Wow, Roz is ready for some action??? Just walk away Billie, just walk away. Seems that Ruth would start something, but Billie might just end up calling her bluff.
The anger hit might’ve been an accident, but fearing the fight is an even worse mistake at this point. Might as well call her bluff and, if not a bluff, take the abuse to mount herself a case!
[Years ago, I had a co-worker threaten me if I moved his stuff out of somewhere it didn’t belong again, now I kinda wish I’d called his bluff on it…]
Sometimes, one punch is enough. The point has been made. If the other person wants to fight… be prepared to bring it. Otherwise, walk away with dignity.
And from an angle, it seems Ruth fixed her glasses, weird. Though Billie snapped them straight in the middle so the two sides are still able to fit on the ears just fine.
I’d say “fair fight” is apt. I mean, in Fight Night Round 1, Ruth gave Billie the first shot, and only after she was ready, so it was pretty fair. Might’ve been a little cruel to throw the judo flip on her, but still, once the fight is on, anything goes.
Great. I’d managed to keep my thoughts free of the fake Sheikh ad, demonstrating the sensitivity of the brand with a car door. Thanks a lot. The only way I’m going to get that out of my head is by replaying the Trust ad.
I’d assume they like Billie more than Ruth. After all, Billie hasn’t been going around threatening people, stealing their stuff allegedly and trying to provoke fights the way Ruth has.
Ruth has only done one of those things to everyone. Some of them thought it was awesome when she provoked that fight with Ruth, though, and really they know that by staying on Ruth’s good side she won’t bother them.
“Stay out of my way and I stay out of yours.”
So why would they then get in her way with regards to Billie? Sure, she’d get removed as RA, but I can guarantee you Ruth will remember each and every person who tries to stand against her and WILL do something back to them, because that’s the twisted person she is. Ruth is the kind of person you don’t want to piss off.
Not true! If you’re afraid of getting in trouble for lying, you might tell the truth anyway. This happens in high school all the time, and a lot of these characters are barely past high school emotionally.
2. Self defense WILL apply if Billie attacks again and Ruth simply counters and stops. Ruth is clearly giving Billie the chance to NOT do this and any intent to continue will show hostility on Billie’s part. Sure, it might not save her job as an RA but it will keep her out of jail for this particular instance (It won’t do much in regards to the uniform or the clotheslining Billie, though)
I’ve been dying to say it all week, so I’ll address it first. Your avatar makes me smile and I’m just not sure why.
1. I really want Billie to grab the polaroid, but on it’s own, it proves nothing.
2. I thought self defense didn’t apply unless the defender broke off the fight at the earliest opportunity? Granted, it’d be smart for Billie to walk away, and Ruth is giving her a perfect opportunity.
Haha, thanks. If you want, I can give you a link to what it’s from.
1. On its own, no, But it could be combined to give Billie the edge she needs. I’m hoping it’ll turn out someone will see the Polaroid and go “this is Photoshop’d”
2. Not for Billie, for Ruth. Yes, Ruth DID clothesline her, but it wasn’t out of a hostile need but rather enforcing the rules through extreme means. Yes, Ruth probably got a kick out of doing that to Billie, but that aside… There was a pause between this and Billie’s punch. That punch became an offensive punch. At this point if Billie attacks again and Ruth counters, providing Ruth just stops her and then leaves it, then that particular hit Ruth makes is in self defense. She’s “asking” Billie to step down from this and NOT continue, showing she doesn’t want to fight and thus if Billie makes an act then Ruth’s counter becomes self defense. At least I’m fairly certain it will.
But then again, why bother discussing things like law when we know Willis isn’t going to work it in. 😀
You’re kind of right. Getting away does matter. Thing here, though, is that on Ruth’s part this isn’t a fight yet. She’s trying to intimidate Billie and she’s not going to make herself seem weaker since she’s the RA, but right now Ruth is on the defensive because Billie hit her first (And for others, no, the clothesling doesn’t count as a fight initiator in this, given that Ruth used it to stop Billie from breaking a rule and there has been a sufficient period of time since she did that. The ground was made neutral up until Billie hit her) and Ruth is giving her the chance to stop. So in terms of grounding, Ruth was initially on the offense with the clothesline, but her reasoning for it and the time passed has made everything neutral. Billie punches, making Billie on the offense. Ruth has yet to counter and has given Billie the chance to walk away. Billie choosing to continue makes her on the offense and puts Ruth on the defense, who is not looking to continue this fight but she can’t back down because it’d make her look weak and inferior to Billie.
And since they both have superiority complexes, neither of them wants to back down.
Actually, Ruth can’t claim self-defense exactly. The fact she as the RA used physical force on a student, puts her in the cross-hairs along with Billie. R.A.’s are REQUIRED to use none physical means to deal with students. The clotheslining of Billie breaks those rules and if any other students saw that and side with Billie, than Ruth is the one who gets in trouble.
