241

Optometrist
Posted on January 14, 2021 by David M Willis

241 thoughts on “Optometrist”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    What about LegalEagle

    or

    …Ruth?

    1. Jamie

      Eh. I’d rank the optometrist higher. Especially on “should I wear my glasses” questions.

    2. auroki

      Always good to see a LegalEagle fan+

    3. CrazyJ

      I thinking more of lines of Chubbyemu. “A college student took off her glasses for three hours. This is what happened to her eyes”

    4. Needfuldoer

      How would other YouTubers cover glasses?

      Technology Connections: a half-hour video about the development of glasses, how they work, and how they contributed to the RCA SelectaVision videodisc system and subsequent downfall of the Radio Corporation of America.

      AlternateHistoryHub: “What if General Custer could have seen what he was up against?”

      Regular Car Reviews: “1967 Wayfarers: the Ford Fairmont of glasses frames”

      Linus Tech Tips: “THESE will COMPLETELY CHANGE how you SEE THE WORLD (and our mousepads lttstoredotcom)”

      1. Mr. Bad Example

        Rob Scallon: I bet I could play some Pantera on those if I wired ’em up just right…

        Puffin Forest: The time our party was TPK’d by a sentient pair of glasses!

        Overly Sarcastic Productions: Red: Trope Talk: You Wouldn’t Hit a Guy with Glasses!

        Blendtec’s Will it Blend?: yeah, this one’s a little too obvious

        1. Casi

          GamerNexus: An extremely in depth discussion and benchmark of the glasses with steve along with other tech news.

          Extra Credits: Extra History: A 5 part episode on the history of Optometry and Opthamology

          Tier Zoo: Are Glasses OP?

        2. Ana Chronistic

          Start all: Everything on Earth was once a star. Your glasses are made of stardust!

        3. Ana Chronistic

          StarTalk

          Damn phone

        4. Casi

          autocorrect, the most common cause of death for failed jokes across the interwebs

        5. Mravac Kid

          Captain Disillusion: This is how the glasses were 3D modeled and filmed
          History Buffs: This movie about glasses is fairly historically accurate, except for a few details
          The Spiffing Brit: The glasses are perfectly balanced, perfect for sipping your Yorkshire Tea and saluting the Queen

        6. Chris (the other one)

          Jomboy Media: Girl Gets Glasses, A Breakdown

          theoffcamerashow: Fred Armisen: Why I chose BFG’s for SNL

        7. Casi

          Game Theory: How Joyce’s Glasses are the real killer in Five Nights at Walky’s

        8. He Who Abides

          Fact Fiend with Karl Smallwood: That Time a Pair of Glasses Kicked a Man’s Ass.

      2. Fogel

        Jackson Crawford: Vikings didn’t use glasses.

  2. Lenora

    Hm. I guess being disowned and dispising authority from a young age can be a good thing considering Joyce’s reaction in the last panel…

    1. Bogeywoman

      Up top!

  3. Cattleprod

    But how can she be blindly listening while wearing the glasses that allow her to actually see?

    1. Clif

      The hearing aid was turned off?

      1. Deanatay

        Then that’d be “deafly listening”, right?

  4. Katerly

    I get were Joyce is coming from. Sometimes you just wanna be mad at something

    1. Clif

      And People don’t think Walky is good for anything.

  5. thumb

    “*probably* my political party?”
    Joyce, you need to get sure.

    1. SuperZero

      Considering that she’s barely old enough to vote, it may be that she only sorta considered them her party in the first place.

      1. Bryy

        What I was thinking as well. Her parents/church would have told her what to think.

    2. brionl

      Does this mean she’s not going to vote a straight Libertarian ticket in the next election?

      1. Needfuldoer

        I don’t think she’s full of enough smug self-confidence to vote Libertarian.

    3. Rainhat

      I’m gonna bet she never really thought much about electoral politics until fairly recently, aside from a general “respect the office if not the person” sort of fuzziness about the Presidency. Also, there’s the sliding timescale to think of.

    4. UnfrozenNeanderthal

      I mean maybe the Dumbing of Age Republican party equivalent is less evil? Given the superhero shenanigans we’re clearly in fantasyland here

      1. UnfrozenNeanderthal

        The lack of edit feature is frustrating. Fantasyland is major hyperbole, and it’s probably going to be read significantly more derogatorily than I intended.

      2. King Daniel

        Willis has confirmed that Trump was elected president in the Dumbiverse (I recall a comment of theirs back in 2017 which stated that they were looking forward to the day when said presidency could be referred to in the past tense in-comic, and there’ve already been oblique references by at least some characters), so, uh…I don’t think the Republicans are any less horrid here.

        1. Khyrin

          there’s always a chance the GOP jettisoned him at the third or fourth ‘danger sign’ and he is mostly ineffectual as the first ‘third-party’ president.

