312

Swallow
Posted on August 24, 2022 by David M Willis

312 thoughts on “Swallow”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    True freedom is never once giving a shit what some random stranger you’ll never see again* thinks of you

    *except the ones you do, like the ones working the pharmacy, but luckily they tend to rotate so you MIGHT not get the same one

    1. br44n5m

      They recognize me now and call out to me by last name if I’m in line, and they don’t judge me for having so far three prescriptions so I quite enjoy their lack of rotate so far

      1. Morleuca

        I love my pharmacy. They know who I am, they’ve done everything they could to make their system and computers as non-dysphoria inducing as possible. and the one guy who always acts confused when I pick up my estrogen? The others don’t let him wait on me.

        1. Kaiyalai

          I hope this is the sort of pharmacy everyone in the comic gets to frequent.

        2. br44n5m

          The lack of judgement when I come in demanding testosterone with increasingly deeper voices is also much appreciated. It’s nice to have pharmacists that don’t question why you’re getting hormones and instead perform their alchemy job as intended~

        3. Adam Black

          ( tilts head) / But Its supposed to do that. They need to go back to school.

          if your voice higher on T, ( shrug) .

          I guess on its not on you to educate Pharma-bros

        4. Inahc

          yeah, a good pharmacist is a wonderful thing. 🙂 iirc mine’s caught medication issues my doctor missed, too. I’m gonna miss him when he retires (or I move away).

    2. Needfuldoer

      All you have to do is go to a different pharmacy every time you need a prescription filled.

      That just means Joyce will ‘burn out’ all the pharmacies in an ever-increasing radius.

      1. thejeff

        Drive-thru pharmacy windows help with that.

        1. Roborat

          So does mail order.

    3. SeanR

      You don’t want your pharmacy staff to rotate. You want them to catch any mistakes the doctor made, and some of those mistakes can be with other things they know about you that the doctor missed or was never made aware of.

      HIPAA says that if they judge you, they have to keep it to themselves.

      Heck, they sell NEEDLES over the counter, to people they KNOW aren’t diabetics, because the alternative is worse; those people reusing the same needles over and over again.

      1. hazel

        It’s not universal pharmacy policy to sell needles over the counter without proof of medical need. There are pharmacies that won’t because it’s a liability, and it is not under the scope of HIPAA. Doesn’t mean it’s right, of course, but like. Don’t go saying everywhere does it.

      2. Ana Chronistic

        I’m not saying some folks wouldn’t prefer the same staff, just Joyce needs an adjustment period

    4. poyo

      my mom’s friend works at my pharmacy ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

  2. Doctor_Who

    Trouble getting out of bed? Feel like you’re being judged? General neuroses?

    Ask your doctor of Hussypax is right for you.

    (Footage of an elderly couple sailing and smiling children at a playground for some reason)

    Side effects may include:
    * Sudden Onset Atheism
    * Blurred Vision
    * Self-Insert Characters
    * Triangle Grin
    * Culinary Demarcation Syndrome
    * Iguana Hat

    1. The Other Mike

      I wish this commenting system allowed upvotes.

      1. Mark

        +1

    2. Opus the Poet

      +1?

    3. Adam Black

      is there a Husspax for Menz ?

  3. Bagge

    Come on, Joyce. Here’s your chance to be hussy pill sister with Dorothy

    1. Nono

      And with Sarah!

  4. darkoneko

    Nobody’s going to judge you, says Dorothy, barging in Joyce’s room at the wees hours of the morning.
    the manic control is showing, dotty.

    1. Nono

      This isn’t wee hours, is it? Sarah is up, and she wakes up at like… normal hours. It’s probably somewhere like 7-9am, it’s just winter.

      Also not like Joyce hasn’t barged into Dorothy’s room multiple times before.

      1. Thag Simmons

        yeah Dorothy’s been up for like six hours by now.

        1. Taffy

          Do we have proof that she actually sleeps?

        2. Devin

          This is the best we’ve got, although she could be faking. We can’t be sure!

        3. Needfuldoer

          Don’t forget this one!

          https://www.dumbingofage.com/2018/comic/book-8/03-faz-is-great/wellrested/

        4. anon

          Dorothy seems very capable for her age, esp compared to me (i never rly had much ambition, tho i can’t really imagine anyone else in my friend group/social circle would even consider any kinda politics let alone president.) I don’t think we’ll see that much of a flash forward epilogue if any but it feels like someone that intense would crash when they’re in their early 30s (gifted kid burnout and such)

      2. Mano308gts

        Since when were 7-9am *not* the wee hours of the morning? XD

        (As a preferentially nocturnal person, who considers 3-5am bedtimes to be perfectly normal (I have seen the sunrise many times in my life. Only a small percentage of those times were from having woken up to see it.), The hours that I consider to be prime sleep time coincides surprisingly highly with others’ prime waking hours…. O.o

  5. Yumi

    Since Dorothy knows how to take pills, maybe she could take a chill pill.

    1. Taffy

      Pff. Right? It’s honestly none of her business whatsoever.

      1. Segnosaur

        Your right… how dare Dorothy actually show concern over a friend’s health, and try to help her get adjusted to taking her medication.

        1. Taffy

          That’s not what I said. You know that’s not what I said. If you wanna swing back at someone who actually said it, keep movin’ and wait until it happens. Otherwise go find a scarecrow or something.

        2. Clif

          I know there was a scarecrow around here somewhere.

        3. -

          It’s… basically the flip side of the coin of what you said, actually. Something being “none of her business whatsoever” entirely precludes “show[ing] concern over a friend’s health, and try[ing] to help her get adjusted to taking her medication”. So, yeah.

    2. Archieve

      Right? It’s like she’s trying to make up for not getting to exercise her maternal vulture instincts earlier. Maybe she’s hoping to beat Jennifer by coming this early.

    3. AlaninDC

      What pills is Dorothy taking?
      This is new…

      1. SeanR

        Among other things? Probably non-chewable Flintstones. Maybe even Centrum.

      2. thejeff

        Birth control, one would assume from context.

        Part of her multi-tier protection system.

      3. Peep

        Many college-aged women take birth control without it being a very big deal at all. Most would never particularly mention it or deny it if it came up.

      4. Opus the Poet

        Dorothy is on BC and anti-depressants IIRC. And she has to be very precise in when she takes then because BC and some anti-depressants have bad interactions as in one or the other doesn’t work. This is bad because if your anti-depressants don’t work you know about it within 2 days, but if your BC doesn’t work you won’t know until you’re too late for an abortion.

        1. thejeff

          Source for the anti-depressants? Even some context for when we found this out?

        2. The ScreenJockey

          There is no evidence that antidepressants can reduce the effectiveness of birth control, but there can some unwanted interactions between the two. They share some common side effects (like weight gain and nausea), which can be made worse by taking both. Moreover, they are often metabolized by the same liver enzymes,so you might actually want LOWER dosages if you’re taking both (each will be metabolized more slowly than either would be alone).

  6. Thag Simmons

    The thing I try to keep in mind whenever I get anxiety about any sort of public transaction is that they usually deal with a lot of people and I’m not going to be terribly memorable

    1. anon

      i wouldn’t like, start up a convo with a stranger but i don’t have an issue dealing with a cashier/ordering food since i just see ppl as like npcs (not in a “workers aren’t ppl way/Karen” but more of a disassociating(?) way) or so, or just keep it brief like ‘just this’ or so or try to be clear if it’s a ready to make food order

    2. Mark

      “You wouldn’t worry so much about what others think of you if you realized how seldom they do.” — Eleanor Roosevelt

      1. thejeff

        OTOH, Joyce comes out of a tight knit religious community with a strong focus on purity culture and slut shaming.
        If she’d picked up a birth control prescription back home and the wrong person saw, everyone she knew would know. Including her mother. Not surprising it takes awhile to adjust to the bigger world.

        1. pope suburban

          Also like…her new friends are overall good people who actually care about her as she is, I’m not going to bag on them. But the way they put Joyce in a box has been a recurring theme here. She talked about it with Sal, then again with Jennifer. I know that Becky, Sarah, and Joyce mean well and I get that they’re all young and inexperienced too, but they can be overbearing. What Joyce is saying here applies to her current companions in a similar way as it does to her community at home. It’s not as extreme or hateful, but it does apply.

