That creates its own systems of power over me but I earned more freedom than I had previously.

        So that’s more what I mean. I want less for people to answer to me and more for me to answer to no one.

    4. Taffy

      Fuck power imbalances. Legend has it that owning a few more PS2 games is a form of power/privilege over somebody. The only thing that matters is not holding that power over someone else’s head, not the presence of power itself. Nothing in the entire world is perfectly balanced, no need to fret about it too much.

      (Before any Deliberate Misunderstanders pop up, yes, I know other thing happen sometime.)

      1. Cmasta1992

        Dang I only have NES games. I hope the exchange rate is good these days

        1. Taffy

          Honestly, with the outrageously inflated prices NES games fetch nowadays, you’re probably better off with those.

  14. Laura

    He’s got less than 60 days after he was fired to get back into valid employment status and find a new sponsor for his work visa, or to apply for a different visa type (e.g., student visa). If he remains out of status for 180 days or more, he will be barred from the United States and inadmissible to reenter the US.

    1. Fay

      It’s been stated before that he’s somehow committing fraud; he hasn’t reported that he got fired to whatever agency is responsible for his visa. It was all left intentionally vague.

      1. Fay

        It’s also definitely been more than 60 days since he was fired.

        1. Liara

          It’s been at least four months, as he was fired pre-timeskip in September, and we’re now in January

    2. The Wellerman

      ? Completely barred?!?! A very harsh punishment for the non-violent offense of being in-between jobs, no?

      1. DailyBrad

        Countries, especially but not exclusively the US, can be very, very draconian about immigration.

      2. Laura

        No, not completely barred. Between 180 days and 1 year of unlawful presence gets you barred from reentry for three years.
        See:
        https://www.uscis.gov/laws-and-policy/other-resources/unlawful-presence-and-inadmissibility

        1. Laura

          …I was once on a bar trivia team called “unlawful presence”. It was during the soccer world cup finals between Italy and France. It was a soccer/football bar with a mostly international clientele.
          Other teammates were a bunch of immigration lawyers.
          Fun times…

      3. Wizard

        Oh, you have no idea. Our immigration system has been a mess for a very long time, and that was before the previous presidential administration started deliberately throwing sand in the gears. (Not that the current administration has done much to help.) If you want to talk harsh, there was the time just a few years ago that a bunch of foreign students got kicked out of the country after enrolling in bogus schools. The harsh part is that the same agency that kicked them out told them these schools were legit.

        1. The Wellerman

          These innocent students get deported because they trusted an organization that was supposed to help them. Meanwhile, only 6% of rapists will ever see a day in jail, and one’s even a member of the Supreme Court. Don’t you just LOVE America?

        2. Taffy

          Pff. “One”.

        3. JBento

          Yeah, there’s credible testimony of it applying to at least two, but nobody likes to talk about the other one because Republicans don’t think rape is a problem and Democrats would really like nobody to remember that Biden helped sweep that one under the carpet.

        4. Taffy

          I just sort of assume it’s most of them. Not like they’ve done much to earn more trust.

    3. BBCC

      He’s on a student visa that apparently does not allow him to have this job, and he can’t afford to stay in the states without a job.

  15. Queezle

    oh honey..

  16. Jess

    So it’s she thinking of a marriage visa, or sponsoring him?

    1. Jess

      *is

      God I hate my auto correct

    2. Kyrik Michalowski

      With Ruth behind the wheel, it will be something way more complicated than just marriage.

    3. Slartibeast Button, BIA

      She’s going to forge a birth certificate for him, and then run him through a montage of “How to talk American” training.

  17. Needfuldoer

    Aw, Ruth… 🙁

  18. Florence

    Jason: someone being nice to me? Absolute ridiculous!

    1. Florence

      My spelling mistake now makes it sound like Jason turned into the mortal combat announcer at the end ther

      1. Slartibeast Button, BIA

        I was getting more a “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.” vibe.

  19. Taffy

    A lot of marriage assumptions so far. Is it an American thing? Aaah, the foreigners are taking all our eligible spouses, aaaah? I jest, but it feels weird that marriage is the first thing on people’s minds.

    Do we even know the exact specific terms of Jason’s work visa? Like, does he have to be a teacher/TA/school person, or…? I’ve heard whispers and rumors that bartending “doesn’t count” or whatever, but what does? How’s Ruth gonna get him a “valid” job? Her grandad doesn’t give a fuck about her beyond her doing as he says and would probably be completely unaffected if she died in front of him, so what kind of pull can he even give her?

