Didn’t someone suggest babysitting? I’m sure someone did. They just won the internet today!
If he expects Bernice to babysit his sibs that’s a lot of darn gall. If he’s rescuing them his mother and is waiting for Child Protective Services to pick them up…. that would be the responsible thing to do.
Sadly, since passive-aggression is the norm for this strip I’m betting on babysitting with Bernice not refusing his unreasonable request.
Questions? Well, yeah! Are these youngsters all Piro’s siblings? Or are some of them more distant family members? Are all of them under his care, because no one else is able or willing to care for them? And are they all standing there with him because they have all just become homeless and in need of shelter? Are these what have preoccupied Piro for all the time he’s been out of touch recently? Is Piro standing there with them to ask Bernice if she can do anything or recommend anything to help? Where is cousin Tara? Is there any help possible from her side of the family? Is Bernice about to be faced with the need to point out that she herself is living as more or less a dependent on a family not her own, and that she doesn’t have resources of her own with which to help a situation like Piro’s? These nine or ten questions ought to cover the territory as a start. There may be more once they are answered.
Ah Saturday misdirection all the better to spend the weekend not thinking about all the bad news (pick your poison, but pray and/or beat wishes to our fellow citizens out in LA. This is the great LA fire, but I worry about worse ones in the future) and wonder where this plot twist is going. I think a reasonable connection can be made with Bern’s personal situation, where her brother has his kids by his Filipino wife, who is home in Phillipines taking care of her ailing father, while the kids are at Bern’s. Why isn’t she being shown with her nieces or nephews by the way? But Piro has exponentially a more serious situation than ,Bern does, and who is that that older kid? Oh let the speculation begin.
Piro knows that Bernice is only staying with the DeGroots and has no home at this time. He certainly would not expect any housing help from Bernice. He should show up at Tara’s place. she is actually related to Piro.
There’s Chandler’s law, which is if the plot is going nowhere have a guy come through the door with a gun – or at least something shocking that moves the plot off dead center.
I hope he is there to ask advice not dump those people on her. Making them her responsibility. That would be shameless. And stupid. It isn’t her house.
Same-sex marriage to the tall one (look adult to me), who has custody of his 5 kids from a previous opposite-sex marriage. There! All explained! You’re welcome!
There are no questions because the situation is clear, but still Bernice is trying too hard to looks calm. Luann’s involvement seems inevitable, for now I’m really happy to see how respectful she is by giving to Piro and Bernice space. She was right, this is not a competition, but a rescue to a friend in need.
I had this happen in real life. I answered a knock on my door on a Saturday, there stood my son, his wife, two kids, and she is obviously pregnant. My son said, “Dad, we lost our jobs, our house and we go no where else to go.” “Come in, we’ll find a way to make it work.” I put the two kids in my bedroom, I move to the back bedroom, moved the tables and chairs out of the dining room and put a rented queen size bed in there.
A week later the landlord showed up asking, “Bruce, I’m hearing somethings about additional people?” “Come in, let me introduce you to my son and his family.” After he had looked at the place we went out on the front porch to talk. He told me, “You should have asked first.” I said, “Yes I know, and I’m sorry I didn’t, but they showed up with no notice saying they had no where else to go. What would you have done?”
Sometimes it is better to ask forgiveness than permission.
Why are Bernice and Luann are so enraptured by Piro? The guy has, to use an overworked phrase, more issues than Time Magazine. He is seriously broken. I kind of get Bernice’s perspective – she wants to FIX him. But she needs to keep in mind that she is not a therapist yet. And she also has more than a few issues. As to Luann, she’s even less qualified than Bern. And why, in the name of all that is holy, would anyone their age want to tie themselves to a guy who is obviously going to be nothing but trouble? I’ve had a few “Piros” in my life, and I can verify that they offer nothing, and take everything – your compassion, your love, your desire to help, your self-esteem, and sometimes even your money – until you have nothing left to give. Then they go looking for someone else to drain. They’re emotional vampires.
cue the dark ambient music with discordant overtones which, although broadly tonal, is inflected with chromatic and polytonal passages representing the archetypal example of a florid, melodramatic style without being interpreted as an overly heavy-handed metaphor within the context of the thematic material a bit on the frenetic and frantic side with interesting rhythmic devices which seem to counterpoint the surrealism of the underlying metaphor utilizing a novel imaging technique known as positron emission tomography and the spontaneous nondenominational conceptions by expansively recontextualizing liminal narratives of colonic hydrotherapy with a twinge of giddiness
No wonder he had to drop out of school. He has had a full time job taking care of these kids. This guy is in crisis mode. Poor Piro! They need to get Frank and Nancy involved at this point. They will have some ideas on how to help this family.
Okay, one of those girls seriously looks like Bernice when she was younger, only without the glasses. And the other girl seriously looks like Shannon, only with freckles. Yes, I do have questions!