          I personally hope it was the time his echopraxia had him mocking a reporter with arthrogryposis on national television.

        2. Deanatay

          Welp, because of the distorted time scale, it could be that the presidential term of office in the Dumbiverse is limited to a month. That’s an awfully short time in which to impeach a President.

    5. Eclipsa

      She’s still processing it all. It takes time.

  6. BassBone

    Is this how subs are born?

    1. Rainhat

      Ask Galasso!

      1. He Who Abides

        Don’t ask Galasso, he doesn’t even know how people are born.

        1. Rainhat

          Well… it’d still be fun.

        2. Needfuldoer

          Conquest exists in the DoAverse, so he must have figured at least part of the process out (or was extensively coached by Pamela).

        3. He Who Abides

          She existed in the Walky!verse too, but yet there’s a specific story arc about how Galasso does not know what sex is, and Leslie and Ethan take it upon themselves to explain both sex and gender to him.

        4. He Who Abides

          Yes! Found him again!

        5. Deanatay

          Now, now, I’m pretty sure he learned a few things during the Free Pizza Meet ‘n’ Greet, at least.

    2. RedCat

      My thought exactly.

    3. WanderingLynx

      There’s a second path: You’ve been a rebel from SUCH AN EARLY AGE by now you just want to be told you’ve been good (and specially in a context where consequences for disobeying are consensual and awaited for with a smile) |DDD

      But yeah, mostly.

      1. WanderingLynx

        …….. Oh man. IS SAL A SUB? I don’t have the cash for Slipshine O_O Can anyone confirm?

        1. Rowan

          If Sal is into BDSM, I’m sure she’s a switch or a bratty sub

        2. Ana Chronistic

          It’s sort of give and take,judging by the positions

    4. He Who Abides

      When a mommy sub and a daddy sub love each other very much . . .

  7. Suet

    Dean Henry’s not the highest?

    Walking at night without glasses might be a problem anyway…

    *plays Pompeii by Bastille?*

    1. drs

      Dean Henry (and Ruth) aren’t giving Joyce active orders.

      You know, it’s time to link a fanfic. Humane experiments have shown it can be enjoyed without knowing the source material. https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6255031/1/Ready_Sette_Go

      1. ktbear

        What the… How could you? Chapter six ends with, “I really must put in an concerted effort to finish this story…” and is dated 2013. That’s just cruel.

      2. Suet

        Lacking activity wouldn’t mean there’s no influence involved, even with low priority and significance. Pecking order is who’s under who, in various aspects.

    2. Rainhat

      Deans don’t interact with average students. Faculty, donors, that sort of thing sure. I’m pretty sure Joyce has never interacted with him.

      1. thejeff

        Practically speaking, yes, but he did show up in genders studies way back when – with Robin about Roz and Joe’s sex tape.

    3. UnfrozenNeanderthal

      How am I going to be an optometrist about this?

  8. BBCC

    Yeaaaaahhhhh, that’s never an easy adjustment, but it’s part of maturation.

    1. Kyrik Michalowski

      When I first read your comment, I thought it said “masturbation” instead of “maturation” and I was very confused for a moment.

  9. SuperZero

    Sarah, why are you trying to convince Joyce not to listen to a doctor?

    1. SuperZero

      And that’s not even blindly following! Not only did the optometrist give a reason, it was a reason that Joyce understood, retained, and explained back to you unprompted.

      1. Lumino

        Right? This reeks of “Don’t listen to those elites! They are out of touch and don’t know anything!”

        If a doctor tells me to do something, chances are pretty damn good I am going to do it unless it causes a serious side effect.

      2. thumb

        Friend, do you wear glasses? This isn’t a health risk.

        1. SuperZero

          …what isn’t? I’m mostly finding Sarah’s behavior here weird.

    2. Reaver

      Why so many characters are trying to make Joyce NOT LISTEN TO A DOCTOR is beyond me tbh…

      1. regina phalange

        ikr, it’s real strange that they’re all latching onto Joyce’s real medical issue as a metaphor for control/change/lack thereof. Like Dorothy (and Walky of all people) are the only ones not projecting the universe’s other issues onto the plain fact that Joyce can’t see and she needs treatment for it. …And Joyce is really the only one justified in doing that because it’s her own issue.

        1. Reaver

          Right? “THE GLASSES ARE A METAPHORE JOYCE!”

        2. Bubbletea

          Oh that depends on how short-sighted you are. Easier to read if I don’t have to have the book ON my nose. Plus being able to see people when I talk to them was amazing. Actually that is what surprised me about Joyce here. I was 13 when I got glasses and being able to see stuff was a legit experience. I went around telling people ‘hey! You can see the tower from here!’ And ‘ask me the time! Go on! I can See the clock now!’ Maybe Joyce just resents the glasses so much she is hating that too ‘trees look stupid now! With the detail and the leaves. I liked them blurry!’

