Gladys is one of my favorite characters in the comic, for stuff like this. She’s, in many ways, so AWFUL to Beth.
But there are also moments where you realize that like. She’s a human being. She’s not a cardboard cutout bad mom, the stuff she passes on to Beth is from her own hangups, and she really does try to have patience with her and cares. Like… in this moment, when Beth isn’t here, when neither of them have seen her in person for a while, her mom is trying SO HARD to get him to consider her. And it… DOES come from a place of love. She had stated before that she was concerned about Beth’s job prospects with homeschooling, and here’s a perfect opportunity for her to get some work experience. But she knows how her husband is so she has to do these suckup backflips to even get him to consider her.
She is trying so so hard to do something good for Beth (admittedly- something Beth didn’t even ask for because again, this is Gladys we’re talking about) and set her up to have a future. It doesn’t excuse where she fails, but this comic does an excellent job of making it clear that parents that treat their kids poorly at times can still genuinely love them.
Eeeew. Yeah. And while there’s a /plausible/ above-board reason he won’t consider his own daughter (namely, that he just had a shitty interaction with her. Which was his own fault)…
…pretty sure he wants to be icky towards them, also.
There is an additional reason for him not wanting Beth: with her at the office, he will not be able to lie about “going to work” as Beth would know, when he is or is not there. She would also be aware if there are some urgent deals he needs to take care of late in the evening. And this in of itself is probably why he will adamantly refuse.
Gladys is one of my favorite characters in the comic, for stuff like this. She’s, in many ways, so AWFUL to Beth.
But there are also moments where you realize that like. She’s a human being. She’s not a cardboard cutout bad mom, the stuff she passes on to Beth is from her own hangups, and she really does try to have patience with her and cares. Like… in this moment, when Beth isn’t here, when neither of them have seen her in person for a while, her mom is trying SO HARD to get him to consider her. And it… DOES come from a place of love. She had stated before that she was concerned about Beth’s job prospects with homeschooling, and here’s a perfect opportunity for her to get some work experience. But she knows how her husband is so she has to do these suckup backflips to even get him to consider her.
She is trying so so hard to do something good for Beth (admittedly- something Beth didn’t even ask for because again, this is Gladys we’re talking about) and set her up to have a future. It doesn’t excuse where she fails, but this comic does an excellent job of making it clear that parents that treat their kids poorly at times can still genuinely love them.
So, her dad is exclusively hiring young college age girls for front desk positions? Gee, I wonder why.
Eeeew. Yeah. And while there’s a /plausible/ above-board reason he won’t consider his own daughter (namely, that he just had a shitty interaction with her. Which was his own fault)…
…pretty sure he wants to be icky towards them, also.
There is an additional reason for him not wanting Beth: with her at the office, he will not be able to lie about “going to work” as Beth would know, when he is or is not there. She would also be aware if there are some urgent deals he needs to take care of late in the evening. And this in of itself is probably why he will adamantly refuse.
Oh snap you’re right. I hadn’t thought of that.
Oh god, this page has broken my heart on a Wednesday morning.
im sure his relationship with hannah is strictly professional, theres no way *this guy* would cheat on his wife with teenagers
Oh boy, heeeere we go.