The fact Billie struck Ruth, can be argued as a provoked attack, as Ruth physically knocked down Billie and then proceeded to bully her verbally, provoking the attack.
Ruth meanwhile is continuing the provocation in front of a crowd of people. She can claim it was self-defense, but the fact that she is choosing to stand there and fight, rather than write-up Billie or report her to campus security will work against her. As the R.A., she’s supposed to set a better example, which Ruth is failing to do spectacularly.
Not in regards to her job as an RA, but in regards to the law in general. As an RA, yes, total failure. If Billie tried to charge her with assault, not so much. It’d only be the clothesline thing, and she has some minor workarounds on that. They wouldn’t be enough to drop that charge but it would be lessened a bit.
Restraint is the better part of valor. And now that she has got everyone’s attention, airing her grievances against Ruth may actually get her some support, and worry Ruth enough that they will go to the administration that she returns the uniform.
Of course, this strip is called Dumbing of Age for a reason, and odds are good that regardless of what happens next, someone will do something very dumb.
Lets see, Ruth illegally entered a students room, Illegally took personal property (ie THEFT) of a student, and then insulted and threatened said student in front of other students. I’m sorry but this seems to me to be a major violation of a students personal and legal rights and from Ruth it looks like a case of mental illness (She does not care about anyone else or see that they have rights and that she has overstepped her bounds (Some call that being a bit of a sociopath by the way)). The school, if it was in a real world, would be looking at a major lawsuit and reaming by the media for letting Ruth get away with this behavior.
They do. I’m good friends with my RA and I’ve already been told by housing that I’d qualify for the position if I had the time for it. Regardless, I can add some input on this. Yes, RA’s do have access to all of the dorms in a hall, as does the maintenance department, via a master key. With the exception of maintenance, there are only about 2 other master keys for a dorm; one kept in the housing office, and one kept in the dorm’s office to be used for emergencies or during room inspections.
That being said, room inspections are really the only reason an RA should ever be in a resident’s room when they aren’t there. And the room inspections at my college make privacy top-priority. Unless they have probable cause (and even that is iffy), they aren’t allowed to open a resident’s drawers, open a closed closet, or even lift a bedspread up to look under a bed. They are only allowed to check to make sure the surge protectors aren’t overloaded, make sure our garbage is being taken out, and make sure the bathroom/room is acceptably clean.
We keep our room so clean my RA usually does our room first just to get it out of the way, since the inspection is done so quickly. Hope that helps some.
129 thoughts on “Boring”
Digidestined of Trust (Tim)
Wow, Roz is ready for some action??? Just walk away Billie, just walk away. Seems that Ruth would start something, but Billie might just end up calling her bluff.
Jen Aside
The anger hit might’ve been an accident, but fearing the fight is an even worse mistake at this point. Might as well call her bluff and, if not a bluff, take the abuse to mount herself a case!
[Years ago, I had a co-worker threaten me if I moved his stuff out of somewhere it didn’t belong again, now I kinda wish I’d called his bluff on it…]
Digidestined of Trust (Tim)
Good point. Either way, a win win. Though it still doesn’t help Billie’s feelings for the whole outfit thing.
tom
Sometimes, one punch is enough. The point has been made. If the other person wants to fight… be prepared to bring it. Otherwise, walk away with dignity.
Digidestined of Trust (Tim)
And from an angle, it seems Ruth fixed her glasses, weird. Though Billie snapped them straight in the middle so the two sides are still able to fit on the ears just fine.
taekwondogirl
They weren’t snapped, it just got bent in the middle. Ruth fixed it in the last comic.
Digidestined of Trust (Tim)
I was going to disagree, but after a careful re-read of the last strip you’re right. Never realized that though. Those are some real strong glasses.
Rezby
Makes you wonder just how many times Ruth has had to fix them after getting whacked in the face, and just how deep her violence runs.
Skye
It’s almost as if she planned for Billie to hit her, like she knew Billie would do this.
Cholma
She’s wearing flex-frame glasses; basically pliable, acrylic-wrapped wire attached to the lenses.
Digidestined of Trust (Tim)
Yeah, but even those can break if nailed hard enough. And that was a hard punch.
Alix
I feel so bad for Billie.
Crash Platypus
“Fair fight” is kind of a misnomer, don’tchathink?
Anywho, I’m thinking that it’s not over, yet.
Any bets on who that is yelling from the Peanut Gallery? Or does that matter?
Leiary
It’s Mike.
Crimson Magic
Nah, he’s in class.
dchorror
I read it and I said Go Dinah!
Vanessa
OMG I LOVE YOUR PLATYPUS!!!!!