      2. Clif

        Getting used to them is subjective and if she’s going to ignore a doctor then this is probably fairly harmless. To be honest, ‘wear them all the time’ seems like strange advice for someone who is nearsighted. In particular, unless they are bifocals or low strength, I would think she should be taking them off to read books, etc. without eye strain.

        1. foamy

          Glasses shouldn’t cause eyestrain while reading, not for simple nearsightedness.

        2. a/snow/mous/e

          Yeah, that should be fine unless you have myopia. I’ve never had trouble reading with my glasses on.

        3. Needfuldoer

          You shouldn’t really force yourself to read through distance lenses, anyway.

          I’m nearsighted and I can only read things at least an arm’s length away through mine. Without them, or through the reading part of my bifocals, I can focus up to about halfway up my forearm before things start getting too blurry.

        4. Lexicon

          Do you wear glasses? I have for over a decade and a half, and you don’t take off your glasses unless your nearsightedness is so minor that you can use store bought reading glasses in lie of prescription.

        5. SuperZero

          I used to take my glasses off to read occasionally. I guess it was just nice that there was one thing I could actually see without them.

          I gave it up when I realized I was holding books about an inch away from my nose.

        6. thejeff

          Right, but remember how Joyce is thinking here. If she gets past “I should listen to my doctor”, she’s not going to go “okay, I’ve considered the evidence and since wearing the glasses all the time is just to help me get used to them, so it’s okay to only wear them when I need them”, she’ll jump straight to “Doctors are no longer real authority figures and not to be trusted!”

        7. SuperZero

          Isn’t nearsightedness the most common reason people need glasses? People wear their glasses all the time. Some people wear contacts, and you can’t just take those on and off.

      3. Formedras

        Well, Ms. Demon Blood is a doctor. Literal, practicing medical doctor with an MD. So while medical professionals in general are a good idea to listen to… maybe some of them should be ignored.

        1. SuperZero

          Sure. But criticizing her for listening to a doctor’s advice directly related to treatment she just received without any reason for doing so is… odd.

      4. Bogeywoman

        Might I interest anyone in reading about Patient-Centered Care?
        It’s currently the prefered model of care taight in Australian universities and is focused on improving the quality of care for patients through holistic practices, shared decision making and patient education.

        If Dr op was trained in and engaged with this model of care then Joyce would have the agency to make informed decisions for herself and, as a result be more likely to follow health advice.

        https://www.oneviewhealthcare.com/the-eight-principles-of-patient-centered-care/#:~:text=It%20includes%20listening%20to%2C%20informing,values%20guide%20all%20clinical%20decisions.%E2%80%9D

        1. Bogeywoman

          I think Sarah’s giving good advice (I literally said the same thing in the last strip so I’m chuffed!).

          She’s not telling Joyce what to do, she’s telling jJoyce that she has agency over her own body and her own life and make her own decisions about her health, too. No-one, not even doctors know 100% what’s best for each individual!

        2. SuperZero

          What advice? She’s mostly just insulting her.

          Do you, like, not understand the concept of glasses?

        3. Bogeywoman

          “Advice” as in panel 1: If wearing them bothers her so much then she doesn’t need to wear them all the time.

          My sister is near sighted and uses glasses, but prefers to only use them if she’s doing things like driving or watching tv because she’s used to her vision and finds them irritating.

        4. SuperZero

          Well, that’s not okay at all!

        5. SuperZero

          For example, the doctor could have given Joyce advice and then explained the reasoning, making sure that Joyce understood. Perhaps she would leave the office and follow the advice, and be able to explain to her roommate why she was doing so.
          Like happened.

    3. Amias

      This is what I was coming here to mention! “Oh, you need glasses? But why are you wearing them NOW?”

      1. Reaver

        Cause it takes time for eyes to adjust to them for fucks sake Sarah!

        1. SuperZero

          There was a time when I got new glasses and I had to swap back to my old ones to drive home. Those new glasses made me sick for like two days, but I kept wearing them because I obviously had to get over that if I wanted to be able to, y’know, see.

      2. Joyfulldreams

        Yeah it’s cause she’s whining about it constantly, and yet won’t take them off, so she continues to whine and complain. Like. That is quite annoying.

      3. He Who Abides

        She’s not ordering Joyce to take them off, she’s just asking why Joyce is wearing them if she hates them that much.

        1. SuperZero

          Because she needs them. And that’s probably the part she actually hates anyway, but she can’t just decide not to.

    4. crow

      Because Joyce keeps whining about them so the logical response is “jeez, don’t wear them then.” What else is Sarah supposed to say?

