Panel 1 is why I limit myself to 1 or 2 drinks these days.
"You're not a bad person. You're a terrific person. You're my favorite person. But every once in a while... you can be a real ****". -Bill, Kill Bill, Vol 2.
Panel 1 is why I limit myself to 1 or 2 drinks these days.
And Lillan proves once again how awesome she is.
You got that right, Lillian in her wisdom knew what to do with Amanda .
I thought that Amanda was going to continue to be angry drunk, bur she sure looks like She’s going to cry right now.
nah, panel four shows she’s still angry, but MAYBE not enough to still make a scene of it..
nah, panel four shows that she’s still angry… but maybe not angry enough to keep causing a scene…
And she still has tears in her eyes. So, still angry drunk and on the verge of crying? Seems plausible.
Oh, I meant that She was still going to be a angry yelling drunk.
Some people cry out of anger, without any other emotion (except perhaps frustration) involved.
Indeed. Being clear to a confused kid about the difference between current behavior, and overall worth, is really important.
It also helps teach them that admitting to doing something wrong is not admitting to being a bad person. And can lay the groundwork for admitting that a person who seems to be doing things right and acting like a good person should act can still be a bad person — most recent example I can think of being Bill Cosby.
But yeah, being able to separate character from circumstances or temporary actions, that’s important.
So long as nothing crazy happens between here & the cafe, I’d say Lillian just defused that situation in a most efficient and effective manner. Plus she managed to throw some stern yet caring reassurance/warning to Amanda, which is pretty tricky on the fly in that sort of scenario (not her first rodeo though)
Worst case scenario as of now: heathers dad pops up & continues his angry venting which leads to increased stress/embarrassment for Amanda, which leads to puking on his shoes (which, bright side, would get a substantial amount of the alcohol in her system out before things get even worse)
Again, that’s current worse case scenario (unless somehow in the ruckus Todd forgets Selkie, then this’ll get really messed up)
Woo hypothetical situations on the comic that’s been up less than an hour!
Somehow I think Kenneth isn’t going to try arguing with Lillian. I mean, would you? Even on the printed page here, her voice comes across as Essence of Calm Adult Authority. Moreover, she is quite obviously initiating the only sensible course of action.
Well; if you’re going to get her sobered up, you’d best give her peanuts (unless she’s allergic), potato chips, french fries or some other starchy/fatty foods and a large-size lightly caffeinated soft drink. (IIRC, supposedly* the oil in those foods will keep the alcohol not already in her system from being absorbed by the small intestine; and the starch will help to break down the alcohol already in her system faster.)
*This is my late-1970s drunk-driving-prevention propaganda knowledge talking, so I could be *very* wrong. Please feel free to correct me if I am.
It’s also because alcohol dries you out. That hangover you get if you drink too hard? Yeah, that’s because your brain is dehydrated. Greasy food is best in these situations. Not that if you eat a bunch of cheese fries you can just go drink a keg alone, food, even soaking up the alcohol can only do so much. You still need some common sense and wisdom here. But it helps.
So you’re not wrong reynard, you’re mostly right. Amanda needs food of any kind asap, but fast food is her friend right now.
As I’ve said before, I’m not a drinker. (The only “beer” I’ll drink is Root Beer.) So my knowledge of alcoholic beverages and their effects is pretty abstract.
Don’t give Ginger Beer a pass, try it! Like Phosphates, cream soda, (and also Creame soda) and Saspirella, taste of a bygone age, … Before Pepsi, Coke, and the Dew took over the market.
I’ve had Ginger beer and sarsaparilla (they’re okay, basically stronger versions of ginger ale and root beer), but they’re *very* expensive where I live (upwards of $10 for a four-pack of 6 oz. bottles at a specialty candy/soft drinks store), so I can’t afford to have them very often.
In Venice, a tourist friend of mine ordered me a ‘cream-soda’; vanilla, light cream, and seltzer, … Very fun, tasty, so VERY not what I thought I was getting. Tasty ‘though.
Thanks for this information! I have only recently (past few years — I’m 37 but wasn’t interested until lately) started drinking, and while I don’t drink much and don’t intend to ever get drunk or get a hangover, I am glad to know some ways to help should my friends get to that state.
I have never gotten a hangover. The things I’ve learned was from talking to people that go get drunk to hangover level. Which as my other posts have shown, I have had plenty of access to. I often joke that to prevent a hangover next time, use a vacuum now.