    3. Keulen

      Working in retail has made me realize that most retail workers probably don’t give a shit what you’re buying.

  7. The Oracle

    Goddamn, Joyce. Just light Dorothy on fire while you’re at it.

    1. The Oracle

      (Becausee that was a solid burn, not because I’m wishing actual literal violence on this fictional woman)

      1. Laura

        Thumbs up! ;-D

      2. drs

        It could be a burn, but I’m not sure Joyce actually meant it as such. Could just be a comment on her whole life.

  8. Sirksome

    Hussy pills. They should put that on a box!

    1. The Wellerman

      Hey would you look at that, Dina’s prediction at least partly came true:

      https://www.dumbingofage.com/2022/comic/book-12/04-dont-stop-billie-ving/referral/

      1. Sirksome

        Yeah, it seems everyone in the friend group has a pretty solid read on Joyce. She’s kind of an open book on her emotions and beliefs.

        1. Imogen

          Idk, there’s a difference between personal shame over using birth control and anxiousness about publicly buying the stuff (especially in Indiana).

        2. LiamKav

          Not my area in any way whatsoever, but wouldn’t the places near the college be used to giving them out to college students, even in Indiana?

        3. Wizard

          Probably, yes. The Student Health Center has their own pharmacy. You can even get your prescription by mail. Considering that they have a “Gender Affirming Care Team”, I seriously doubt they’d be too judgey about handing out contraceptives.
          I’d also like to point out that Joyce’s family and their church are not the norm, even in Indiana. Electing way too many horrible politicians aside, most Hoosiers are actually pretty tolerant in everyday life. We have our share of right wingnuts (okay, maybe a little more than our share), but most people just want to get on with their own lives.

        4. thejeff

          Yeah, which is why I was surprised the doctor gave her a piece of paper with a prescription and didn’t just transfer it over to the pharmacy and have her pick it up there. Obviously she could insist or pick another pharmacy if she already had one, but it’s hard to think why she would.

      2. thakoru

        She was off by about 3/4s of a day, but Dina’s a prospective paleontologist; 18 hours is basically the same as 30 seconds. Or 30 years.

        1. The Wellerman

          not to mention she’ll eventually be a time traveller too!

    2. anon

      nothing wrong with being sexually active but ‘hussy pills’ sounds like it’d be an aphrodisiac lol.

      1. Wizard

        Sounds like something you’d see ads for in a “men’s” magazine, back in the pre-internet dark ages. In the present, I have trouble imagining anyone (who isn’t Joyce) using the word “hussy” unironically.

  9. The Wellerman

    RE: being judged, that last panel really hit home ?

  10. Taffy

    Jesus fucking Christ, are these motherfuckers ever gonna let Joyce wake up without instantly putting her on the fucking defensive back foot? Spending every goddamn morning being bombarded with judgy bullshit is a good way to make somebody go into permanent fight-or-flight mode.

    1. Nono

      Well, considering Joyce did use to basically wake everyone in the morning and then settle into her kinda judgy-routine…

      Not that two wrongs make a right.

      1. Taffy

        Nah, I get that and it does have a sort of ironic ring to it. Still feels weird to essentially punish people while they’re in the middle of changing.

        1. Joy

          Agreed.

          I don’t read this as Sarah and Dorothy intending to punish her, but it was foreshadowed last book that this is something that might need to be addressed. Like, the overbearingness.

          It should probably be addressed in a nuanced way as opposed to outright rejecting their concern and care, though, in my opinion. Given the story so far, I see this as the direction that we’re going. (Thank you, Willis)

    2. Masumi

      But, I mean, Joyce not taking her medication and because of that not making it out of bed today is a valid concern.

      When I did my bachelor’s, and was often too depressed to do basically anything, I had a friend who would bugger me into showing up for the important stuff, not unlike Dorothy here. Sure it was very unpleasant in the moment, but this friend is probably the reason I ever graduated. So, yeah, I’m grateful.
      More than a decade later, I’m a couple days away from finishing my PhD. Slow, but I made it. Will have made it. Very soon XD

      1. Jess

        slightly advanced congrats!! that’s massive!

        1. Masumi

          Thank you 🙂

      2. Victor

        I suppose buggery is one way to get your attention.

        1. khn0

          Comment section, you’re great and I like you but maybe it’s time we part ways. If you look for me, I’d be in my home, and know I’ve broken all door knobs, and all my furniture is now blocking the doors and windows, yes even the roof windows and it’s been a bother to put the Comtoise clock on a tripod under the pane to block the hinges’ rotation.
          Now, if you want to check one me, you can come with cookies (or pills, or whatev) and launch them in the southern chimney (the one with a cowl), the other has too much angles.

        2. Schpoonman

          Later, Ruth.

        3. Wizard

          It does make a little verbal prodding look mild by comparison.

          In fairness, I’ve heard people use the word “bugger” to mean “annoy” before. Slang terms can mean very different things in different countries, regions or cultures.

      3. stiney

        Weren’t they literally just prescribed yesterday? Birth control does not work that fast. Yes, the sooner she starts the more likely they’ll have a positive effect on her next period. But it’s not like she could have taken one yesterday evening and been up and raring to go this morning.

        1. Taffy

          Are you saying that birth control meds aren’t just really good Tylenol?

      4. Joy

        omg good news!!! 😀

  11. Johan

    It’s been awhile since I’ve had to think about the bible books but that’s a good joke.

    1. Wizard

      But shouldn’t it be the Book of Jocelyne now?

  12. Derek

    Ugh Dorothy in the first panel is awfully intrusive, dislike. I don’t think I would tolerate my own actual biological mother barging into my sleeping space in the morning to make sure I took some medication, but especially not once I hit adulthood.

    1. Taffy

      She goes from intrusive to condescending to aggressive to what seems to be relatively genuine concern.

      1. Limons

        Yeah like the scream for not getting the pills instead of just CALMY offering to go pick the pills with her if they are oh so worried.

        1. Taffy

          No, seriously though. It’s been ten fucking minutes, what’s the rush?

        2. anon

          i mean ,she should be able to take things at her own pace but given the intensity of her cramps and such I’m surprised she wouldn’t be in a rush herself like “anything to make the pain go away”, I think at this point the pain/intensity of period cramps would overwrite any hangups she has about swallowing medicine

        3. thejeff

          The other difficulty is that if the motivation of the pain doesn’t get her to start, then it’s likely that once it’s past she won’t have the motivation to ask the stranger for her hussy pills and we’ll be back here in a couple months.

        4. Needfuldoer

          “I put up with it the last five years, what’s the next forty?”

          – Joyce being avoidant in a few days, probably

        5. Archieve

          The worst part is when she asks Sarah right in front of Joyce, like she’s a child whose too young to give her own answer.

        6. Dinajoyce

          I read that as her thinking Joyce might still be asleep

        7. Archieve

          Maybe but the way she only asked Sarah if Joyce was taking her medication without asking if she was up suggests she wasn’t going to ask Joyce directly eitherway.

        8. Joy

          I read that as surprise? Also do keep in mind that Dorothy is like, 18-19, with the maturity of an 18-19 year old. She has it a lot more together than her peers, but her mental maturity is essentially the same.

        9. thejeff

          I suspect Dorothy is burned out on walking Joyce through her various crises, but still thinks she has to do it.
          And she may not be wrong. 🙂

    2. BBCC

      She comes into her sleeping space every morning. They’re best friends. She’s also new to medication, which is why I’m guessing she’s asking. It’s easy to forget when you’re on new meds.

      1. Needfuldoer

        “They’re WHAT, now? >:| ”

        – Becky, if she could read your comment

    3. thakoru

      I think I’ve made this argument before, but I feel like Joyce has kinda established a precedent that going into someone’s room to wake them up is an acceptable boundary to cross. Not to mention, Dorothy even being in the room implies that either Sarah let her in, or Joyce keeps her door unlocked so her friends can come and go.

      P.S. Are we still on the Dorothy hate? I’d kind of hoped it would have subsided by now.

      1. Taffy

        Nobody’s hating and it’s already been established that you can form a new boundary literally any time.