      1. Reaver

        “ Man that sucks, want some spicy nugs?”

    5. zee

      She’s just trying to get Joyce to stop complaining. It’s not like she’s telling her to skip meds or something

  10. AntJ

    Do I spy a Book 11 title?

    1. Clif

      DOA 11: Very Possibly!

    2. LiterallyJustSomeGuy

      DoA 11: You’re inside, and Dorothy’s not here. So who CARES?

    3. Kernanator

      I think Willis will have trouble fitting “Sarah, in the Past Year I’ve Jettisoned God, Religion, My church, Probably My Political Party, My Parents, and Becky’s Dad, and So My Optometrist is Actually the Current Highest-Ranking Authority Figure I’ve Got!” onto the spine of the book.

      1. Clif

        I refer you to DOA 9: NOW LET’S GO COMMIT SOMETHING MILDLY SUBVERSIVE WHICH AT WORST WILL SERVE AS A HUMANIZING ANECDOTE AND NOT AS ANYTHING TRULY THREATENING TO THE POWER STRUCTURES AT HAND.

        Admittedly it was truncated on the spine.

      2. Keulen

        Depending on the font size, that could fill up most of the front cover of the book too. Maybe shorten it to “My Optometrist is Actually the Current Highest-Ranking Authority Figure I’ve Got!”

      3. Needfuldoer

        The bigger problem will be topping that for the subsequent book.

      4. Ascension

        There’s still room to go Full Light Novel with this.

    4. Lars

      DOA 11: Taking Orders From The Lunch Lady

  11. Stephen Bierce

    *looks for some Queen in the record collection*

    1. Agemegos

      https://youtu.be/pUJwTHSQjrM

  12. Sirksome

    No! NOT THE POLITICAL PARTY!! Anything but the POLITICAL PARTY!

    1. Clif

      What’s wrong with celebrating the political?

      1. Clif

        As long as there’s cake

        1. He Who Abides

          The cake is a lie.

    2. Agemegos

      At the elections to the ACT Legislative Assembly in 1989 I voted for the Party! Party! Party! party.

      1. Agemegos

        Party! Party! Party! party.

      2. Arian

        I thought you lived in WA. The swan must have confused me.

  13. Proto_Eevee

    I’m surprised it only took me 3 strips to get used to glasses joyce

    1. RacingTurtle

      Same!

  14. Savail

    Adjustments aside, wearing them all the time is a good way to keep from losing them.

    1. Amias

      There’s also a good chance she’s been straining her eyes for a long time without realizing it. Keeping the glasses on = fewer headaches.

      1. Bicycle Bill

        Since we don’t know how bad her near-sightedness actually, we don’t know at what distance her vision starts blurring.  But it’s a safe bet that unless she’s staring into a book or her computer screen, most of the time she’s going to be looking at things far enough away that the glasses will help.

        And of course, there is the whole ‘getting used to it’ thing.  I imagine young girls go through the same process when they get their first bras.

        1. Clif

          Their vision blurs?

        2. Bicycle Bill

          Maybe – but the boys’ eyesight sure gets better.

      2. Fuzzy

        I didn’t wear glasses for so long that I stopped trying to see things, so when I finally got them (after five years) it actually gave me headaches and fatigue to wear them! My eyes were suddenly having to change focus between things far away and close up, and it hurt my eyeballs cuz they hadn’t been using those muscles or whatever. (I assume. I didn’t ask anyone because I didn’t have health insurance.) It was very cool to see things that were far away, but ugh, I hated wearing glasses for the first two weeks until my eyes got used to changing focus again.

  15. guavajagular

    Possibly taking orders from a lunch lady? That’s honestly bigger than the atheism, Joyce has so many food neuroses she’d be forced to reckon with

    1. Slartibeast Button, BIA

      She should bow down to GLASSOS!

  16. auroki

    At least the Lunch Lady has sloppy joe!

    1. Alopex

      Joe wishes.

  17. Xccj

    So one just… cancels their optometrist? That felt like an odd choice of words.

    1. Yotomoe

      I think she means in the colloquial sense. As in jettisoned from society by controversy.

  18. StClair

    Could have just said “Yes.”

  19. MM

    Interesting that Joyce’s professors don’t seem to rank anywhere in there.

    1. Zor

      Considering the only one we know so far is Robin, can you really blame her?

    2. Sirksome

      Have you seen the teachers at this school? If they even actually exist! There’s one maybe two teachers that are okay. One of them is Leslie. The other is not Robin. I wouldn’t give any of the other chumps the time of day.

      1. Regalli

        Alex is cool but Joyce almost certainly hasn’t met her.

    3. Rainhat

      TBH I wouldn’t take any of the depicted profs as an authority figure either.

