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I have to say, it is becoming harder and harder to dislike the Dad

Yeah, I totally agree with that. Just the fact that he’s putting off work to spend some extra time with his son shows that despite their past, he’s trying to make an effort.

Another thing is the fact that until now, we’ve only really heard Reggie’s view of what type of person his Father is.

Also, a lot of it could be reggie’s mothers side for all we know. I dont recall which side his scary aunt was from. His father may simply have been too busy for actually trying hard, and the everything else critical may have been the mother, which I’ve asked about before.

Also @ Jackie, hope things get better man

I definitely had the impression from earlier in the comic that Reggie’s family were, to some extent, “high society” types, like the way he and his sister speak and have a kind-of haughty manner at times; if Dad is a sort-of self-made guy who happened to “marry up”, maybe he’s more your average guy in how he comes across and it’s the mother’s side that are the real Machiavellian power-hungry ones… just spitballing!

Although back when there was the gravestone issue Reggie wanted to sort out, I seem to recall it was the Boothe family that were mentioned, with some implication they were “important” people(?), so maybe my previous post is based on misremembering!

We’ll have to wait to see how he handles the revelation of who Reggie is interested in. There are many ways it could be avoided… Reggie might not “come clean”, could continue with the “it’s personal” bit, his sister could show up, many things. But let’s say Reggie names one of the so-called “fatties” or larger women. If Dad knows them, and I bet he does, we’ll see if Dad is so likable then.

In the last frame, Dad’s eyes have that gleam of the older generation’s vicariously experiencing the love life of the younger generation.

This feels to me a lot like there was certainly a problem, but now that Dad’s aware of the problem he’s decided he has to put an end to it.

Okay so isn’t Reggie’s Dad sort of awesome? I mean, how many Fathers would take the day off to learn more about his kid’s interests? I was under the impression they were distant, but that seems to just be Reggie’s POV.

I have a feeling he is/was distant, but is also decisive and reasonable. Realizing that talking to his kid is like pulling teeth probably tipped him off to that. But yeah, he is pretty awesome in that figuring out his problem, he’s still willing to do his utmost to have a good relationship with his kid. He’s definitely been growing on me over this arc.

I said in a previous comic that Reggie’s Dad most likely ALWAYS wanted to be a part of or show interest in his son’s life and this more or less proves that. That just leaves the question of what the hell happened with Reggie to make him think otherwise?

As for Reggie’s Dad finding out about what type of woman Reggie likes, I see him being more surprised than confused or disappointed, but still happy that his son has a potential girlfriend.

It seems more likely to me is that there was one or more points in Reggies life where his Dad wasn’t as supportive as he needed him to be in that moment, for whatever reason, and now he’s paying the cost of letting that fester.

My guess is, the dad is going to have issues with the girl’s weight.

My dad did this any time I mentioned a woman in my life. that shit eating grin is universal I guess. or maybe all dads act that way?

I had, and still have, an incredible sense of wanting my own privacy, and was shy around girls, let alone telling my family about such pursuits.

I’m older than many of you here, so I can say my Dad was raised typical for his era, and I didn’t share a lot. I sorta liked it that way.

Is this the first intergenerational chat we’re seeing of its kind in the strip? I look forward to it but I wouldn’t know how to process it in real life. (Even though in real life I did bring a girl around, she was highly approved of, and we’ve been happily together for decades.)

After seeing Mr. Boothe’s cold-ish expressions at the beginning of this exchange and the hints at the strained relationship between Reggie and his dad … I, for some reason, love the expression on Mr. Boothe’s face in the last panel. Still nervous how this convo is about to go, but pure gold with that facial expression.

Reggie’s dad might just be bad at dealing with kids. Reggie is an adult now, so Dad can deal with him more as a peer. That might be uncomfortable at the moment, but it’s a good thing for them.

Jackie’s characters allow for lots of nuance in the relationships. :)

Hmm. This could be a good thing that Reggie’s dad is doing, by demonstrating that he’s making his son a priority over his work (in which case, better late than never).

Or, he could be doing this in order to learn where his son’s weaknesses lie (under the guise of being supportive), in order to find dirt on Reggie and potentially use it to manipulate him later.

I suspect if his dad was merely busy and therefore distant in the past, but still willing to be a supportive father, then Reggie wouldn’t have such a large and obvious chip on his shoulder. Let’s not assume his dad’s intentions are benign until we have more evidence.

That’s a cold way to look at it, but it IS consistent with what Victoria’s said about how their family works.

Yes, but I’ve known people with one problem parent who had taken the primary childcare role and one busy parent, and it’s really rough for a kid to distinguish that the busy parent just isn’t available.

At this point in his career, most of the time Mr. Boothe can get away with doing what he just did. But to get here, he needed to do a *lot* of not that. I mean, even if he inherited the construction company, he’d have needed to put in a lot of time there. Either that time would be because Reggie’s grandfather knew what it took to learn how to run a company and made sure Reggie’s father did it, or because Reggie’s grandfather didn’t know how to run a company and so Reggie’s father had to bust his butt to save it.

And as every dad must, he has an impeccable shit-eating grin.

Of course, it is required to get at least a B in shit-eating grin in order to get your dad certification, along with passing grades in puns and dad jokes. And for bonus points, embarrassing the shit out of your kids when they are teenagers.

Interesting – my dad was none of the above. Colour me a bit jealous.
Mind my dad wasn’t all that bad compared to some of the horror stories I have heard about regarding others familial relationships.

Jackie, your comic has probably the most basic premise of any I read. And you imbue it with so much compelling drama and interrelationships that it is consistently among my favorites. Often my favorite. A Star Trek quote (with a little modification) comes to mind. “Live long and (begin to) prosper!”

Yeah, that’s sort of how I see [Mr. Booth, the elder’s] thoughts right now: [You’re looking into DATING somebody? Wow! What’s she like?]

From Reggie’s reports, IIRC – his Dad may act like a total jerk sometimes, but I don’t think Reggie said that his dad is a totally, heartless man. Hm.

Well, as an adult now, I can share that my dad’s view of our relationship and history is almost as divorced from mine as Reggie and his dad’s are. My dad thinks that, despite some arguments, we mostly respected each other and figured out how to make things works and I know he did the best he knew how; my perspective is that my dad is a petty tyrant in his own household, who refused to ever listen to any of the rest of us, who would simply decide which parts of a story were true and false based on whim (he would never do an ounce of research) and then lambast us for it, causing me to have some pretty severe anxiety issues in certain circumstances and also be immensely private in real life. Ever since I grew up and moved out, he would occasionally fish for a compliment, a “You were a great dad”, from me, truly expecting one, and I, trying to avoid a fight but not willing to cater to his delusion, just give him a confused look and walk off. So I can completely believe that Reggie’s dad is 100% convinced he’s always given Reggie care and attention and has been a fantastic father who expertly balanced work and family, while his son felt practically abandoned and ignored his whole life by a workaholic.

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