Matt
I’d say “fair fight” is apt. I mean, in Fight Night Round 1, Ruth gave Billie the first shot, and only after she was ready, so it was pretty fair. Might’ve been a little cruel to throw the judo flip on her, but still, once the fight is on, anything goes.
This time Billie just threw a sucker-punch.
Zanosuke_Kurosaki
This time Billie just threw a well-deserved sucker-punch.
Fixed it for you. =D
Digidestined of Trust (Tim)
That platypus reminds me of Appa (AVATAR: Last Airbender)
kagato23
Dammit! If there’s no fight, Amazi-girl left her raid for nothing!
Why Willis, why! She’s missing her raid. She’s missing her raiddd!
Madock345
I thought the point was that she Diddn’t leave the raid, and she was dissapointed that she had to miss the fight.
Kurai_Seraphim
Roz is totally safe. You can’t punch someone with a condom hat. The laws of physics won’t allow it.
David Herbert
She can use the condom hat as a minor shield.
Chrisby
Multi-purpose condom hat!
Joebo
+10 to Stamina
I'm not telling my name to a webform!
So you’re saying the condom hat is like… protection?
Skye
And now you have won an internet today, sir or ma’am. 😀
zuche
Great. I’d managed to keep my thoughts free of the fake Sheikh ad, demonstrating the sensitivity of the brand with a car door. Thanks a lot. The only way I’m going to get that out of my head is by replaying the Trust ad.
Ragnal
Shut your FAAAAAAACE back there!
Mkvenner
i still have a perverse sexual lust for Ruth in that shirt.
And i guess a “dam you willis?”
Joebo
Dam? As in Hoover?
XMD
“Willis, I command you to construct a wooden structure within the confines of your main plumbing tube so as to dampen your creativity”
Mkvenner
Then blow it up.
David Herbert
I wonder how many of these people actually like Ruth and would corroborate her story?
Viktoria
Like…Ruth? I’m not sure I understand. Remember how she treats people? I doubt anyone likes her.
Chrisby
Like? No.
Fear? Very yes.
Skye
Well, like her more than Billie.
Shift
I’d assume they like Billie more than Ruth. After all, Billie hasn’t been going around threatening people, stealing their stuff allegedly and trying to provoke fights the way Ruth has.
Skye
Ruth has only done one of those things to everyone. Some of them thought it was awesome when she provoked that fight with Ruth, though, and really they know that by staying on Ruth’s good side she won’t bother them.
“Stay out of my way and I stay out of yours.”
So why would they then get in her way with regards to Billie? Sure, she’d get removed as RA, but I can guarantee you Ruth will remember each and every person who tries to stand against her and WILL do something back to them, because that’s the twisted person she is. Ruth is the kind of person you don’t want to piss off.
n0z3k1ll3r
They don’t have to like Ruth. They just have to like Ruth more than Billie.
Loki
Not true! If you’re afraid of getting in trouble for lying, you might tell the truth anyway. This happens in high school all the time, and a lot of these characters are barely past high school emotionally.
Mkvenner
I would.
Doctor_Who
So, does Roz just like wearing that hat? I could totally see that look catching on.
Digidestined of Trust (Tim)
The Roz hat is the most disturbing thing in this strip! When I saw her in the 3rd panel I went, wow, Roz is fast.
Tori
By disturbing I assume you mean best?
XMD
I would buy one of those.
Brasca1
It’d be cool if that was Sal, but she’d be at class right now.
Skye
Things I’ve noticed about this page:
1. The polaroid has fallen to the ground.
2. Self defense WILL apply if Billie attacks again and Ruth simply counters and stops. Ruth is clearly giving Billie the chance to NOT do this and any intent to continue will show hostility on Billie’s part. Sure, it might not save her job as an RA but it will keep her out of jail for this particular instance (It won’t do much in regards to the uniform or the clotheslining Billie, though)
dchorror
I’ve been dying to say it all week, so I’ll address it first. Your avatar makes me smile and I’m just not sure why.
1. I really want Billie to grab the polaroid, but on it’s own, it proves nothing.
2. I thought self defense didn’t apply unless the defender broke off the fight at the earliest opportunity? Granted, it’d be smart for Billie to walk away, and Ruth is giving her a perfect opportunity.
Skye
Haha, thanks. If you want, I can give you a link to what it’s from.
1. On its own, no, But it could be combined to give Billie the edge she needs. I’m hoping it’ll turn out someone will see the Polaroid and go “this is Photoshop’d”
2. Not for Billie, for Ruth. Yes, Ruth DID clothesline her, but it wasn’t out of a hostile need but rather enforcing the rules through extreme means. Yes, Ruth probably got a kick out of doing that to Billie, but that aside… There was a pause between this and Billie’s punch. That punch became an offensive punch. At this point if Billie attacks again and Ruth counters, providing Ruth just stops her and then leaves it, then that particular hit Ruth makes is in self defense. She’s “asking” Billie to step down from this and NOT continue, showing she doesn’t want to fight and thus if Billie makes an act then Ruth’s counter becomes self defense. At least I’m fairly certain it will.