  20. Icalasari

    Somebody get Joyce some stability before she accidentally joins a cult again

    1. Clif

      The Lunch Lady cult gains a new follower.

  21. drs

    Joyce and Dorothy are Lawful Good besties.

    1. drs

      I hate the Law/Chaos alignment of D&D as a general straitjacket but sometimes it fits very well.

      1. UnfrozenNeanderthal

        Works better if you use them as roleplaying training wheels, a way of encouraging players to think about motivation using a simplistic categorization that works well for a lot of common character types

      2. JBento

        Fortunately 5E has made it meaningless.

  22. Kravis

    Joyce is right (for once), the optometrist IS the 17º in the line of succession.

  23. Koms

    You do need to listen to some people. If Joyce is short sighted she actually needs to keep the glasses on. Listening to your medical professional is not the same as blindly following an authority figure.

  24. Josh Spicer

    I know I shouldn’t find that last panel funny, but holy hell if I can’t help but admire Joyce’s character at almost all moments.

  25. Bagge

    as a college lecturer I’m sad but not surprised that my profession ranks after the lunch lady in authority.

    I’m not calling this in question, mind. I think it’s a fair depiction of the chain of command as it is and should be, but it is a blow to my professional pride.

    1. Clif

      Stick with it though. With hard work, some day you too may become a Lunch Lady.

      1. Bagge

        “One day,” he mutters to himself, dragging yet another stack of exam papers to grade over the desk. “One day they will listen to me.”

        1. Sombrero

          But that will be after you retire. (30+ years of college lecturing here)

        2. Needfuldoer

          To be fair, sometimes the lunch lady actually listens more, or doesn’t expect to be held up as an authority, so the students open up to them more.

          “Why hello there, children!”
          “Hey, Chef.”
          “How’s it goin’?”
          “Bad.”
          “Why bad?”

    2. JBento

      That’s because the stomach complains more than the brain when they’re not being fed.

  26. LiterallyJustSomeGuy

    “A medical professional told you to do something, so you just ARE?”

    This reminds me of when I had braces as a teenager. Some of the corrections took longer than intended because the adjustments would end up overcorrecting, so then they would try to fix that and that would overcorrect. It became obvious pretty quickly that the orthodontists did not actually expect me to follow their instructions and doing so made me an anomalous teen.

  27. crow

    Was Joyce a Republican?

    1. King Daniel

      Robin had “the letter [Joyce and her family] like” next to her name when she was in Congress, so presumably.

    2. Sirksome

      She definitely followed her parents political allegiance and I think there’s some art floating around of Carol holding up a Trump sign. Of course at her current age relative to the year Joyce wasn’t old enough to vote in the last election so I wonder how much this matters. It’s pretty interesting actually that over the span of this comic Joyce went from probably voting for Trump in her first ever election, to potentially voting for Biden, soon to Biden just being president before she votes in her first election.

      1. drs

        https://www.dumbingofage.com/2016/blog/antichrist/

        1. crow

          That last picture is so relatable to me right now

        2. Needfuldoer

          And some of the comments… I wish things turned out as well as we hoped they would back then.

        3. Needfuldoer

          (That is, things became so much worse than we even feared they would…)

        4. Sirksome

          You think Carol would be one of the people who stormed the capitol in that coup attempt? With enough time that reality becomes more and more possible! I would divorce someone for that!

      2. King Daniel

        When Dumbing of Age started, Obama hadn’t yet been elected to his second term – if anything, Joyce would’ve started out in the comic as a likely-Romney-voter originally. (Also, IIRC the art with Carol holding the Trump sign was pre-2016, also officially declared by Willis to be non-canonical since it was part of a strip showing Joyce as an older child in explicitly-2008, when as of 2021 she’d have been five then.)

        The rest of your comment though is accurate, I’d say. 😛

        1. Marcus Wallaby, M.D.

          I think she’d probably go third party. Fundamentalists of the Brown family’s ilk generally do not believe Mormons are Christians, and many consider it a cult. I don’t think that she would support Romney.

        2. King Daniel

          On the other hand, Romney does have “the letter we like” next to his name – still, ‘s one of the reasons I only had her as a “likely” Romney voter.

        3. Needfuldoer

          And in that time, R-Money became one of the most moderate Republicans by just not substantially changing his positions all that much and watching the party shift around him.

          Meanwhile, the GOP has gone from the Freedom Caucus, to the Tea Party, to Trumpism, to completely losing control of the monster they created.

        4. thejeff

          Romney likely lost some votes from being Mormon, but he still won the white Evangelical vote overwhelmingly. Much like Trump won it, despite not being more than nominally Christian.

          Because the religious right isn’t so much about religion as about hating the right people.