Hmm, the last time I got drunk, we were drinking and then having a Mario Kart battle with each other. I lost hard. It seems that I decide that the best way to brake is to ignore the brake entirely and scream at the gas to slow down as I hit it harder. I am a goofy drunk that can’t drive worth a damn but is intelligent to know that driving a car in real life in that state is a very bad idea. It’s good to know.
Starchy foods yes, but you’d better go with juice instead of soda. Carbonation increases pressure in the stomach, which helps to force alcohol into the bloodstream via the stomach lining.
My drunk-driving-prevention propaganda said caffeinated soft drink because alcohol is a depressant (that much I know is true) and the small amount would counteract that effect. But since Amanda is too young to drive anyway, I suppose that fruit juice would be the better choice.
Do you mean the “Wide Awake Drunk” state? That comes from the caffeine, rather than the carbonation, and I don’t think a soda would really have enough effect.
From what I’ve read, that’s more a mask anyway. You feel more alert, but your processing time, coordination and reaction time are all still messed up.
Yep. Now you know why I call it “propaganda”. Some of it was right, but a lot of it was (as Selkie would say) “craps”; and I’m still not entirely sure which is which.
Naw. Toast, lots of water, and ibuprofen. Anything fried is really a bad idea—unless you want her to puke.
Puking could be useful here. Though the only true way to get sober is time. I’m thinking lessen the effects in the long run.
“That’s not juice, that’s wine, which you all have long since been taught is illegal for you to drink until the age of majority, right?”
At Amanda’s age, I was never taught it was illegal until I hit the right age. My mom, who was a drinker and her second husband, an alcoholic just told me I wouldn’t like the taste and it would make me sick. And my mom made sure to always have an alternative to alcohol to ensure that I wouldn’t be tempted. To this day, if I do drink, I also have lots of non-alcoholic drinks as an alternative to anyone around me, and as a breather so I don’t just have alcohol for a choice. And that’s a big if anyway as I almost never drink.
My uncle told me I wouldn’t like it, then let me have a sip of his beer, which proved he was right. I didn’t find out WINE could actually taste GOOD until I was 21.
And, half a century later, I still don’t like beer.
Oh I HATE beer. The stench always makes me sick. My drinks of choice are Rum, Mead, or Blackberry Brandy. If I’m going to drink, I want something I find tastes appealing, not something I have to build a liking for. That’s not getting an acquired taste, that’s Stockholm Syndrome.
Are you thinking of beer in general? There are a lot of different types and varying qualities. Mass-produced pilsners are not the end-all be-all of beers. (I myself prefer a good stout.)
I’ve smelled many beers. Ales, lagers, stouts, pilsners. As soon as that hit of hops and grains hit my nose I find myself retching. The beer family just doesn’t work for me.
Hops means bitter and I don’t like bitter things. My friends took me on an entire outing to try as many beers as possible and see if I couldn’t hit one that I liked, but both hoppy (bitter) and malty (sickeningly greasy mouthfeel) turn me off.
I did find a sour beer (Geuze) that I can at least finish a glass of, though I still wouldn’t say I like it (though it was quite a relief after all the rest). Meads are okay. I have yet to find a wine that I like enough to drink a glass of.
I find Tequila (the whole lick-sip-bite ritual) to be interesting, though that may be more for the company (my cousin) than for the drink itself. Rum is okay in mixes. Whiskey is harsh but one of those “I pride myself on being able to drink this” kind of things (not that I’d go for very harsh drinks, just baseline whiskey). Vodka is off-putting but I understand it’s supposed to be the alcohol with the least taste?
Gin smells like Pine-Sol and I pretty much gave up after it ruined one of my favorite drinks (orange-pineapple — I thought it was a sure choice but with gin in the mix I couldn’t even finish the glass). Still thinking I’ll try Bombay Sapphire at some point.
Had an Everclear apple pie thing once that was delicious and didn’t taste of alcohol at all. My brother has pointed out that this must’ve been pretty weak Everclear for me to hold this opinion.
I’ve tried whipped-cream Vodka, which was… weird. Peppermint Schnapps, which was good in cocoa. Got some spiced apple cider in the fridge which is decent on its own and good in mixes with fruit juice or even pop like ginger ale.
In all of that… I don’t think I could count off a whole hand worth of drinks I would seek out to drink, as opposed to put up with. One of the reasons I keep trying is that I want to be able to easily order a variety of drinks to enjoy time with friends who are also drinking.