So far of the comments I have read, nobody is saying boring, move on…..Like every day comments about the strip being boring and moving on, which is so boring and annoying. But there will be after the drama is revealed.
Luann is backing off??? Impossible!! It’s more likely she peeked through the door window, saw the Piro horde, and decided to get out of there! On the other hand, she could very well be in the kitchen getting out paper and crayons.
Someone said Bernice is much more mature than Luann. I suspect that we’ll find out Luann has the edge on Bernice here. She already told Bern it isn’t a competition and left her to be “alone” with Piro. When Luann sees the kids and the situation, she ‘ll step in, like a responsible adult, to handle the kids while Piro and Bern discuss his situation. And I’m thinking that the kids might open up enough to Luann to clue her in on what’s happening.
Rhetorical_Question 29 days ago
Siblings?
angelolady Premium Member 29 days ago
(Gasp) Wow, Luann!!!
chaosed2 29 days ago
OMG! How DARE Greg and Karen do this! They haven’t fleshed out multiple mundane details about the backstory here before hand! THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE!
Plus the so called ‘twins’ are not drawn at the exactly same height so the drawing is lazy too.
Tomorrow I’ll complain about the story not moving along fast enough either.
Pointspread 29 days ago
Shut the door, Bernice, and talk to him outside before the whole tribe comes in.
reedkomicks Premium Member 29 days ago
6 Kids!! No wonder he’s depressed!
beb01 29 days ago
Didn’t someone suggest babysitting? I’m sure someone did. They just won the internet today!
If he expects Bernice to babysit his sibs that’s a lot of darn gall. If he’s rescuing them his mother and is waiting for Child Protective Services to pick them up…. that would be the responsible thing to do.
Sadly, since passive-aggression is the norm for this strip I’m betting on babysitting with Bernice not refusing his unreasonable request.
ProclaimLiberty 29 days ago
Questions? Well, yeah! Are these youngsters all Piro’s siblings? Or are some of them more distant family members? Are all of them under his care, because no one else is able or willing to care for them? And are they all standing there with him because they have all just become homeless and in need of shelter? Are these what have preoccupied Piro for all the time he’s been out of touch recently? Is Piro standing there with them to ask Bernice if she can do anything or recommend anything to help? Where is cousin Tara? Is there any help possible from her side of the family? Is Bernice about to be faced with the need to point out that she herself is living as more or less a dependent on a family not her own, and that she doesn’t have resources of her own with which to help a situation like Piro’s? These nine or ten questions ought to cover the territory as a start. There may be more once they are answered.
snsurone76 29 days ago
Have you been a “busy” boy, Piro?? ;-)
wallylm 29 days ago
..and that’s how they all became the Piro Bunch!
mr_sherman Premium Member 29 days ago
This is gonna be KEWL!
kenhense 29 days ago
Well Luann handled her situation appropriately.
kenhense 29 days ago
Bern – Just in case you thought you knew anything….
9thCapricorn 29 days ago
Well Bern. Something you’ll have to involve Nancy and Frank. You can’t just let them in and stay the night.
Ruth Brown 29 days ago
Trying too hard, Bernice.
the dorf 29 days ago
Wow, they all look so sad. I wonder if they’re Piro’s siblings or kids?
luann1212 29 days ago
Ah Saturday misdirection all the better to spend the weekend not thinking about all the bad news (pick your poison, but pray and/or beat wishes to our fellow citizens out in LA. This is the great LA fire, but I worry about worse ones in the future) and wonder where this plot twist is going. I think a reasonable connection can be made with Bern’s personal situation, where her brother has his kids by his Filipino wife, who is home in Phillipines taking care of her ailing father, while the kids are at Bern’s. Why isn’t she being shown with her nieces or nephews by the way? But Piro has exponentially a more serious situation than ,Bern does, and who is that that older kid? Oh let the speculation begin.
nightflight 29 days ago
We have the aura of tragic or sad killing this storyline right from scratch. Happy campers they are not.
wfhite 29 days ago
Are they all homeless?
Mordock999 Premium Member 29 days ago
BAH!
Luann had BETTER start asking Piro some gosh-darn “Personal questions!”
Because THAT bunch, standing on her parent’s doorstep seems to be looking for a place to stay.
And Lu, should wake up her mom and pop over this thing too! ;-)
locake 29 days ago
Bernice is not comfortable around kids at all. What does Piro expect from her? Whatever he expects from her, he will not get.
Rhetorical_Question 29 days ago
Has Tara Starr met her new cousins? Will Walter “Piro” Starr provide answers next Monday?
locake 29 days ago
Piro knows that Bernice is only staying with the DeGroots and has no home at this time. He certainly would not expect any housing help from Bernice. He should show up at Tara’s place. she is actually related to Piro.
outonalimb 29 days ago
The largest of Piro’s presumed sibs looks a lot like “stapler” Howie to me. But perhaps he’s just a doppelganger.