        5. Needfuldoer

          He has the magic R next to his name, which is probably the only reason about 75% of the votes he got went to him.

          This is what happens when you have a first-past-the-post voting system that’s marketed like a sports competition where every member of one team is scrambling to become the most extreme parody of what they claim they are.

        6. thejeff

          Well yeah, but that still counters the “probably go third party” claim.

  28. Lordhaw

    Well if you have a progressive lens you do have to wear it for a bit to get used to it. At least this conversation is giving some insight into Joyce’s frame of mind.

    1. Bicycle Bill

      I doubt that Joyce is wearing progressive lenses.  I was in my late forties before I needed to go with progressive/bifocals.

      1. Clif

        If we eliminate a progressive lens, are we suspecting a moderate lens or a conservative lens? I guess it depends on how you frame it.

      2. Needfuldoer

        I’m in my early thirties and I’ve had bifocals for over 20 years. (My first optometrist said it would be a good idea to have zero-power reading lenses, because I’m primarily nearsighted and exercising the eye muscles apparently slows the progression or keeps it from getting as severe.) Might have to get progressives this time though, because now the dashboard is blurry through the reading lens.

    2. SuperZero

      She also has to wear them to, like, see.

  29. King Daniel

    Alright, gonna run two quick grav roulettes; the only way I’d consider giving up my Julia Gray grav is if I somehow luck into Dina or Asher, or maybe Danny. 😛

    1. King Daniel

      Spin one?

      1. King Daniel

        NO WAY

        …spin two?

        1. King Daniel

          Giving myself one more free spin, since I somehow lucked into Dina first spin of the day

        2. King Daniel

          And Dina it is! Though I reserve Julia Gray as a backup.

        3. Bagge

          a VERY close call.

          But I wonder what you will do now, when you have reached the very top.

  30. C.T Phipps

    You kept the GOP over Jesus, huh, Joyce? You and a bunch of other evangelicals.

    1. C.T Phipps

      Note: Said by someone raised evangelical before becoming more generically Christian.

    2. Needfuldoer

      The GOP-vangelicals only believe in Supply Side Jesus, who by sheer coincidence tells them exactly what they want to hear without any of the stuff that sounds likePiNkO lEfTiSt SoCiAlIsM like “caring about others” and “equal opportunity” and “render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s…”

  31. Ascension

    I know that feel, Joyce.

  32. miz

    this is a test post to see what gravatar i get but i feel like i should make a relevant comment about the strip too, so uhhh

    [laughs nervously about how i still don’t remember to wear my glasses regularly even though i’ve had them for years and my eyesight’s steadily been getting worse]

    1. crow

      Interesting how there are two different Joyce gravs. Standard Joyce, and Joyce’s rebellious alter-ego.

      1. miz

        Why, whatever do you mean? This gravatar is clearly not related to mild mannered Joyce Brown in any way! This is JULIA GRAY, SPACEFORCE CAPTAIN EXTRAORDINAIRE

    2. Eclipsa

      My eyesight isn’t all that bad, I can get by without glasses, but it becomes physically uncomfortable to not wear them once I’m used to them. Maybe because each eye is a little different (which I am aware is common) and the subtle difference in vision in each eye is more noticeable once I’ve worn my glasses for a while and it annoys me. So I like wearing mine all the time lol.

      1. miz

        originally i only had to get them to help with driving, which i didn’t do much of, so i never got used to just wearing them casually. nowadays though, i have trouble reading LED clocks or reading the sign at the end of the grocery store aisle, so it’s becoming an issue. i spend 90% of my life sitting two feet away from a computer screen though, so i STILL never get used to wearing them casually!

  33. Dawn T

    I figured Joyce was on good terms with her dad. Maybe not, judging by that last panel?

    1. Joyfulldreams

      You can be on good terms with someone while still realizing that they are no longer an authority figure you can trust or at the very least rely on without question.

      Hank is probably not doing great emotionally, what with the divorce, and so Joyce has probably had to face the fact that her dad is just a flawed person who can and probably is wrong at least sometimes, at least unwittingly if not maliciously. She can love him while still not feeling like she can rely on him, you know?

      1. Dawn T

        That’s very true, you’re right.

      2. Needfuldoer

        I hope Joyce isn’t looking for a perfectly infallible entity to recalibrate her moral compass and sense of authority to, because she sure as hell isn’t going to find one in the real world.

        Except maybe Mister Rogers.

    2. Rainhat

      Poor Hank.

  34. Bicycle Bill

    Word to the wise, Joyce — once you’ve gotten used to the glasses, your next purchase should be prescription sunglasses.  Forget clip-ons or flip-downs that clamp onto your existing glasses, or even the self-darkening lenses; find a frame you like and get the darkest lenses you can tolerate.  You will thank me for this advice later.