        1. BBCC

          Of course you can, but you have to actually establish those new boundaries. As far as I recall, Joyce has never asked Dorothy not to come in early nor has she rescinded permission for anyone to come in as they like to see her.

        2. Taffy

          I wouldn’t be too surprised if she started to do exactly that.

        3. BBCC

          I wouldn’t be either, but she has to actually establish new boundaries if she wants Dorothy to abide by them.

        4. Taffy

          When you’re right, you’re right. I for one hope she does.

        5. thakoru

          Show me the comic where Joyce told Dorothy not to come into her room, or objected to her being there. (You can’t, it doesn’t exist, I checked.)

          Sorry if I’m coming across as a bit hostile – It’s just that I like all these characters, and I feel like the comments are often very hypercritical of them, some more than others. I know it’s all parasocial (and fictional), but it honestly feels like listening to someone talk shit about my friends behind their backs.

        6. thakoru

          *of some characters more than others.

          That came off way more passive-aggressive than I meant.

        7. Taffy

          You’re right. I can’t. It doesn’t. It still could, is all I really wanted to say. Maybe I didn’t communicate it well, and I do apologize for the lack of… anything resembling clarity in that regard.

        8. brute

          okay first of all sorry for hitting the flag link, i don’t know why that’s so hard to avoid

          secondly, i agree about the hypercritical comments, thank you for bringing that up

      2. anon

        It is a bit impolite though I suppose if it was that big of an issue I think they’d ask ahead of time or just lock the doors (tho the way their dorm is set up to share a half bath? seemed odd to me even if they were all girls sharing the same space as opposed to co ed), but even if Joyce has an outburst at being piled on, she’d (hopefully) be able to make up later down the line as well once her issues are a bit more stable

      3. Derek

        there’s a marked difference between going into someone’s room to say hello/wake them up and going into someone’s room to treat them like an idiot child who can’t keep track of their own medication schedule.
        And yes I AM being harsh on Dorothy for a few reasons: Joyce has expressed discomfort at being treated like a child with no agency, Dorothy has been called out on acting like an overbearing mother and yet she seems to double down instead of backing off.

        I don’t hate Dorothy, but I do hate the way she’s acting.

    4. Lily

      I would’ve expected her to back off a bit with Jennifer going “you can’t swoop in like a mother hawk” or whatever she said, sometimes you do need ‘tough love’/ppl to drag you to do things but it’d still be good if Joyce had requested it beforehand

  13. RassilonTDavros

    Joyce’s last line is one of the single most relatable things she’s ever said, which is impressive.

    Also I guess “hussy” must be a more common expression in some parts of the US than others, because literally the only place I’ve ever heard it spoken out loud is in an episode of Doctor Who. (Soldeed lives in my mind rent-free.)

    1. Bryy

      I honestly love how self-aware Joyce is about the effects of her emotional trauma.

    2. Laura

      “Painted hussy,” was my father’s favorite term. For a female who wears makeup.

      1. Laura

        Or stockings or pantyhose.

        1. Laura

          Or a sleeveless dress.

        2. Taffy

          Your dad sure seems to have had some opinions on other people’s clothes, huh?

        3. The Wellerman

          ?

    3. Sirksome

      I think it’s just Joyce. Even though she’s learned to swear she’s still pretty curse averse to words like “slut” or “whore” might be too abrasive.

      1. Taffy

        As I recall, she mentioned Lindsay Lohan by one of those terms at one point. Some sort of movie reference.

        1. anon

          yeah the parent trap one, saying the original was better rather than the remake

        2. mrnoidea

          Yeah, that’s one of the things that baffles me. Joyce, even in her entry as a fundy Christian who doesn’t like swearing, had no hesitation in using a slur for Lindsay Lohan. (I don’t like saying the word even in context)

          Though, it was also a punchline for an early DoA strip, so that’s a factor.

        3. Azhrei Vep

          That would require her to consider it a slur, and not an accurate description.

          Like a lot of people who casually use slurs.

        4. Taffy

          Not pointing any fingers.

    4. anon

      by that logic, wouldn’t the ‘feeling of being judged’ be more comforting/familiar than not having judgment (tho she’s self-shamed herself enough to where it’d outweigh a stranger versus someone she regards highly. [actually now that i think about it, since her dad is covering for her glasses does that mean he’s been told about the birth control too? unless she’s getting enough of an ‘allowance(?)’ every month to pay for it])

      1. Cerusee

        I highly doubt Hank is aware unless Joyce called him up and told him between yesterday and today. It wouldn’t get billed to his insurance (which Joyce is presumably on) until she went to have it filled/pick it up, and medical billing doesn’t have a super fast turnaround. It’s plausible that Joyce could be on birth control meds for weeks before it came to Hank’s attention via that route.

        Generally speaking, meds are SO much more expensive if you buy them without insurance, Joyce would probably have to blow most if not all of whatever discretionary funds she has, to pay for them out of pocket. She’d have to be pretty motivated. (In slightly different circumstances, this might be the kind of thing where the college student might try to lean on the adult siblings for a financial assist to keep something from the controlling/disapproving parent who holds the purse strings. Only problem is, at this point in time, John is probably worse on that front than Hank, Jordan is MIA, and Joycelene is a professional writer, aka skint. Not to mention, as far as Joyce knows, she only has BUTTHEAD OLDER BROTHERS who wouldn’t want to hear about anything icky lady-time related, so that’s even more incentive not to ask any of them for help.)

        1. Robbie

          Some generic birth control is less than $10 a month.

        2. thejeff

          Thing I’m not aware of, not having kids or a spouse: does the person who pays for the insurance get an itemized breakdown of everything the dependent uses it for? At least for an adult dependent, where they wouldn’t legally have any access to medical information otherwise?

        3. Cerusee

          Uh, I mean. If my health insurance company sent *me* a record of billing that didn’t break down what they’d paid for/what I owed/what counted towards my annual deduction or my out of pocket, I would be on the phone with them pretty fast asking what the hell *that* was about. “On someone else’s medical insurance plan” is not something where you have an expectation of privacy. It’s not magic money. (And HIPAA doesn’t mean what most people think HIPAA means.)

  14. Suet

    ♪ I’ve been sleeping a thousand years it seems ♪
    ♪ Got to open my eyes to everything ♫

    Well I better not see Ruth tomorrow, alt, cause… I headdesk’d in exasperation when I saw this album

  15. thakoru

    YESTERDAY WAS A LONG DAY, OKAY? I’M SORRY IF I LOST TRACK OF IT AT SOME POINT IN WHAT FEELS LIKE THE LAST FOUR MONTHS!

    1. Schpoonman

      Heh.

  16. Laura

    …Then there was that time I went to the corner store and asked for condoms, which the store clerk had to climb on a ladder and use a reaching stick to get down from a locked cabinet high up near the ceiling, and he used the occasion to chat me up… “It’s OK, baby, everybody needs these, no need to be embarrassed, these the kind you like, baby?” He gave me the sweetest flirtatious smile and batted eyes: very cute, but a little inappropriate and uncomfortable for when one is buying specialty condoms from the neighbor who runs the store, in a gossippy neighborhood where traditional sexual “morality” is enforced and expected…

    1. Hazel

      I pulled the most disgusted face reading this. What a creep! What an unpleasant experience!

    2. Archieve

      Always hate when people pull the “don’t worry about -insert subject- “? when you were not looking for opinions. Always their way putting their own narrative on you. Sorry that clerk was such a creep. And ofcourse they put counterceptives in a location they had to make a big production of accessing.

      1. Roborat

        Probably up there due to severe shoplifting.

        1. Archieve

          Other stores have no problem with stocking them on the shelves so I suspect it’s more of the fundamentalist mindset to make them less accessible (out of sight out of mind).

    3. JBento

      Unless you’re dating them or they’re your parents, “baby” should not be used to refer to grown-ups, triply so in a professional context, what even all the fucks?

  17. Derek

    “I’ve been in bed since class yesterday. When would I have gotten them? And to what, ask a stranger at the grocery store ‘please may I have my hussy pills?'”

    It feels like there’s a line or panel missing here? Is there a pause or a beat between “when would I have gotten them?” – “and to what”? It’s very weirdly phrased.