Wilkins068 29 days ago
I’m wonderin where th other three are. With the other three he’s got enough to field a team
Sanspareil 29 days ago
Ahh the Pirotechnics begin!!
blunebottle 29 days ago
OK, I’ve got questions. ‘To be continued’ hook.
Shirl Summ Premium Member 29 days ago
There’s a story there for sure.
thight1944 29 days ago
There’s Chandler’s law, which is if the plot is going nowhere have a guy come through the door with a gun – or at least something shocking that moves the plot off dead center.
papajim545 29 days ago
He’s been busy
OneTime59 29 days ago
Kids, meet Aunt Bernice. Call Toni n Brad to get some advice on how to handle drop-offs. See everybody next week and possibly the week after.
Ichabod Ferguson 29 days ago
Why wouldn’t he explain this over the phone before showing up?
Ignatz Premium Member 29 days ago
None of them look like him, so I don’t think they’re half-siblings or his kids. If they are related, they obviously don’t have the same mother.
baskate_2000 29 days ago
Uh oh
morningglory73 Premium Member 29 days ago
I hope he is there to ask advice not dump those people on her. Making them her responsibility. That would be shameless. And stupid. It isn’t her house.
ddl297 29 days ago
Same-sex marriage to the tall one (look adult to me), who has custody of his 5 kids from a previous opposite-sex marriage. There! All explained! You’re welcome!
comic reader 22 28 days ago
Based on the drawing, there are six daddies represented in this group. Maybe someone should try to find them.
MLBachorik 28 days ago
Heaven forbid she’d be honest.
kingbrlee Premium Member 28 days ago
Let me think……. Piro’s a kid walker, and one of them needs to use the restroom.
miztrniceguy 28 days ago
Ho boy…
Aladar30 Premium Member 28 days ago
There are no questions because the situation is clear, but still Bernice is trying too hard to looks calm. Luann’s involvement seems inevitable, for now I’m really happy to see how respectful she is by giving to Piro and Bernice space. She was right, this is not a competition, but a rescue to a friend in need.
Bruce1253 28 days ago
I had this happen in real life. I answered a knock on my door on a Saturday, there stood my son, his wife, two kids, and she is obviously pregnant. My son said, “Dad, we lost our jobs, our house and we go no where else to go.” “Come in, we’ll find a way to make it work.” I put the two kids in my bedroom, I move to the back bedroom, moved the tables and chairs out of the dining room and put a rented queen size bed in there.
A week later the landlord showed up asking, “Bruce, I’m hearing somethings about additional people?” “Come in, let me introduce you to my son and his family.” After he had looked at the place we went out on the front porch to talk. He told me, “You should have asked first.” I said, “Yes I know, and I’m sorry I didn’t, but they showed up with no notice saying they had no where else to go. What would you have done?”
Sometimes it is better to ask forgiveness than permission.
Cornelius Robinson Premium Member 28 days ago
The results are in. You are the mother!
MissionLDB 28 days ago
This should make for an interesting week.
Ellis97 28 days ago
Yeah, who are those guys with you? Some family members we have never heard of?
GirlGeek Premium Member 28 days ago
Oh boy…
RSH 28 days ago
Bern is in denial about what is before her right now; this is new territory for her.
timzsixty9 28 days ago
this is where Luann will shine….she’s GREAT with kids!
Lord Hearteater 28 days ago
Tuh-WIST!
ridenslide65 28 days ago
Bern, as oblivious as ever
Milady Meg 28 days ago
They all have his smile.
ezekialrage777 28 days ago
Well, I definitely didn’t expect that! Great twist!
BJShipley1 28 days ago
Well, that was unexpected.
nightflight 28 days ago
We’ve come a long way, maybe too far, since high school graduation. Not much fun. End of the line, perhaps?
hoffquotes2 28 days ago
One looks like Bern I guess it’s like the old joke when the women says, I don’t have any children, that I know of heh heh
hoffquotes2 28 days ago
Time to join Shannon
ahnk_2000 28 days ago
I liked how Bernice did the hair fluff just before opening the door.
imoty2004 28 days ago
Why are Bernice and Luann are so enraptured by Piro? The guy has, to use an overworked phrase, more issues than Time Magazine. He is seriously broken. I kind of get Bernice’s perspective – she wants to FIX him. But she needs to keep in mind that she is not a therapist yet. And she also has more than a few issues. As to Luann, she’s even less qualified than Bern. And why, in the name of all that is holy, would anyone their age want to tie themselves to a guy who is obviously going to be nothing but trouble? I’ve had a few “Piros” in my life, and I can verify that they offer nothing, and take everything – your compassion, your love, your desire to help, your self-esteem, and sometimes even your money – until you have nothing left to give. Then they go looking for someone else to drain. They’re emotional vampires.