But the thing is, alcohol HAS to have variants that taste good without the things that alcohol does to your brain. Because not everybody drinks to get drunk, or even buzzed, yet the whole world drinks alcohol regularly. It can’t be just trying to down a bunch to affect your brain and hope you don’t taste it.
If you’re looking for a drink, try brandy, especially my favorite, blackberry brandy. The first sip was a very STRONG taste of blackberries, and then the rest mellowed out and it tasted like pure blackberries with that alcohol taste under the surface. I found it really quite enjoyable.
I’m told that Sake can be had without fear of a hangover. Also, they supposedly taste different depending on the type of rice used.
At a young age I asked my dad what beer was like, he offered to let me try a sip and see. I said it tasted nasty, his response, “its an acquired taste” my response “if it tastes nasty, why would you want to acquire it in the first place?” Though I do now enjoy a responsible beer and even homebrew because I like a good beer. So I guess I got my answer.
My dad used to give me a sip out of his wineglass every time he poured himself one, even as young as 5 or 6. I always loved the taste. For a while after turning 19, red wine was all I drank. Especially after that one vodka incident….
I was told it was illegal pretty early, I think when I was 7 and allowed a taste of beer? But mainly I was told it was illegal because I would be taken into the liquor store and it was illegal for me to *touch* it.
As for the rest, I’m apparently sensitive to the taste of alcohol and even stuff that people tell me is light on it I can usually taste and that ruins it for me. I can tolerate some things, but the only thing I’ve tried that I’d regularly drink is a very sweet mead. I’d still rather just have a soda though. Oddly, I love the smell of beer, except extra bitter ones.
question is: HAVE they been taught that? i really don’t see their school teaching that, especially that YOUNG, and i don’t think the orphanage would either, they sure as heck wouldn’t allow any alcohol on the premises, so there wouldn’t BE any influence for the kids to emulate, and i’m sure they don’t get to watch movies where it is blatantly obvious that the actors are drinking it either (ie they only get to see kid-rated movies)
Why would anyone tell a kid it’s illegal to do something?
“No, you can’t smoke a cigarette. You’re eight.” “No, you can’t have a beer, you’re eight.” “No you can’t drive the car, you’re eight.”
Has nothing to do with “legal or illegal for them to do”. It’s ME, the PARENT saying “No”. Telling the kid that it’s illegal would be acknowledging that my parental authority was not enough to keep him straight, and I needed the support of the legal system to make sure my six-year-old didn’t sneak a taste of booze.
illegal to buy, not illegal to drink. otherwise we’d round up and arrest all sensible or european parents
Ok, this arc is starting to hit me hard. With seeing my sister accidentally get drunk at the hands of an immature piece of crap babysitter, to an alcoholic stepfather (which was more of a father than my own and I still defend to this day because even drunk he still showed he cared heavily for me and my sister) this arc is starting to bring up both happy and painful memories. A hard time in life, but one best remembered.
Alcohol…..it’s as most people will tell you, something that can easily get out of hand and it does cause a lot of pain. But we must remember the person under the alcohol, whether they’re a young child that doesn’t know what she’s doing, or an alcoholic in his thirties you’re sitting in a police station waiting because your mom is talking to the cops and trying to get him out after his fifth DUI, nothing is clean cut when it comes to booze.
*hugs*
Thank you. Though I do believe what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. You know, he was really a nice guy. He was never given a real chance growing up, where I was ultimately. Despite his flaws, he never insulted me or my sister, he never told us that he wished he was never born. He involved us in every other decision he made even though we were just kids at the time.
The funny thing is he gave me his comic book collection that kickstarted my love of comics. Among them? Ironman’s iconic story Demon in the Bottle. So he was in a way teaching me how to cope with his alcoholism without realizing it.
We all have our trials, we all have to come out of the fire, we just need to make sure we come out stronger, and it’s ok to break a little. Broken people can heal, we just best not shatter from the fire.
As much as I dislike Andi. I’m hoping this won’t result in something that gets her into legal trouble. Or worse.
I don’t see that it would need to go there.
Also, I am currently questioning whether it’s even legally possible to have alcohol on a table within easy reach of children at an event where children will be present. What are the actual laws about this kind of thing?
I was wondering that from the beginning. Even if they weren’t expecting *that many* children, surely it’s not unusual for one or two to come with their parents in any given day. They should really have a stack of cups and serve the wine as requested to people, asking for ID as required by law. Why is there only red or white wine in a plastic cup or bottled water anyway? At least the water would be in cups as well… And typically events would at least have some sort of lemon lime soda and some sort of cola, if not juice, right? Is it an art gallery thing to just have wine and water? The whole thing is very strange.