But then again, why bother discussing things like law when we know Willis isn’t going to work it in. 😀
dchorror
Ah, I meant for self defense for Ruth and that link would be most appreciated.
Skye
You’re kind of right. Getting away does matter. Thing here, though, is that on Ruth’s part this isn’t a fight yet. She’s trying to intimidate Billie and she’s not going to make herself seem weaker since she’s the RA, but right now Ruth is on the defensive because Billie hit her first (And for others, no, the clothesling doesn’t count as a fight initiator in this, given that Ruth used it to stop Billie from breaking a rule and there has been a sufficient period of time since she did that. The ground was made neutral up until Billie hit her) and Ruth is giving her the chance to stop. So in terms of grounding, Ruth was initially on the offense with the clothesline, but her reasoning for it and the time passed has made everything neutral. Billie punches, making Billie on the offense. Ruth has yet to counter and has given Billie the chance to walk away. Billie choosing to continue makes her on the offense and puts Ruth on the defense, who is not looking to continue this fight but she can’t back down because it’d make her look weak and inferior to Billie.
And since they both have superiority complexes, neither of them wants to back down.
Skye
And here’s that link:
http://fav.me/d326yb5
Shift
Actually, Ruth can’t claim self-defense exactly. The fact she as the RA used physical force on a student, puts her in the cross-hairs along with Billie. R.A.’s are REQUIRED to use none physical means to deal with students. The clotheslining of Billie breaks those rules and if any other students saw that and side with Billie, than Ruth is the one who gets in trouble.
The fact Billie struck Ruth, can be argued as a provoked attack, as Ruth physically knocked down Billie and then proceeded to bully her verbally, provoking the attack.
Ruth meanwhile is continuing the provocation in front of a crowd of people. She can claim it was self-defense, but the fact that she is choosing to stand there and fight, rather than write-up Billie or report her to campus security will work against her. As the R.A., she’s supposed to set a better example, which Ruth is failing to do spectacularly.
Skye
Not in regards to her job as an RA, but in regards to the law in general. As an RA, yes, total failure. If Billie tried to charge her with assault, not so much. It’d only be the clothesline thing, and she has some minor workarounds on that. They wouldn’t be enough to drop that charge but it would be lessened a bit.
NF
Restraint is the better part of valor. And now that she has got everyone’s attention, airing her grievances against Ruth may actually get her some support, and worry Ruth enough that they will go to the administration that she returns the uniform.
NF
Of course, this strip is called Dumbing of Age for a reason, and odds are good that regardless of what happens next, someone will do something very dumb.
Joebo
Curses, you’ve seen through his machinations. You must be dealt with.
XMD
in the FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACE.
NF
Not the face! Anywhere but the FAAACE!!!
dchorror
That’s a lot more control than I expected from Ruth.
MeHael
Agreed. I expected this strip to involve an exchange of blows, not an exchange of words.
Maark30
Lets see, Ruth illegally entered a students room, Illegally took personal property (ie THEFT) of a student, and then insulted and threatened said student in front of other students. I’m sorry but this seems to me to be a major violation of a students personal and legal rights and from Ruth it looks like a case of mental illness (She does not care about anyone else or see that they have rights and that she has overstepped her bounds (Some call that being a bit of a sociopath by the way)). The school, if it was in a real world, would be looking at a major lawsuit and reaming by the media for letting Ruth get away with this behavior.
Madock345
I thought an R.A had full access to any Dorm room?
turkishproverb
Only for official reasons.
1Samildanach
And I’m pretty sure nicking stuff does not count as an official reason.
Kitana Coldfire
They do. I’m good friends with my RA and I’ve already been told by housing that I’d qualify for the position if I had the time for it. Regardless, I can add some input on this. Yes, RA’s do have access to all of the dorms in a hall, as does the maintenance department, via a master key. With the exception of maintenance, there are only about 2 other master keys for a dorm; one kept in the housing office, and one kept in the dorm’s office to be used for emergencies or during room inspections.
That being said, room inspections are really the only reason an RA should ever be in a resident’s room when they aren’t there. And the room inspections at my college make privacy top-priority. Unless they have probable cause (and even that is iffy), they aren’t allowed to open a resident’s drawers, open a closed closet, or even lift a bedspread up to look under a bed. They are only allowed to check to make sure the surge protectors aren’t overloaded, make sure our garbage is being taken out, and make sure the bathroom/room is acceptably clean.
We keep our room so clean my RA usually does our room first just to get it out of the way, since the inspection is done so quickly. Hope that helps some.
Shift
Yeah, in the real world, Ruth would have already been fired and arrested for breaking both the rules of the school, as well as the law in general.
Maark30