    1. Slartibeast Button, BIA

      Maybe she can hire him as her “tutor” and that counts for a teaching visa?

      1. Taffy

        If they’re not picky about what kind of tutor, that might just work, assuming it counts. Nobody has to know that “math” is a euphemism for “Yu-Gi-Oh! cards and oral sex”.

    2. anon

      plus ruth is canadian, even if she’s studying in america now, not sure if it’s confirmed she’s an american citizen

      that said ‘get married for citizenship’ def would be more ‘power over him’ which she’s trying to avoid

      1. Taffy

        Something something parent born here something citizenship something.

        1. Needfuldoer

          It’s a thing! I know at least a couple people who have dual citizenship because one parent was an American citizen when they were born.

    3. Wizard

      Work visas are usually very specific about the type of jobs covered, plus he may be past the deadline even if he could find a qualifying job. He really would have been better off contesting his firing. Penny couldn’t possibly have given the school any details about Sal. She didn’t even know about Jason and Sal, and only accused him because she was a pointlessly vindictive bongo. Given the nature of our profoundly messed-up immigration system, there’s very little likelihood of him finding any way to stay in the US legally.

      1. Taffy

        It’s a good thing the USA is super lenient on immigrants and offers them excellent job opportunities with or without the “proper” papers, then. I’m sure he’ll be completely fine and nothing distressing will happen and all this worry will have been for nothing.

        /SARCASM

    4. thejeff

      I don’t think it’s been made explicit, but he’s probably here on a student visa that also includes some level of university related work. Possibly limited to the TA position, but maybe any campus employment.

      So he’s not in direct danger of being removed from the country just for losing his job, but he’s not officially allowed to work and that could lead to problems.

      1. Yumi

        It actually is explicit that he’s on a work visa. Seems like it should be a student visa that allows university work, like you said, but people are going with “work visa” because that’s what the text (see: yesterday’s strip and today’s strip) says.

    5. nightshade

      no, it’s just one of the most common ways it’s done here and as stated its incredibly hard to prove …..in fact, it’s so common that its entered pop culture in books tv movies, etc … usually for comedic purposes

      the strange thing is it normally takes about 2 -3 years to get a marriage visa (see the show 90-day fiance for how it works in reality) and often times it’s shown as a “hey let’s get married so you can stay ” almost instantaneous thing when even after getting married you’d have to go back to your country file the paperwork and wait to go through the process

      1. Taffy

        I always assumed it was something TV made up, like dog catchers and class presidents with real power and Philadelphia.

        1. Joy

          Dog catchers played a vital role in society prior to the invention of rabies vaccines.

        2. Taffy

          Yeah, I’m sure it was real vital to grab people’s pets from behind closed fences and drive around like a nutcase with a big butterfly net hoping to snag a sleeping Yorkie.

        3. Yumi

          I’ve known people who have married for citizenship (either for themselves or to help the other person), so it is a real thing. But the media trope of it definitely makes it seem like an easier approach than it is. It does pop up enough that I can’t really blame people for thinking in that direction.

  20. Slartibeast Button, BIA

    Is this job on the books? Does GALASSO stoop to filling out forms (and returns!)?

    1. Segnosaur

      Well we know when Becky was hired he didn’t care about her having a social security number. And Jason was “hired” without even applying or having an interview. So possible he doesn’t do the proper book keeping.

      but I think the problem might be more the terms of his Visa. It might state that he can stay in the US if he has an “academic” job, and bartender wouldn’t fit under that description.

      1. thejeff

        He’s probably on a student visa that allows for academic work. He can stay, since he’s still a grad student, but can’t work other jobs.

    2. JBento

      No, but his wife does. It’s stated somewhere that she’s the one that handles all the legal and bureaucratic aspects of it.

  21. ADLegend21

    All the way off the shits, she is.

  22. Nono

    Jason do you even like Ruth if your first instinct is ‘how drunk are you’

    1. Segnosaur

      I think he does like her. We have seen enough public interaction between them

  23. The Oracle

    But if she does a thing to make his other thing stop being A Thing, won’t that mean she has power over him as the person who un-thinged his thing?

    And wait, what power does she have over him, right now? She knows about his visa thing and could therefore turn him in to the relevant authorities? That’s his own fault for saying something about it in a bar. He gave her that power.