Or even if they normally got no children at all, teenagers may go to art galleries and can’t drink either. What do they normally only get people over 21? Maybe they’re asking for IDs of younger looking people but why even take the chance that someone would just grab it, whether intentionally or because they were very naive and thought it was juice like Amanda because *it was just sitting there, apparently for anybody to consume*?
I’ve worked as a bartender at events like this and you’re absolutely right, one should never have alcoholic drinks pre-poured and just sitting there. Soda, water and juice boxes for the kids, sure, but alcohol should always be kept behind the bar/counter/table, under the server’s direct control at all times. What Amanda just did would probably be considered legally the two bartenders’ fault (at least in Ontario, where I live). They would both be fined (like a LOT), possibly even charged, given that Amanda is so young, and definitely, definitely fired for being this lax. And rightfully so.
Not the game station! D:
And the professional is taking charge…
At least Lillian tries to make up for her mistakes with Amanda in the past. She tries very hard with Amanda and at the very least TRIED to make time for her and discuss things with her. I think after noticing all the bad behavior from Amanda and confronting her about it, Amanda probably made some statement like, “What do you care? You just ignored me when the Sandersons brought me back for some stupid fish!” and Lillian probably realized the damage she had inadvertently caused a small child and felt guilt and remorse for it and has since tried her hardest not to neglect and ignore Amanda. I get the feeling she’s personally invested in Amanda and there’s got to be a significant reason behind it… and to me, her feeling guilt over neglecting Amanda’s needs in the first place and possibly contributing to her poor behavior makes the most sense. I mean, even when she goes to school to talk to other parents or teachers about ‘her charge’ she defends Amanda as someone who is not just a ‘bad seed’ because she knows the significance behind it all and again, is personally invested because of her prior involvement in said bad behavior budding in the first place. I dunno, that’s just my take on it.
Also, my GOD these staff members. “Stop being bad.” Are you freaking serious? A kid mistakes something as juice because of YOUR stupidity in not saying what it was and you blame them? You can say alcohol, it’s not a dirty swear word. Not only that, you CONTINUE to fail in fixing YOUR mistake and let her drink 3 more and further escalate the situation by flailing your arms around and calling a child bad. Like, are you an idiot or something? Snatch it away from her! To hell with what that looks like, you’re already in deep shit and possibly fired for your initial incompetence, at least own up to your mistakes and try to fix them rather than shove the blame onto a freaking kid you sorry sacks. No one is going to say you assaulted a child by taking away her cup filled with alcohol. You’ve only furthered your problem by not doing anything and letting her drink even more. Sure, you’re gonna be in a hell of a lot of trouble once you snatched away the cup and have to explain WHY you snatched away the cup… but at least you look a little less idiotic for it. Or at the very least they forget the fact that you snatched away the cup because A 9 YEAR OLD JUST DRANK ALCOHOL and that’s sort of the more pressing matter than a stranger accidentally touching her and aggressively removing a potentially very dangerous item from said 9 year old. But no, let’s just continue to flail our arms around until she drinks enough to get alcohol poisoning because we don’t know what common sense is.
(Note that I’m not saying she could get alcohol poisoning from 3 tiny cups, but at the rate of action the staff members were going she could’ve drank the whole box while they submissively stood on the side lines waiving their arms and calling her a bad girl.)
That second frame is seriously something I think Amanda needed to hear. So I am behind Lillian here. Amanda needs to hear that she’s not bad, but her choices thus far have been. She needs that reassurance that no matter what, she can change and make better choices. Whether Lilian feels guilt or some deeper connection, she has been impressive thus far and I suspect will continue to impress. She is showing great wisdom.
Now for the numbskull twins, what will be funny is if a cop comes in after all this and finds out they made alcohol easy for children to access. A bar near here got in trouble for doing just that with teenagers and it got fined so hard that it closed down. I can only imagine the pain those two could go through in this situation.
You’re right about the gallery attendants, of course. From the little we’ve seen of them, they come across as artsy / hipster / bohemian types. It looks like they have zero experience in dealing with kids (like, neither of them ever even did any babysitting), and don’t even like them. It’s certainly never occurred to them that their own childhood experiences might be relevant; perhaps childhood is a time of life they’ve both worked hard at forgetting. There are people in this world, I’ve met them, for whom kids are just weird alarming beings from another planet.