    Or you can do like I did — spend 25 or more years trying all the alternatives before finally getting a set of prescription sunglasses, and then kick yourself for waiting so long.  I now have three; one which stays in the car, one which is available for everyday use, and a spare just in case.

    1. drs

      Self-darkening lens + hat usually work for me. Hat protects my nose so I want it anyway.

      I wonder if I still have my clip-ons, I hardly ever used them.

      1. Agemegos

        I find the photochromic glasses are too slow to change.

        1. Zaxares

          They do take a couple minutes to fully adjust, yeah. But once they do, I find them adequate for all but the brightest lights. Then again, I’m mostly an indoors, sedentary hermit who rarely goes outside, so take my experiences with a grain of salt. 😉

        2. Needfuldoer

          Mine only seem to take forever when I’m returning indoors from being out in the cold, and they’re both dark and fogged up. Masks make the fog worse, but that’s just a minor inconvenience in the grand scheme of things.

    2. Needfuldoer

      That will be how the Julia Gray Mirror Aviators of Coolness get written into DoA proper.

  35. Apostate

    Why are so many of these characters so against listening to doctors

    1. Rainhat

      Actually a good question. Becky was against the idea simply because Dorothy was for it and that was her wacky dynamic up until about three seconds ago. Joyce has rather severe issues regarding even minor stuff like her food touching or the whole thing the time Jacob took her to his church, she is just bucking it because it’s a change and she takes everything as relating to her core identity. Walky is being Walky because being irritating is his genre, you might as well ask BB King to not play the blues as ask him not to be annoying. No idea about Sarah besides “she just wants to beeline to ‘whatever gets Joyce to not complain’ and thats it right now”. I don’t think anyone’s actually anti medicine here. Yet.

    2. BenRG

      It’s more about being against listening to any authority figures. Because they’re all 18-20 years old now and don’t need to listen to boring grown-ups!

    3. Bogeywoman

      Becky had motive, but don’t think Sarah’s against listening to the doctor. I think she’s for practicing agency.

      Imma drop another link about patient-centered practice for an example of a better model of care than the “I’m a doctor you must do as I say” model (more effective, higher quality, produces better outcomes).

      https://www.oneviewhealthcare.com/the-eight-principles-of-patient-centered-care/#:~:text=It%20includes%20listening%20to%2C%20informing,values%20guide%20all%20clinical%20decisions.%E2%80%9D

    4. zee

      Sarah’s less anti listening to doctor, more anti listening to Joyce complain endlessly about something she could just not do. Cant blame her tbh

  36. BenRG

    Personally, I think that Joyce agreed with the optometrist’s advice on purely practical terms but it’s still annoying and she still wants to complain about it. That makes her human and it would be funny if Sarah realises this and starts teasing Joyce about ‘you have learned your lessons well, my young Apprentice’.

    Meanwhile, I also think that Joyce is learning that self-determination is hard.

  37. Dracke

    Even her dad who was her bedrock …and really stood by her and backy? wow joyce, wow

    1. Rainhat

      Well, she didn’t kick at Becky’s idea of hitting him up for stuff..So that avenue is still open.

      Poor Hank.

    2. Needfuldoer

      I think she’s conflicted on their relationship, maybe still thinking of him and Carol as a unit as authority figures go.

  38. Reltzik

    This is how it begins. By the end, Asma shall be her queen.

  39. acher4

    Dr. Eye knows best! 😛

  40. RowenMorland

    If you don’t follow your optician’s advice you probably will be following everything else blindly later on.

    1. Keulen

      I see what you did there.

      1. Roborat

        I don’t.

        1. Bathymetheus

          I surmise that you did not follow your optometrist’s advice.

      2. Reltzik

        And I see what YOU did there.

  41. Agemegos

    Become a monarchist, Joyce.

    1. Zaxares

      That could also prove to be problematic depending on who one gives their loyalty to. After watching the siege on Capitol Hill last week, it dawned on me that the fanatical Trump supporters don’t want a President (or democracy); they want a King named Trump who can do whatever he (and by extension, them) wants without being beholden to the checks and balances that keep the Executive Branch in check.

      1. Needfuldoer

        Their Gasden flags should say “Tread on ThEm” to actually reflect what they want.

        This is what happens when you spend decades equating “freedom” and “liberty” to “you get to do and say whatever you want without consequence and anything less than that is oppression” while simultaneously repeating “tHeY should know their place”.

    2. JBento

      Discounting the band and Aretha Franklin, all monarchs are useful only as part of displays for guillotines in action.

  42. Lone Duck

    To be fair, it is important to listen to your doctors, regarding medical advice. If Madame Eyeball started giving out political commentary, or legal advice, maybe take it with a few grains of salt?