sueb1863 28 days ago
Uh oh. Looks like he’s about to ask a BIG favor.
oakie9531 28 days ago
cue the dark ambient music with discordant overtones which, although broadly tonal, is inflected with chromatic and polytonal passages representing the archetypal example of a florid, melodramatic style without being interpreted as an overly heavy-handed metaphor within the context of the thematic material a bit on the frenetic and frantic side with interesting rhythmic devices which seem to counterpoint the surrealism of the underlying metaphor utilizing a novel imaging technique known as positron emission tomography and the spontaneous nondenominational conceptions by expansively recontextualizing liminal narratives of colonic hydrotherapy with a twinge of giddiness
eladee AKA Wally 28 days ago
No wonder he had to drop out of school. He has had a full time job taking care of these kids. This guy is in crisis mode. Poor Piro! They need to get Frank and Nancy involved at this point. They will have some ideas on how to help this family.
Ideafire 28 days ago
Does Bernice become Maria, or Mary Poppins?
mindjob 28 days ago
Shocker!
DaBump Premium Member 28 days ago
CLIFFHANGER!
J. Scarbrough 28 days ago
Okay, one of those girls seriously looks like Bernice when she was younger, only without the glasses. And the other girl seriously looks like Shannon, only with freckles. Yes, I do have questions!
Lord King Wazmo Premium Member 28 days ago
I like the dude in the back who just got off the boat from Estonia.
Susan123 28 days ago
So far of the comments I have read, nobody is saying boring, move on…..Like every day comments about the strip being boring and moving on, which is so boring and annoying. But there will be after the drama is revealed.
Susan123 28 days ago
It kind of reminds me of what baby opossums look like when clinging to their mother.
comic reader 22 28 days ago
Luann is backing off??? Impossible!! It’s more likely she peeked through the door window, saw the Piro horde, and decided to get out of there! On the other hand, she could very well be in the kitchen getting out paper and crayons.
Otis Rufus Driftwood 28 days ago
How’s that for a cliffhanger?
forestkat2015 28 days ago
fosters?
htieiri 28 days ago
Unfortunately, we’re going to have to wait until next week to find out. Same Bat-time, same channel!
Barrelmaker13 Premium Member 28 days ago
Someone said Bernice is much more mature than Luann. I suspect that we’ll find out Luann has the edge on Bernice here. She already told Bern it isn’t a competition and left her to be “alone” with Piro. When Luann sees the kids and the situation, she ‘ll step in, like a responsible adult, to handle the kids while Piro and Bern discuss his situation. And I’m thinking that the kids might open up enough to Luann to clue her in on what’s happening.
The Quiet One 28 days ago
Uhh, just a few questions.
locake 28 days ago
Piro is there to propose marriage to Bernice, kids are part of the deal. lol
MuddyUSA Premium Member 28 days ago
This is a cliff hanger….
mfought 28 days ago
does that girl have twins in her jacket?
GaryCooper 28 days ago
Piro has six kids?
sjsczurek 28 days ago
This strip is starting to get a little too heavy.
WilliamVollmer 28 days ago
Nice try Bernice at trying to keep your questioning face hid. You do want to know who the five kids are, and, who is the dude in the purple jacket.
raybarb44 28 days ago
I would have a few…..
Rhetorical_Question 28 days ago
Howie is standing behind Piro?
thudsonz 28 days ago
Well, this just got interesting…
rbrt6956 28 days ago
Back story comes to life. We got a hint in his last appearance of his family being a mess. Continued Monday.
PAR85 28 days ago
She may not have questions, but I do.
lnrokr55 28 days ago
I knew this was going to take a weird turn! Is it gonna get real in here??? Hmmmm….. :/?
Wizard of Ahz-no relation 28 days ago
since B lives with someone else they can’t have the piros move in
HodgeElmwood 28 days ago
Well, he did once tell her about some family drama and siblings, I’m not sure how many weeks back.
Kr-perry Premium Member 28 days ago
I CAN’T WAIT UNTIL MONDAY!!!
Joe1962 28 days ago
Bernice told him months ago that she would help him with is siblings.
Asharah 28 days ago
Bernice, get Luann back. She knows how to deal with mass quantities of kids.
eddi-TBH 28 days ago
His posse.
nightflight 28 days ago
Bring back something good like Tiffany in the shower, or Elvira, Mistress of the Dark anywhere she wants.
Rhetorical_Question 28 days ago
Goto May 18, 2023 strip. Tara Starr is related to his mother.
snowedin, now known as Missy's mom 27 days ago
WTF?
[Unnamed Reader - 14b4ce] 26 days ago
Me,I like THE BIG FAT SURPRISE!!