    Also Dorothy is sadly incorrect, there’s been plenty of stories, both in the news and anecdotally, about pharmacists or technicians being judgmental or outright refusing to fill birth control medication to young AFAB people. It’s genuinely a problem that some establishments will allow their staff to refuse to give people healthcare due to “deeply held moral beliefs” horseshit

    1. Taffy

      I think we can give Joyce a break. She’s just woken up maybe a couple of minutes ago at this point, and she’s already being bombarded with some new bullshit. I’m barely coherent as it is, even worse with either of those factors added in, so this feels normal.

    2. Segnosaur

      True, I’m sure it does happen where some pharmacists refuse to fill certain orders (although I figured the bigger problem would be those refusing to dispense things like RU486 rather than birth control.)

      But if this is a pharmacy near a major university, I figure they would probably be less problematic, since they probably have to deal with a lot more young, single women. (And if they did refuse to dispense some medication, they’d probably deal with a lot of protests…. not good for business)

      1. Slartibeast Button, BIA

        Yes, but Joyce may have heard a lot of stories about such refusals growing up, being spun as a good thing.

      2. Mark

        A pharmacist refusing to fill a valid prescription for non-medical reasons should be dealing with a lot of challenges to his licensure.

    3. The Wellerman

      Re: “deeply held moral beliefs”, RIGHT?!?!

      The thought stopping cliche really has no more substance to it than Veruca Salt’s “I WANT IT NOW” , but yet in America it seems all too effective at bypassing objections to practices that are clearly abusive, selfish and unreasonable.

    4. anon

      Those ppl should not be allowed to be pharmacists/etc, i know everyone subconsciously judges others but for the most part workers shouldn’t audibly say something rude unless they’re dealing with another “Karen”

      1. mrnoidea

        Regardless of the customer, sexual harassment should be enough to get a pharmacist reported and fired.

        Emphasis on *should*.

        1. mrnoidea

          Hold on, sorry, I thought anon’s comment was a reply to Laura’s thread farther up, not Derek’s.

    5. anon

      Maybe “and to what end” or “and to do what” tho i don’t think it’s as grammatically confusing

    6. Azhrei Vep

      “It feels like there’s a line or panel missing here? Is there a pause or a beat between “when would I have gotten them?” – “and to what”? It’s very weirdly phrased.” – Derek

      I dunno, it sounds pretty natural to me. She’s annoyed and listing out the problems with the question. “And to what?” is rhetorical, followed by the immediate answer.

      1. Derek

        “and to what?” is not a phrase I have ever heard said out loud, but that’s just my experience. I think “and FOR what?” would sound more natural, especially in this context

  18. Grayfinity

    Oh, Joyce. Oh no, Joyce. Somebody get this girl the healthy support she needs before she has a Downward Spiral moment.

    1. Lily

      is there some kinda counselor set in place for her to talk to? Other than ruth who probably wouldn’t be the most ideal choice even if she could help

      1. Grayfinity

        If they do, probably not a competent one. And given the nature of the webcomic, not likely. It ain’t called “Dumbing of Age” for nothing.

        inb4 makes fanfic about Joyce getting the help she needs

      2. Azhrei Vep

        According to Walky, not a very good one.

  19. BBCC

    Ohhhh Joyce. This is not gonna be fun, but I promise – it is very possible to learn to swallow pills.

    1. BBCC

      The long, fat kind are the DEVIL though. I still don’t have a good system for those.

      1. Taffy

        What you could do is, you could use a long stick to sorta prod them down. Unless you have even a mild gag reflex, in which case don’t do that.

        1. BBCC

          I have a very strong gag reflex. It’s actually a problem when it comes to unpleasant food textures or tastes mixing, which is one of the reasons why I don’t like most foods touching.

        2. Taffy

          That honestly sounds like hell. Probably don’t use the stick, and also I hope you can find/have found workarounds for as many of the problems as possible.

        3. BBCC

          Fortunately I don’t have to take large pills very often. On the occasions I have, I’ve usually cut them in half to make them a manageable size. For too-big capsules, I just twist ’em open and put ’em in my water. That’s not a big deal.

          For food touching in the situations I cannot avoid it, I hold it in my cheek like a chipmunk until the gag urge passes so I don’t make a fool of myself.

        4. Regalli

          I had issues for a while, but honestly by this point I’ve just… inured myself to the fact that I take like twenty a day and can swallow several at a time with water. (Spread out over the day and of WILDLY varying sizes. But also, twenty might be an underestimate.) Has to be done, and too many big ones daily so eventually my throat just gave up on that front. (I’m still very apologetic to any dentists or doctors who have to check my throat and sinuses, but I think my brain just classifies pills as ‘functionally just food so long as it doesn’t last long enough for you to taste it.’) I can manage the capsules most of the time now, but something with a really strong taste or odor (Mucinex is a major offender there, but really large antibiotics are sometimes problems too) I still have to take with something flavored and not just standard water.

          I don’t even think about dry swallowing them, that would just slow it down and I have too many to take as is.

        5. Opus the Poet

          I seriously can’t understand this. I have 6 pills I have to take every night if I want to sleep through the night. I have 2 capsules for nerve pain, 2 caplets for allergy to deal with Texas’ 13 month allergy season (something is growing all year long that I’m allergic to, sometimes multiple somethings and they overlap), 2 larger caplets for joint and muscle pain, and one more that has to dissolve under my tongue so I can relax and turn my brain off and go to sleep. But the other 6 I swallow all at once. Sometimes dry if my bladder decides I have to go NOW and I don’t have time to draw a glass of water.

          Yeah getting ready for bed is an ordeal for me sometimes, other times it just takes a while. That’s what happens when you get killed a few times and are also old. I don’t recommend coming back to life more than once, what killed you will probably hurt for as long as you remain not-dead.

        6. Regalli

          Gag reflexes can be pretty awful, and there are definitely tricks for me to make them tolerable – if it touches my tongue that immediately gets much harder for me to swallow, because most of those meds taste deeply unpleasant. But yeah I can swallow 5-6 at a time, usually no trouble. (I still have to take the night meds in two doses because there are in fact, ten I take before bed, plus a dissolve one.

          The joys of systematic chronic illness.

        7. Masumi

          I have a problem with large pills too, but I’ve figured out that if I tip my head all the way back so the pill doesn’t have to go around a corner, and then make it float lengthwise in water above my tongue, I can just swallow the whole thing in a big gulp without even feeling it at all. One of those strange skills I’m practicing XD

      2. Devin

        Best mitigating advice I have is that direction matters, and as established in yesterday’s comments section, I’ve had a lot of luck with applesauce (and as Laura reminded me, yogurt).

        But it’s a rough situation. You have my sympathy. Strong gag reflexes are lousy.

    2. Imogen

      Just be glad you’re not in Spironolactone, Joyce.

      1. BBCC

        Those don’t look too big tbh, at least in the images I’m seeing. For Joyce though, yeah, they could be tricky.

        1. Seralyna

          The typical issue is the taste

        2. Imogen

          Yes, the Agathamind has spoken, ’tis the taste that is foul and offputting.

    3. thejeff

      Yeah, but in order to learn to swallow them, she’s got to learn to buy them first. Might be harder.

  20. Hazel

    Ah, I want to give Joyce a hug here.

  21. anon

    i mean wouldn’t you just hand them a copy of the paper/prescription? i’m sure online ordering must be a thing rn esp with the pandemic

    1. Taffy

      According to my mom and a few other people I know who’ve worked at a pharmacy, the usual protocol is to march up to the counter, loudly declare “I’m here for my pills” and then refuse to provide even the slightest shred of information beyond that. You should also, so I’m told, become increasingly aggressive and haughty the longer the encounter goes on. Ask them something like “Don’t you know who I am?” and throw some personal insults their way to make the pills happen faster.

      [DISCLAIMER: Don’t fucking do anything of the sort.]

      1. anon

        well i’ve gotten a covid shot in a pharmacy walmart but all i had to do was have my ID on me but my dad did all the paperwork, but yeah i guess other than proof of identity and such, it would be a pain if someone was picking up stuff on your behalf if you’re unable to go in person yourself (and even then i’d imagine you’d need the same last name or so to prove that you’re a relative/spouse or so maybe)

      2. Needfuldoer

        And sadly this works out in their favor often enough to perpetuate the cycle.