I do not know about the legalities where the comic is set, of course, but speaking for my home state, to serve liquor at ANY public function requires certification, and, yes, ID checking. There are recommended set-ups so that nobody can just grab, and IIRC one of the requirements is that it’s pretty much pour-on-demand; that is, you can pre-pour half a dozen or so to have it ready to go, but you can’t pour two dozen and have them sitting there, nor can they be so close to the edge that a child could make a grab.
Doesn’t mean everybody is smart, and I’d definitely have to say those two servers are probably going to be looking for new employment doublequick if their supervisor’s noticed this; the penalties for serving the underaged can be visited upon the facility as well as the individual employees (and often are when law enforcement is looking to make an example of someone). The fact that they stood there gaping and using just their mouths instead of even trying to pull the cups away from her reach (so that she couldn’t get more than one, say) …
Yeah, I’m not impressed. But I’m a wine-maker by trade and HAVE to know the legalities, if I want to be permitted to keep my business operational!
Sorry but gotta disagree on the drink servers being at fault here. Amanda is the one who grabbed the wine after being explicitly told it wasn’t juice. Yet again Amanda’s impulsive behavior and belief she can do whatever she wants and get away with it led to a bad situation. I doubt these (likely volunteer) staffers had any kind of training on what to do if a kid comes up and starts getting wasted.
Setting aside how incredibly unbelievable it remains that Amanda would drink one let alone three cups of alcohol that fast (which frankly continues to be ABSOLUTELY ridiculous and story breaking IMO), what are they supposed to do? Physically grab her? Yeah THAT will go over well. Quickly swipe all the alcohol off the table onto the ground or something?
Yes Amanda is a kid so the level of blame she can be held to is lower than an adult, but this is still HER making bad decisions. I sincerely hope there are genuine consequences this time, and that Andi, perhaps, actually steps up and takes responsibility. Up until the Amanda/Andi arc of late I’ve been a real big fan of the comic, but the continued drama and lack of responsibility by both characters is REALLY starting to wear on me. I mean I STILL can’t believe that Amanda was allowed to lash out at Todd the way she did, that Andi has yet to step up and defend Todd and his not looking for her because of the HORRIBLE AND TRUELY AWFUL decision that Andi and her mother made. If we are to have sympathy for Andi, to see her as a redeemable character and not a villain and terrible person, she can’t possibly continue to let Todd be allowed to be treated by his own daughter as if he were some sort of horrible monster. Its beyond ridiculous. I could probably go on ranting for hours at this point, but I’ll leave it at this: If Andi and Amanda moved to Madagascar at this point I think the comic would be FAR better off for it.
There’s one explanation to why Amanda is drinking as much wine as she can. She’s angry, she takes her anger out on others right? Well given the reaction she’s getting, she must realize that they aren’t supposed to give it to her. So she could be drinking it out of spite. She’s not likely going to allow Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum tell her what to think or do. So while she might not like the taste, she’s showing them up.
As for Andi, I’ve made it clear I feel she crumbles under pressure. Telling Amanda even a fraction of what happened would put pressure on her, which would make her crumble. She’s not strong enough yet. Mind you, I agree with you, it’s not right she’s doing nothing really to point out it wasn’t Todd’s fault she was given away. But we know she’s much like an overly dry cookie.
Let’s not be silly. If Andi and Amanda moved to Madagascar, there wouldn’t be a story for the comic to tell. This comic is about Selkie, and one of the major factors in her life is that her worst enemy has turned out to be her sister.
What Lillian just said here pretty much sums up what I see as the basic theme of Selkie, beginning to end. Yes, Amanda has been making some very bad decisions, but decisions can change. People can learn to make better ones.
It’s important that we (and Selkie) eventually come to see Amanda as a real human being, not the faceless monster she originally appeared to be. Because, people always ARE real people. Always.
There is plenty of drama and interesting situations in this comic without Andi and Amanda. Its up to Dave, of course, to decide the direction the comic goes and what story he wants to tell, but to say that the comic NEEDS her in order to tell a story is just not true. Without her it might not be the same story, but again there is PLENTY of story (the whole Sarnothi thing ALONE is enough of a story) to be told without either of them.
The servers are absolutely at fault here. The wine should not have been in cups on the table in the first place. It should have been with them, behind the table, where only the servers had access to it, to be served only once proper ID procedures were completed. That’s the most basic rule of bartending. Control your inventory. If it’s just sitting there, then anyone can just walk up and take it as Amanda did (and if it’s a cash bar, that lost inventory comes out of your pay). Amanda just didn’t know any better. It’s not her fault she thought it was juice, even after being told it wasn’t: she’s nine years old. These two clowns are at fault, because it is literally their job to control who gets booze and who doesn’t, and they just…didn’t.