  24. Rabisch

    Awww… poor sweet Ruth. I have no idea about what she’s going to do for help Jason, but she seems so sincere about wanting to help him and wanting to know if someone wants to stay with her without being forced by something. I’m sure Jason really likes her.

    1. Taffy

      It’s early days, but they’re cute together so far.

      1. Rabisch

        I think that Walky’s friendship and being a bartender really helped Jason to become a better person.

        1. Joy

          I’m… Glad. I like that kind of story!

  25. Sombrero

    Ruth is going full Alpha-Bongo Problem-Solver mode. Not a good sign, methinks.

    1. Taffy

      It’s all in the attitude, and I don’t really think she’s got that.

      1. Sombrero

        If she had got the attitude, femur extraction would be part of every solution. Let’s hope you’re right.

  26. CJ

    She’s so sober she came out the other side…
    Is she offering to marry him?

    1. Adept

      That did come to mind, but isn’t Ruth Canadian?

      1. thejeff

        And American. Born in Canada to an American citizen.
        At least that’s the most likely case.

  27. Martin Smith

    Ruth is just totally wankered.

  28. Dr. T

    Worst. Proposal. Ever.

  29. Nicoleandmaggie

    What would be so terrible about going back to the UK? I mean Brexit wasn’t great but…

    1. Daibhid C

      We have absolutely no idea what Jason’s home life is like, although we can possibly guess based on his Walkyverse dad. It’s possible he doesn’t want to return to the UK for reasons that have nothing to do with the UK.

      Also, it’s really hard for “I’m British!” to be your whole thing when you’re actually in Britain.

    2. Needfuldoer

      In the Walkyverse, his father was a dimension-hopping supervillain with an army of British ninjas at his disposal.

      By the sound of it, he’s just lacking the science fantasy elements in this universe.

      1. Yumi

        Yeah, see this comic where Jason describes his father as “essentially a supervillain”: https://www.dumbingofage.com/2021/comic/book-11/04-hompk/immigrant/

        1. thejeff

          Which I find amusing because Galasso is also essentially a supervillain and I really want Jason working there to lead to Dargon/Galasso war.

  30. Mr. 2

    She could be offering to help him search job boards and proofread his resume.

    1. Daibhid C

      The idea of a Canadian proofreading for a Brit in the US strikes me as funny.

      “I’ve marked the words you spelt wrong in red, and the words everyone else spells wrong in blue.”

  31. BowlerHatGuy

    How is Ruth “somehow in control of” Jason?

    He has a visa problem through his own actions.
    She has no authority in any area to fix it.

    Ruth is completely irresponsible about so many things she has actual control over, but shes going to take ownership of THIS?

    This is a weird seque.

    1. UnDrewsual

      I don’t know how she intends to “fix” it, but she could certainly report him if she chose to. It might not get him deported but it could still make life very difficult for him. Now, that’s not something she’d do, but in her mind she could be wondering if he’s only tolerating her because if he thinks that if he tries to leave her she’ll call the authorities about his visa.

      1. BowlerHatGuy

        Cheese and fucking rice. If thats Ruth’s thought process, they’re all fucked.

        1. Joy

          Wanting to prevent an unhealthy power imbalance between them is a healthy behavior?

          It’s especially a good sign in the context of her relationship with Jennifer— when she was with her, and in particular before they got together— Ruth had a lot of power over Jennifer, and took advantage of that to hurt Jennifer and neg her. She doesn’t want to repeat those actions ever again, which is really a good thing!

        2. Taffy

          Yeah, it kinda just tastes like she’d rather not have that hovering over either of their heads. Remove any threat of it, perceived or real, and it’s suddenly not fuel for (controllable) anxiety anymore.

  32. Hof1991

    And alcohol was involved – us common in describing car accidents and shootings, but should not be part of a marriage proposal. I hope this is not where this is headed.

    1. Taffy

      Why would that be where this is headed? Is this a straight people thing?

      1. Axel

        It’s a common way (in tropes and maybe real life?) to get someone legal citizenship.

        1. Taffy

          It can be common and still a weird direction to go. Lots of people willingly drive to St. Louis, for example.

        2. thejeff

          It’s a weird direction, but it’s the only way I can think of offhand for Ruth to solve his visa problem.
          I assume she’s got something else in mind, but it’s not surprising people are thinking of it.

  33. JessWitt

    Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth, Jason. The alternative would be moving back home and seeing your disapproving father again.

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