        Entitlement. 50% of the time, it works every time.

        1. Lily

          i feel like if i was on the other end of thati ‘d panic and scramble and give htem the wrong meds. tho it would be mildly amusing to see some c-list celeb try that but they prolly wouldn’t wanna draw attention to themselves in that way , confidentiality aside i’m sure all the upper class celebs and ceos def have a middle man get it for them and such

    2. Slartibeast Button, BIA

      People last time said that the pharmacy and doctor’s office were in the same building at IU, so there might not be a piece of paper unless Joyce specifically requested one. The doctor might just zap it electronically over to the pharmacy next door by default.

      1. Azhrei Vep

        Seems like she intends to get it at a grocery store pharmacy, based on panel five.

        1. anonymsly

          If I were Joyce’s seeming level of paranoid, I might do the same, really. A grocery store pharmacy would mean, to me, much less chance of JOYCE BROWN TAKES HUSSY PILLS going around the school rumor mill.

  22. Endplanets

    “Girl, you live with Sarah. You should know what it feels like to be judged!”
    “Hey!”
    “Yea, but she is ALWAYS judging me. Thus there ain’t no base line between Judging and Non-Judging”
    “HEY!”
    “True”
    “F@ck both of you.”
    “I rest my case.”

  23. Jess

    today’s alt text sent me. incredible

    1. Amós Batista

      Finally somebody got the alt text!!

  24. Devin

    Speaking as someone who’s barely able to form coherent words for the first 10-15 minutes I’m awake (and all else aside), this is a lot to be confronted with first thing in the morning.

    If it were me folks would just be getting grunts for replies.

  25. Jon

    Jesus. At what point is SOMEBODY in the cast going to acknowledge how aggressive and judgy everyone has been to Joyce across the past week? It feels like constant, nonstop moralizing and criticizing every single last goddamn thing she does or doesn’t do.

    The Halloween arc was a breath of fresh air, but not nearly enough. More like a gasp. I don’t know how much more “good morning, Joyce, I’ve come to your bedroom to wake you up with a fucking lecture” I can slog through. If for no other reason that this shit is all starting to blur together.

    1. Joyfulldreams

      God, THIS. It’s infuriating at this point, holy crap. Everyone needs to just leave Joyce ALONE, for fuck’s sake.

      1. Ed Callahan

        But that would negate the whole premise of DOA.

    2. Taffy

      Frankly, I’d have requested a transfer after the first time it happened. Whether that was to a different room, hall, building, or even school. Maybe I’m a little too sensitive to that sort of thing personally, from past experiences, but goddamn.

      1. LiamKav

        I do think Joyce responding to her friends doing something to her that she spent several weeks doing to them by moving building and or school might be a slight over reaction. I mean, at least ask them to stop doing it first?

        1. Taffy

          Joyce is probably more patient than I was by her age, sure.

    3. the jighole man

      I feel ya. let the poor girl have a darn break. she’s going through enough nonsense with all the pain she is in (im a male, so i don’t get periods, but I imagine they are rather unpleasant.).

      I may not know what a period feels like, but i do know that being squawked at while im in pain tends to be less than helpful.

      1. Johan

        If they’re painful enough for a doctor to give you bc without hassle they’re bad.

    4. Wraithy2773

      I understand that, but I think you’re overreacting a bit, at least for this comic. The thing to keep in mind is that Joyce is suffering from serious pain, and was given the prescription for birth control as a possible way to prevent that pain.

      Read it less as “HOW DARE YOU NOT TAKE THESE PILLS THAT YOU’RE NOT COMFORTABLE WITH” and more “YOU’RE IN GODDAMN AGONY WHY ARE YOU AVOIDING TAKING THE THING THAT’S MEANT TO HELP STOP THE GODDAMN AGONY”.

      1. thejeff

        Right. There’s a very real chance of this just spiraling. Using the pain as an excuse to just go back to bed rather than going to buy the pills that’ll help wiht the pain.
        Until it passes on its own and then there’s no reason to go buy them.

      2. Rabisch

        THIS! Just take the pill for your own sake!

      3. Jon

        Yes, but all of that could be said without yelling, which is what Dorothy defaulted to immediately.

        It would be more reasonable if any one of the people who have harassed Joyce came at it from “hey, how’s it going Joyce? I’m worried about X and I wanted to talk” instead of defaulting to snap judgments immediately after her first response.

      4. egg egg

        The best strategy is to go to bed and have someone pick up the medicine for her. When you’re in pain, sometimes sitting on the toilet can be too much.

    5. thakoru

      Wait, hold on, if we’re looking at the last week in comic time, JOYCE has been acting super judgy. (I’m not touching “aggressive” with a 10-foot pole.) From where I sit, if the other characters have been acting judgmental toward her, it’s because she kinda deserves it. (Looking at it, huh, it’s actually only been a bit over a week since the time skip.)

  26. Ari

    Does Dorothy not know that you can pick up another person’s meds from the pharmacy if you know their birthday and have the script (if it’s on paper rather than called in) and your ID (if it’s a controlled substance)? Why not pick up her meds for her this one time instead of yelling? Joyce should probably learn to deal with her fear of being judged for using birth control but when she’s this incapacitated by the illness she’s taking it to treat is not the time. Couldn’t Dorothy at least explain that she doesn’t have bad experiences with picking up birth control and direct her to the pharmacy where she’s having pretty okay experiences with that?

    1. Lily

      that makes sense but at the same time i’d be paranoid of someone stealing any medication/committing fraud or so

      and lol , no conflict in that ;P

    2. brute

      the conversation has lasted like 15 seconds so far, so no she hasn’t gotten to every single possible response

      1. Ari

        That’s true, but there were responses that could’ve been tried before yelling at her friend.

    3. Uly

      Are doctors allowed to give paper prescriptions in your state? They aren’t here. It all is called in.

      But yeah, they don’t check to see if you’re the person picking up the prescription. They assume it’s valid. I suppose that if you have some reason to be wary of that you can call your pharmacy and get them to require an ID every time.

      1. thakoru

        Where I am, it depends on the medication. Like, I need to get ADHD meds called in, but that’s because those can get used recreationally – I don’t know, but I imagine birth control isn’t as strictly regulated, in my state at least.

        1. Schpoonman

          Love being treated like an addict for a condition with which I was born.

      2. Ari

        They’re allowed to in Joyce’s state, which I do happen to have current real-life information about. If it works differently in DoA’s version of that state, that’s fine, but right now there’s no reason to think that it would.

  27. Chasey

    I’ve never taken birth control pills, and never will need to anymore after certain surgeries, so I can’t say for sure, but is it really THAT important to take them super turbo-immediately after being told to by a doctor? Like… this really can’t wait until after lunch or something, after everyone has woken up and taken their own dang chill pills?

    1. Chasey

      Nevermind; I went back to what Roz had told Joyce about taking them and when and I guess if she knows what she’s talking about (And I expect she does) I suppose her advice can be trusted. But still.
      Peeps needa chill a lilbit.

    2. brute

      she’s in so much pain she can’t get out of bed. that’s why it’s urgent.

    3. thejeff

      I don’t think it’s that time critical, but they thought she’d done it yesterday and thus would likely be starting to feel an effect from them soon?

      1. thakoru

        Yesterday’s when she got the prescription. Comic time is fun!

  28. Reaver

    Wow Jocye, not cool to call them Hussy pills right after Dorothy told you * she takes them too*

    1. Jon

      Even 10 years after leaving it, I still react poorly to many things that I was conditioned to judge/hate/fear by my upbringing. Indoctrination, especially religious, especially Evangelical Christian, sinks its teeth deep into your brain. Joyce has had less than 5 months and she’s still finding cobwebs she hasn’t swept out yet.

      1. Reaver

        I mean I was raised Petacostal Christian (as cult like as it can get with many beliefs similar to Joyces) and even then, that’s not really an excuse for calling someone a hoe to their face ya know? She’s an adult not a toddler.

        1. Nova

          Yeah. Everyone should immediately get over everything they were brainwashed into believing for their whole childhood. No benefit of the doubt, explaining, or leeway needed. That’s an exhausting way to view the world and it gives no room for people in the midst of changing. She’s an adult with trauma and sometimes trauma can make you a less-than-perfect person.