She didn’t know any better? She was told ITS NOT JUICE. She grabbed it and drank it anyway. And its highly doubtful the servers decided how the drinks would be set up or were given instructions on what to do if an unexpected herd of elementary school kids would show up.
Again, Amanda is the one making the choice to do things she was told not to do.
Okay sure, I’ll grant that she made the choice to drink it after being told not to. But even so, she’s a child. This situation would not have been possible if the wine had not been placed within easy reach in the first place. As such, the servers here are still the ones at fault, at least legally.
Servers usually have some measure of control over how to set up their own table. Again, that’s their job. And if kids show up unexpectedly, that doesn’t change the fact that when serving alcohol, it’s really bad practice to leave it lying around where anyone can just reach out, take a cup and then walk off without being ID’d. That’s just sloppy, kids or no kids.
And the poop rockets fanward.
Dave, why would you censor an otherwise FANTASTIC quote in the transcript box?
If you honestly feel comfortable referencing an incredibly violent movie, but not finishing one of the most important quotes in the film, then I think you need to examine your priorities about what does and does not constitute “adult” content.
It’s mostly for consistency. I was going to make an exception for it the way I did for the Piss in Piss Christ, but I’ve specifically asked people in the past not to say the C-word, and I don’t feel it’s right to exempt myself but not others.
Well to be fair, if the F word is called an F Bomb, than the C word is best described as a tactical nuke. I think at least in american culture that’s the most offensive word ever, and unless Dave is Australian, which he is not, it might be best to just avoid it outright. I have only gotten away with it twice in my life and neither time did I use it in anything but a conversation about references to the human body.
The thing on communication is that swear words come in degrees, and everyone has the right to censor their language as they see fit. Off the net, I drop F Bombs all over the place, I’m the Evil Midnight F Bomber what F Bombs at Night, but not even in RPGs when I’m portraying a chauvinist have I casually used that word. That is the nature of language.
He can censor it because children know how to read? I mean come on, seriously?
Also way to be incredibly condescending. Maybe you should reexamine your priorities because you clearly don’t have any young children or are lacking education in that area.
Fighting/violence is unavoidable for children because they get angry and fight. It’s an inborn behavior we all have. Alternatively, curse words are things we learn. Any s**ual connotations are things that we learn as we go through adolescence. This is a story about an EIGHT year old, if you need reminding.
There is a HUGE difference in “adult” content when it comes to inborn behavior vs. learned behavior/behavior not appropriate for persons under the age of 12.
That is why physical violence is much more acceptable to display to children because they need to learn about it in order to understand. It is an experience they go through from the ages of 1 years old and up.
You wouldn’t teach a 5 year old child calculus, would you? No. You teach them numbers and simple math because that is what is age appropriate. There are certain discriminations we use based on maturity level, and Dave has EVERY RIGHT to censor words or things he feels are not appropriate for the age group his comic is geared towards.
If you don’t believe me then go on google and teach yourself some child behavior and psychology. Until then don’t tell an author what to do with their comic if you yourself can’t distinguish which adult subjects are acceptable and which are not.
Also, Keisha and Tony just kill me here. “Amanda is getting in BIG trouble for drinking that juice. It must be something really really good! I wanna try it!” Tony doesn’t even have to say anything. Lillian can read it in his eyebrows.
This is exactly how (some) kids think — entirely in character with what we’ve seen from each of them in the past. Kudos to Dave for creating such vivid characters.
“Quit being bad.”
Wow, not cool, guy. But, I guess that’s why you’re selling cheap-ass wine, and not raising a child.
“You are a wonderful person.” Is that by a vote of the populace, or just grading on the curve?
I see potential in Amanda. She’s a passionate girl interested in justice of a child’s sort. Yes, she’s been a bully thus far and overly angry. But it has some explanation. She’s been full of angry for frankly, a very good reason. And angry people are rarely rational.
Her rage is not instinctual for her. It is learned behavior. Once this works out of her, she could very much be a very wonderful person that passions also give way to generosity and love. But she has not been given a reason to yet, thus she keeps making these self-destructive choices that just makes her angrier.
Why is nobody telling the children that this juice has gone bad. So bad only adults can drink it without harm and even they only in small amounts.
Also, why didn’t Amanda notice the difference in taste? If you’re not used to wine and expecting the taste of unspoiled juice, wine tastes disgustingly sour and tart.