  43. Wagstaff

    That’s what authoritarianism ultimately comes down to, isn’t it?
    The simultamious longing for, and fear of, the mystical, magical, unquestionable parent.

    Some apologists claim that belief in authority (or gods) is a moral value in and of itself, because it adds the weight of authentic to moral instruction, and helps ensure compliance.

    Beliefs that ensure compliance, however cannot have intrinsic moral value. Belief in authority adds weight to any instruction, moral or immoral: instructions to ostracize certain groups; instruction to withhold life-saving medical treatment from children; instruction to mutilate their bodies without consent.

    1. BenRG

      The real important factor is belief that the person setting the standard is a good person and has a demonstrable claim to be doing so for your best interests. Personally, I think that’s a very difficult standard to achieve for most political and even religious leaders, given their very obvious hypocrisies and blatant looting of their followers.

    2. Wagstaff

      Whatever happened to just thinking for yourself?

      If these people become your standard of truth and morality, you cannot move past them. This problem is of incredible relevance today.. Would it be a “sin” to colonize other planets, taking what was “meant for others”; or “playing god” to genetically modify food?

      Our future comes with new moral questions for which ancient magical heroes and outmoded authorities can offer no explicit guidance. Our awareness of the universe and moral landscape evolves with time, so it is a given that truely moral systems have to be open systems, to give room for such crucial development.

      Therefore, for the sake of truth and morality, it is only right to move past blind adherence to those we endow with magical hero status: those we use to excuse ourselves from any real thinking.

      In order to move past our authority figures, our magical heroes, we have to dethrone them.

  44. Keulen

    Optomestrists are pretty decent authority figures, as long as you’re only following what they tell you on eye care. Might not be a good idea to listen to what they tell you about politics though.

  45. DarkoNeko

    Yeah right, I’m pretty sure your dad is still pretty high up the list.

    1. DarkoNeko

      (I was pretty sure it was spelt “cancelled”, but it turns out british english puts 2 L and US english only us one uh. Weirdoes.)

      1. Needfuldoer

        We threw it out along with all the extra “U”s we streamlined out of our vocabulary. They didn’t go to waste though, because I think I saw Canada grab them off the curb.

      2. hof1991

        US rarely uses spelt because spelled follows rules that are easier to teach kids. Plus spelt is a kind of wheat and spelled is not.

  46. Pilgrim

    Poor Joyce doesn’t realize she still has a creator to rage against.

    “Gosh darn it Willis! When will you stop using me as an unsubtle metaphor?”

    1. DarkoNeko

      Joyce is autobiographical.

      1. Daibhid C

        She’s a metaphor for “experiences he actually went through”.

  47. JBento

    So muhc jettisoning. That AMong Us game will be over in no time flat.

    1. Needfuldoer

      Carol is sus

      1. BenRG

        *Rest of shipmates unanimously vote to eject Needfuldoer on the grounds that anyone who fingers someone else must be the Imposter.

        1. JBento

          Now, now, let’s not be too quick to dismiss the option of jettisoning Carol either way. You know, out of principle.

        2. Needfuldoer

          This is why I still play Team Fortress 2 (and sometimes Astroneer).

  48. ValdVin

    Given yesterday’s historical events, today’s alt text is incredibly prescient.

  49. FacelessDeviant

    Hm. In this, she’s also rebelling against big sister Sarah, isn’t she?
    At least slightly?

  50. Wakeangel2001

    well it is always good to follow a doctor’s advice…

  51. ziggy78eog

    Joyce just does not want to admit that she likes being able to see things over 3 feet away.

    1. timemonkey

      She might not be at that point yet, depending on how bad her eyes are yjr adjustment might be causing some pretty bad headaches.

  52. Eclipsa

    Sarah has a point, but… let’s not encourage Joyce to NOT listen to medical professionals regarding issues of her own health, yeah?

    1. ProjectXa3

      I mean, Sarah being black and both of them being women, from what I’ve heard of medical stories from those fitting those categories with summaries of “my doctor didn’t believe me” or “my doctor was wrong but didn’t listen” that might not be the worst lesson to impart on her somewhat?

      1. Eclipsa

        That is also true. There is merit to being taught to advocate for yourself, when it’s needed.

      2. SuperZero

        Sure, but that’s not really relevant to wearing glasses.

  53. ProjectXa3

    An authority structure is very important to have for some.

  54. DT

    Joyce should listen to Sarah, I’m the only one in my family not fully dependent on eyewear specifically because I never wore them unless they were absolutely necessary.

    1. SuperZero

      So that definitely isn’t how that works, and also sounds way more difficult to live with than “dependence” on glasses.

      There are a lot of people in the comments who don’t seem to get the concept of glasses and that is super weird.

  55. Hydrohead

    Isn’t it time for Joyce to become her own authority figure?

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