          Add to that, the same thing that happened with the Becky issue – Joyce was talking about herself and the pills, not Dorothy. People who take offense to the way a person talks about themselves are hurting their own feelings and it’s not that hard for Dorothy to say “hey not cool” if she’s bothered by it.

          Can we please just avoid another round of “Joyce is the literal worst because I personally didn’t experience this issue growing up”?

        2. Joy

          This ^^^^

        3. Cerusee

          I think in-comic it was yesterday evening that Joyce was spiraling because what if she WASN’T autistic, and every non-flattering thing she said or thought as she grappled with the possibility that she might BE autistic was therefore hateful, since it would be coming from an outsider.

          People’s internalized social phobias about things like “am I gay” or “am I autistic” or “am I an atheist” can manifest in very, very harmful external ways, ways that hurt or offend other people. Struggling with the idea that “maybe *I* am [the awful thing I was taught to hate and fear]” isn’t an excuse to inflict harm, or a free pass from remorse about having caused harm in the past.

          That said…it is so, so, so incredibly important to give people a lot of grace with this kind of personal exploration and self-examination. People mostly don’t get tapped on the head with a magic wand and have their thinking magically “cured” all nice and clean. They have to say those mean words, drag those hateful attitudes into the light *for themselves* in order to actually look at them and start asking “do I still think this is true?” Where it gets real messy is in what company they do that—I do think Dorothy would be in her rights to say “you *know* I take those pills, I just said I did. And I’m not okay with you implicitly calling me a slut.” I also don’t think Dorothy would say that or even feel that way, because Joyce’s feelings about Dorothy’s sexual activity is something they already addressed and have moved past as friends. Roughly back when Dorothy and Walky started sleeping together, Joyce went too far in vocally disapproving of Dorothy having pre-marital sex, Dorothy explicitly told her to knock it off, and….it’s never been an issue between them, not one time I can recall, since that conversation. The “hussy pills” comment ain’t about Dorothy and she knows it.

        4. Reaver

          Dont recall saying any of that, just saying ” Calling Dorothy a Hussy wasn’t cool Joyce”

  29. Friendly Frankenstein

    Yanno I don’t think in all the time I’ve read these comments, I’ve ever seen a strip featuring multiple female characters that didn’t descend into people trying to decide which one of them is Actually Literally The Worst Ever For Her Reprehensible Behavior.

    if people dislike Joyce, then she’s The Worst. if people relate to Joyce, then everyone ELSE is So Judgy And Nagging And Etc. Instead of. You know.

    A pack of college aged people all kinda doing their best, with various dysfunctions and foibles for both comedic and dramatic results, often drawn from the authors own personal experiences.

    I think my solution is probably. Doing my best to not read the comments anymore. I always want to see what people think about the strip, but i’m really incredibly uninterested in finding out which character people are projecting the worst faith possible reads on today.

    1. Taffy

      Mhm. Yep. You got us. We’re all a pack of misogynistic pigs hell-bent on tearing women into oblivion for the smallest infraction. There’s absolutely no other way this could possibly be. Everyone in the entire comments section is sexist and hates women. Never heard that one before. What the fuck ever.

      1. Taffy

        Okay, maybe that’s a little passive(ish)-aggressive and probably way too sarcastic, but goddamn. I keep seeing these snide insinuations lately, like “Oh, for some reason this event involving women has people acting up. I won’t say it out loud though, so if you react it’s clearly just a guilty conscience and/or you proving me right by saying literally anything to counter the claim I’m definitely not making.” It’s gross, none of us are Like That, the ones who are Like That get called out pretty fucking quickly, and it’s not reasonable to expect less conversation just because the cartoons happen to be woman-shaped today.

        1. Friendly Frankenstein

          I think this is kind of just regular aggressive.

        2. Taffy

          I’ll cop to that, I guess. Just tired of seeing sneaky-ass remarks about some kind of unspoken bigotry that can easily be denied if they’re called out. Calling everybody sexist doesn’t make your point more valid.

      2. thakoru

        “No, no, you should keep going with the hyperbolic misrepresentation thing.” For real, though, it is pretty frustrating how negative these comment sections can get – it does kinda feel like people are actively looking for things to dislike about the characters. And yeah, that can come across as a bit sexist when the characters in question are women – I know it wasn’t intended as such, but we live in a culture where women and ARE frequently subjected to disproportionate scrutiny, so it’s a thing people are sensitive to.

        1. Taffy

          All of the characters in today’s strip are women. All of the comments about the contents of today’s strip will inherently be about characters who are women. To have a criticism about something in this strip is therefore going to have to involve criticising a woman. This is where I am coming from. It honestly and sincerely feels like we’re being scolded for talking about the strip, if we can’t openly talk about something in it just because the characters are women. I’m sincerely asking, what is the disconnect here? I apparently don’t understand that fundamental aspect, and it’s stressing me the fuck out trying to think on this many fucking levels about what I thought was a straightforward conversation about this comic strip.

        2. thakoru

          So, setting aside the sexism thing for the moment, what’s frustrating to me – and I don’t want to speak for others here – is that y’all are repeatedly treating what I perceive as, at worst, minor transgressions, as something far worse than that. There’s a disconnect between what I’m reading and how you’re reacting, and the clearest way to resolve that dissonance is to assume bad faith on your part. Now, I’m trying not to do that. It’s possible I’m missing something here – that what I see as minor grievances have greater significance than I’m aware of. But what I do know is that this mode of discussion, where certain characters are subject to constant judgement and criticism, is making the comment section a pretty negative, even hostile space, and I and some others aren’t comfortable with that. I’m not telling you not to discuss the strip; I’m asking you to be mindful of how you discuss it, and how it affects others. That’s all.

    2. Amós Batista

      Sorry you have to get a time.

      I don’t know, it made me think what you’ve said. Peharps every fiction work have these “relatable people” moments. Maybe because Willis opened a channel -comment section-to people speech right now.

    3. JBento

      Were you somehow not around all the times people jumped down Walky’s throat? Danny?

      1. thejeff

        It could be argued that Walky and Danny are mostly attacked for their non-stereotypically masculine traits.

      2. Taffy

        At this point, I’m sure somebody’s gonna say some stupid shit like “You only dislike Walky for being half black”, ignoring context and nuance like every other boneheaded remark in this flavor.

        1. Taffy

          “Danny’s problems wouldn’t bother you if he wasn’t bisexual”

        2. thejeff

          To be honest, the original Danny hate was mostly carryover and really started to fade when the bisexuality came out. Then there was a whole new spike with the Ethan/Mike thing happened.

        3. Taffy

          Yeah, maybe not the best example in a practical sense. He was just the first character who came to mind. Well, second.

          I dunno, maybe I’m off base here and thinking too hard about other people’s intentions with comments like the above.

        4. thejeff

          I think there’s definitely something to it. Male characters like Joe and Mike got a lot of defense, even at their worst. Mike even commented on it in strip – something about deference to white males.

          When presented as the only factor, it’s definitely exaggerated, but that kind bias can run subtle and deep. Far from the only factor, but it definitely can color everything.

        5. thejeff

          And a lot of it is just that this comment section can get pretty toxic. I’m not entirely sure why, but it’s been that way for a long time now. There’s lots of good insight, but there’s also a ton of picking one character to be the monster of the week and just tearing them to pieces.

          There have definitely been plenty of times I’ve thought of walking away.

        6. StClair

          I still assert that much of the original Danny hate was “damnit, stop acting like me when I was young and earnest and ignorant!”

        7. thejeff

          A lot of it was also carry over from It’s Walky! and Roomies!, where his problematic issues were presented as good and right.

        8. StClair

          That too, yes.

    4. Queezle

      I feel like this is a thing that happens with almost all of the characters. That people react in a, what feels to me, like a (almost) aggressive manner to certain characters and their flaws. And while I agree with a lot of the problems people have with these characters, the extend to which some comments is to much for me.

    5. Nicoleandmaggie

      Solidarity FF.

    6. Jon

      Most of the cast is female. It’s rare to see an entirely male interaction (Willis has lampshaded this before), therefore it’s gonna be rare to see two dudes arguing in the first place.

      I think this is some flavor of confirmation bias – it feels like the comments are misogynistic because there are rarely male interactions to criticize.

      (Beyond Blaine and Toedad and other shitty adults, obvi, but the hatred for them comes from a calcified place of “this is an irredeemable villain and we all agree they are evil scum” which, weirdly, often makes the comments less vitriolic because we’re all on the same page)

      1. thejeff

        Except early on with a new villainous character where some people clearly point out the serious red flags and a big chunk of the readership dismisses them and accuses the rest of jumping to conclusions and then flips to the character being cartoonishly evil when it’s made clear beyond a doubt.
        Hasn’t happened in a while, since we haven’t gotten a good new villain in a bit, but it’s exhausting when it does.

      2. Taffy

        Yes. This. There are like six dudes in the cast and they’re not as frequently in focus as the women are. I just don’t understand why it’s only a problem to talk about and criticise the majority of the cast.

    7. Keulen

      That’s been going on with the entire cast (male and female) for a long time in the comments. I don’t know when it became a thing for at least half the comments for each new strip to be people arguing about how one character or the other in the current strip is the Worst Person Ever, but it’s definitely gotten really old.

    8. Joy

      Yeah. :/

  30. Uly

    I’m getting pretty tired of seeing everybody apologizing performatively for accidentally flagging people.

    We get it! You have clumsy fingers! But if you don’t tell us then nobody will ever know, and since it takes several flags for an autoban to kick in you probably haven’t done any harm anyway. So maybe we can get through a day without every fifth comment being “gosh, it’s so hard, whoops, I’m sorry!”

    1. Taffy

      From what I’ve seen, personally, it doesn’t even seem like anyone has gotten flagged enough for it to even matter yet. Not sure what people are worried about, since there’s no way to know who flagged you, even if we could see how close to a penalty we are.

      1. Queezle

        When I accidentality flagged someone for the first time I did not know how flagging works, and I was not worried about that person knowing it was me who flagged them, I was worried that it might have consequences for them.

        1. Taffy

          Personally, I sort of just assume Willis is smart enough to realise the difference between an innocuous comment that got flagged by mistake and something that’s actually a problem, and if I big-finger somebody’s message it won’t result in them being perma-banned for calling Danny a corny goober.

        2. Queezle

          There are consequences besides instant perma-ban.
          The comment being under review until they can be cleared for example.
          Maybe there are no consequences for the person I flagged but I created unnecessary work for the people who moderate the comment section.
          No need to be so condescending

        3. Taffy

          I’m being condescending by saying I think Willis can handle a few stray flags? What are you even talking about?

        4. David M Willis

          I don’t see any reports of flags until the report threshold has been reached. An accidental stray flag has zero consequence.

        5. Taffy

          Well, that’s honestly a load off my mind in that regard, and hopefully for others also. Thank you for clearing that up.

        6. StClair

          *hovers over ‘Flag’, then decides it’s not worth it for a goof*

          As Taffy said, thanks for clearing that up.

        7. Regalli

          Oh, excellent, thanks! That helps to know given how many times I’ve accidentally hit it rather than reply.

    2. thejeff

      To be fair it’s mostly different posters each time. Probably new or rare ones who haven’t done it before and who haven’t read the reassurances that follow each case that it’s not a big deal.

      There will always be new posters who do it and aren’t sure of the consequences, so it’s probably never going to go away completely.

    3. Username Taken

      Unnecessarily accusing people of being performative? Flagged. >:O

  31. The Quirk

    O Gawd, some Walgreen’s clerk is TOTALLY gonna refuse to fill her prescription, isn’t he? Like watching a slow-motion car crash.

    1. Wraithy2773

      Doubt it. Its possible, but feels more likely that Joyce would be agonizing over it, and the clerk would be as bored as can be.

    2. Cerusee

      I would hope not, although a couple of people have pointed out that moralistic pharmacists refusing to fill prescriptions for birth control and other medications they have a personal objection to are, infuriatingly, common enough to be a known problem. (Or pharmacists who’ll fill them, but subject you to personal commentary about them.) Anyway, it doesn’t strike me as the most likely narrative choice for Willis to pursue, but I’d be interested to see how that would play out if they did! Because the thing about Joyce is that when she’s challenged, she’s as likely as not to go into FIGHT MODE instead of backing off. She’s punched physical aggressors in the face *twice*. She was waffling about calling herself an atheist at all, and hiding said atheism from most of her friends, until Becky found out and attacked her over it, which prompted her to fully embrace it and stubbornly, steadfastly refuse to renounce it. John trying to belittle and shame Joyce for supporting Becky just made her yell at him in public. Her parents trying to discourage her from associating with atheist Dorothy only pushed her into openly asserting her right to be friends with her (also in public!).

      I just feel like if if some asshole pharmacy clerk tried to shame her or refuse to fill her birth control prescription, there’s a really good chance her response to that would be “Eff you, these are MY PILLS, which were prescribed to me by MY DOCTOR, and my reasons for taking them are NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS” and possibly learning to dry-swallow pills on the spot so she could take her first dose in front of them. (And then, presumably, marching out into the parking lot and chugging a Gatorade because the pill got stuck in her throat.)

      1. Schpoonman

        I love when my gravatar is fulfilled.

    3. thejeff

      It does seem like one of the possible reasons for playing this out through another step. Frankly, I’d assumed she’d already picked them up at the pharmacy at the Health Center.

  32. Amós Batista

    God have made the Bible specially to Willis be enabled to do this alt-text joke. ??

  33. Wraithy2773

    I am agnostic. I was raised agnostic (well, raised “indifferent shrug” more accurately, but its close enough). The only times I’ve stepped into a place of worship were for weddings and funerals (well, maybe once or twice as part of a volunteer thing as a tyke, but even then it was as part of the Boy Scouts, and a very non-religious segment of that).

    …and boy fucking howdy to I relate to Joyce’s final word bubble. That shit goes way beyond being raised religious, that shit’s just general paranoia and anxiety…

  34. Rabisch

    I like Joyce. But this is just infuriating!!!

    1. Emmy

      Yeah, this is painful 🙁

  35. Grimey

    Panel 4 is my aesthetic

  36. ValdVin

    Book title: I have no way of knowing what not being judged feels like.

  37. Nicoleandmaggie

    Every single person complaining that Dorothy didn’t force Joyce to go to the doctor and praising Jennifer for doing so is now bongoing about Dorothy trying to get Joyce to actually take her prescription. It’s as if it doesn’t matter what Dorothy does. She’s damned either way. I wish she were at Yale now.

    1. Nicoleandmaggie

      Haha auto replace. I don’t usually swear either.

    2. Taffy

      Every single one, huh? Did you go back and check? Take down notes of the names and compare them with today’s comments? And it’s really a 1:1 perfect overlap?

      1. Seralyna

        it’s called hyperbole

        1. Taffy

          It’s called an exhausting overgeneralization.

        2. Nicoleandmaggie

          I can’t remember the name of the rhetorical device where instead of addressing the actual substance one attacks an unimportant (possibly hyperbolic, possibly not— feel free to list the people who didn’t) detail, but I’m sure it has a name. I will say that regardless of everyone else in that group, Taffy definitely either really doesn’t like anything that Dorothy does no matter what it is or they are trolling, which amounts to the same thing.

        3. Taffy

          That’s a dubious binary at best. I’m not some anti-Dorothy gimmick account, I’ve just had some objections to her actions recently. There’s plenty to like about her, I just don’t list them all every time I type her name. That’s not “anything that Dorothy does no matter what it is”, don’t take things beyond what they are. And I’m damn sure not “trolling” just because I’m not as polite as I probably could be with my responses. Unless the term has just been diluted to mean “anything remotely negative”? You’re way too certain about something you made up for me.

    3. alongcameaspider

      She didn’t because it would be hard and tried to swoop in and take over once Jennifer had done the hard part of offering to take Joyce to get checked out (as opposed to what Dorothy would have likely done which is strong-arm her into going without any regard for her feelings)

      And here the issue is less her trying and more

      1: asking Sarah instead of Joyce as if Joyce isn’t literally right there

      2: freaking out at Joyce when she says she hasn’t picked up her prescription yet instead of calmly offering to go with her to pick up her perscription

  38. Beau Kirin Maysey

    The tea is piping hot right now, sis

  39. Rabisch

    THIS!!!! Joyce, just take the pills for you own sake!

    1. Rabisch

      This was supposed to be a response.

  40. Katherine

    doesn’t anyone sleep in on weekends? DON’T TAKE UR BIRTH CONTROL FIRST THING IN THE MORNING TAKE IT AT LUNCH OR DINNER JEEZ

    1. Cerusee

      Yeah, I’ve never taken BC because I don’t need it, but after the comments from folks who do the other day about NOT taking it first thing in the morning for that very reason, Dorothy getting on Joyce’s case about taking them RIGHT NOW is giving me low-level anxiety for her future sleep schedule. XD

      Then again, Dorothy is a morning person’s morning person, and she knows Joyce doesn’t typically mind being up early either, so the “never getting to sleep in again if you take your pills in the morning” downside probably has not occurred to her.

      1. thejeff

        Sure, depends on your schedule, but it’s learning that she hasn’t even gotten them yet that actually gets her on Joyce’s case.
        Probably because it means there’s going to have be a whole other thing in order to get Joyce to actually go pick them up.

    2. thejeff

      You can change it. You want to take them on a regular schedule, but you’re not locked in forever once you take the first pill. Start taking them. If that time isn’t working out, try another one.

      Shouldn’t affect them helping with her pain, I think. Just means it’s less protection from pregnancy while the schedule adjusts, but it’s not like Joyce is having sex anyway so that’s not so critical.

  41. Seralyna

    So, looking at the comments, is it not common for people to take meds with some type of drink or water? Personally i had a very hard time taking pills, but its WAY easier if you just place them on your tongue and take a few long gulps.

    Admittadly, this method did take a while to get used to as well, but its way easier in my experience.

    1. Schpoonman

      I think I tried dry swallowing pills exactly once and have never tried since.

  42. Cheshrin

    I know it’s winter in-comic and the sun isn’t going to rise for another three hours but if someone badgered me about my medication in any capacity while it was still dark out I would simply eat them.

    1. Taffy

      They can’t badger if they’re being digested. A heavy meal might mess with the guts so early in the morning, but at least there’d be some peace and quiet.

  43. The Oracle

    Good lord, can you people stop treating each other like The Enemy for five minutes? I had a comment to make, but apparently the mood today is “I’m gonna say something needlessly inflammatory and when anyone objects I’ll verbally pour acid down their nostrils”, so I may as well keep my comic-related thoughts to myself. Clearly this isn’t the time to be talking about the comic in any genuine capacity, it’s just a vector for everyone’s petty squabbling and thinly-veiled hatred for each other.

    1. Alex

      I would be interested in hearing your thoughts on the comic. I may not agree but I promise I will be polite. I frequently share your feelings of wanting to talk about the comic but instead seeing everyone identify too strongly with the characters and turn the comments into some kind of moral battleground.

  44. Spriteless Aunty

    Geeze. It looks like actual feels come out awkward from Dorothy, unlike her coolness when she has a plan. Perhaps she, too can grow from this.

  45. Amós Batista

    Are Joyce mocking herself in the last panel?

    1. Taffy

      At the very least, she’s being delightfully self-aware.

  46. davidbreslin101

    “Hussy pill.” Didn’t Dina predict she’d think of it as that?

    1. Alex

      I think that was Dorothy’s reason for not suggesting medication to Joyce in the first place.

  47. egg egg

    No yelling in the morning, Dorothy.

    Personally I take these sort of pills before bed. My wake-up schedule is decided by cats, so that’s too erratic to expect a reasonable window.

  48. Hof1991

    Jennifer saw Joyce’s need and got her help. Dorothy knows she dropped the ball there and is now stepping up her game to see that her adhd friend follows through on needed medical care. Sarah and Dorothy are being good friends to a cranky-pants who is sick. Joyce would hide in her room for days rather than see a doctor or take meds. She is lucky that her friends are looking out for her. She could be out of college without them, which would be a disaster.

  49. Yeet

    As someone with way too much experience being sick and having people get in my face about medication, I feel like “I could go get them if you’re not feeling well enough” would be INFINITELY more helpful than yelling about not having it yet.
    It’s like people don’t realise that being sick makes it harder to do things.
    I’m sure someone will point out that Joyce’s fear of being judged is contributing equally if not more, but being both sick and judged at the same time sucks more than experiencing one at a time.

    1. Taffy

      My sibling’s S.O. has chronic pain and physically can’t do things at all for large chunks of time, even personally beneficial things like taking painkillers or mitigation tactics. My own S.O. has such severe period cramps that she needs the house to basically become an oven a lot of the time. What we do to help them isn’t to get all up in their fries and gripe at them for not already having their pain pre-managed. Instead we, y’know, help them to the best of our ability in the moment and try to make them as comfortable as possible, until they’re at a manageable point and can do things on their own. It’s absolutely baffling to me that Dorothy’s very first instinct is to holler at Joyce in this judgemental way for not taking perfect care of herself via an unfamiliar method that she’s been conditioned to reject, in the middle of the problem that needs solving. Rather than doing even one thing to help. Yes, it’s only been a few seconds, but if this is her absolute first instinct, I’d personally ask for someone else to help because I wouldn’t trust her to do it properly anyway.

      1. Joy

        You’re valid.

        I agree with the points you’re making and appreciate your perspective. :3

      2. Archieve

        Think this is one instance reminding us that for all her good traits Dorothy can also be judgmental in her own way.

    2. Alex

      Is that legal? I thought you had to show ID to get a prescription.

      1. Robbie

        You don’t have to show id to pick up prescription meds. Maybe you do the first time you use a pharmacy? It’s been awhile… My spouse just has to tell them my name and birthdate to get my meds & sometimes has to show our insurance card or med discount card again.
        You do usually have to show id at the Dr office though

  50. Reaver

    Incidentally the shading and lighting in this strip is *gorgeous*

  51. Joy

    INb4 dorothy apologizes for yelling at joyce next page, rendering the bulk of this page’s comments section irrelevant to the remainder of the story.

    1. Taffy

      Okay, ya know what? If she gets within even 100 malms of this I’ll take it. That happens with alarming frequency, one would think we’d learn to settle down about these little things by now.

  52. pyrock_mania

    I’m really hoping that Sarah’s expression softening in the last panel was intentional and not just my reading too much into the fact that it’s hard to draw the exact same expression twice.

  53. Scrawler

    How I take pills: Take a mouthful of water, push pill through lips, swallow, may tip head back for uncoated pills to keep them from sticking to tongue.

  54. spookyfox

    The last time i started a new pill in the middle of a period it made me bleed for 2 weeks so now i always wait until it’s over

    1. darkoneko

      ooof

  55. PinkiE

    200 strips later, my money’s on somebody getting Joyce to take her pills by wrapping them in something she likes. Half a chicken nugget?

    1. Devin

      If they’re not chewable pills, it’s usually best to try to avoid doing that with something that one is likely to chew.

      But Becky basically said this already with peanut butter.

  56. Taffy

    I need to stop taking anything here seriously.

  57. Adam Black

    this super confused me as I thouht it was November First

    I dont want to be in the Future.

  58. Harmony

    “I have no way to recognize what not being judged feels like.”

    That…. hit way closer to home than it should have.

  59. Taellosse

    Joyce, I know this anxiety isn’t exactly subject to rational argument, but a valuable thing to keep in mind to counter such thoughts: by and large, any given person working a retail job that isn’t management and/or doesn’t require an academic degree doesn’t care even a teeny-tiny bit about what or why any given customer is buying whatever said retail employee is selling. Most retail managers only care insofar as they’ve become invested enough in their workplace to give some thought to its future potential as an income source or entry on their resume, and thus ensuring that as much business can be transacted without friction as possible.

    Of course, if you happen to get the actual pharmacist handing you your prescription, instead of one of the assistants, there’s a pretty solid chance they have enough empathy to care about what their customers are taking – they were interested enough to invest a lot of time and money in earning the credentials necessary to have their job, after all, and there are other certifications that can be earned for less and promise significantly higher income – but the odds that such a person cares in a prurient or judgmental way is much lower than your imagination suggests.

Leave a Reply to spookyfox Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

*

*

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.