Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for October 03, 2023

Bam! Bernice blows it and sends Piro heading for the door

No guy wants to be psychoanalyzed, Bernice. They just want a friend to talk to.

Bernice will regret using the term “your condition” for a long, long time.

.

So did Bernice forget about the horrible kiss? Why is she into Piro again?

Condition? That’s Bernice – always broad jumping to conclusions…

WOMP-WOMP-WOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMP!!

Crash & Bern.

Here’s the wind up and the pitch… Steee-rike three! You’re out!

Ooo, Shot down! Poor Bernice. Of course Walt has been seeing professional therapist so he probably has a better idea of his condition than she does.

Shot down in flames, Bern

I think he wanted to talk to her as a friend, not as his therapist.

Oh, yikes. Totally the wrong thing to say, Bernice. :(

Blew it big time. Doubtful there will be “another time” now.

Piro is not a ‘project’! Poor man.

Bernice needs therapy

I wonder who it will be who finally has what Piro needs….I’m going with Stef.

PATHETIC! Bernice Needs BIG time therapy and she cannot even recognize her biggest project ever – herself!

Bernice just turned off Piro.

Berenice you were shot down.

Well good enough. G & K have been dumbing down Luann – now it’s Bernice’s turn.

Geez, Bernice! Your condition must have something to do with narcissism.

If you want someone to open up then don’t treat them as being different.

Okay, Bernice. Illegal motion, 15 yard penalty, and you’re ejected from the game.

Geeze…with THAT approach, spinsterhood is a real possibility.

3.. 2.. 1.. Shutdown

Can we say “thirsty!”?

you can lead a drink to waterbut youmight make him horse…Nern is the answer to a question no one is asking

Bernice, you blew it. You assumed he has a “condition” based on what? That is what he dislikes. Nobody likes labels.

Now we understand why Piro disappears from the strip so often. The guy doesn’t want to be fixed, he just wants to be accepted, some stability, and he’ll work out his stuff. He’ll talk when he can trust someone to do that with, which Bernice just messed up.

It’s not about the nail, ladies.

So, Bernice is so arrogant that claims to know Piro better than either Tara or Luann, both of whom she deems incompetent to deal with Piro’s “condition”. I’m sure Piro is thrilled to hear that she thinks he has a condition of some sort. That’s just what he would really want someone to think, isn’t it? [NOT!] It ought to be deemed at least mildly surprising if he ever speaks to any of them again after being slapped with such an insult on top of a day’s worth of intrusive manipulations by Tara and Luann — though Luann’s bid for friendly banter and a shared study session was the least of them. If ever he was motivated to retreat into his own defensive isolation, he has been motivated to do so now.

Not interested.

Piro is a troubled young man who needs serious therapy. Does anyone know his background? His parentage?

Bernice’s Ignorance is a major red flag for Piro. Piro has been victim of narcissistic people who believe that they have the answers. No one can solves the Piro’s problems. Dez has the emotional intelligence to help Piro?

Way to go, Bernice.

Some people tend towards melancholy and that’s okay. Some people are introverts who function at different levels and that’s okay. If Piro’s housing problems are no longer, that a great step forward. Live and let live.

Huh!

That’s got to be one of the FASTEST “Thanks, but No Thanks,” ever recorded in the Strip.

Second only to that time Stef, brushed off (GAG) Les.

Good on You Walt, quickly divesting yourself of Bernice.

And serves Me right for “rooting” her. Never Again!

Okay Walt.

One Down, Two to Go! ;-)

Love this strip. Wish they would make it into a TV drama along the lines of “Happy Days” in the 70s.

Hey Bernice, an undergraduate psyc major is not authorized to act as a psychologist.

Luckily Piro is intelligent, he heard Bernice’s presumption and walk away. Bernice is really bad with others and she doesn’t seem to understand what she’s studying. People you see a few times and then say to you that they “Know you well” are annoying, no one likes to feel judged and you can’t openly ask someone who has traumas to tell you about it. Luann is managing her relationship with Piro a thousand times better, staying close to him for cheering him up and waiting patiently for him to want to tell her something. If Bernice doesn’t change, that “Another time” will never happen.

Correct response, Piro. Gee golly jeepers, can you imagine getting involved with someone who was constantly wanting to analyze and “fix” you? The horror…

Didn’t Bernice receive a recommendation to study law instead of psychology?

Bernice just dropped in to see what condition his condition is in.

Piro doesn’t want you, Bernice!

Psych majors can be very pushy with their opinions and desire to analyze people. It’s annoying to say the least. Run Piro!

Oh well, about half the world is male. Bernice will find her guy or he will find her.

With friends like these…

Bernice pushing the psych major (not graduate) on Piro to analyze his “condition”. Something to add to her studies. Wise of Piro to see through Bern’s facade and walk away.

she is going to make a terrible therapist.

Why have just one little old condition? Stick with Bernice and end up with a collection!

Can we move on?

You blew it. You had a chance to be his girlfriend and decided to play unlicensed therapist. YOU are the one with a condition.

Bernice, listen to your own counsel. Go talk to a therapist yourself and get one that can help you develop some humility, tact and compassion. Time for you to move back home…like NOW. (⁠☞⁠ ⁠ಠ⁠_⁠ಠ⁠)⁠☞

Physician, heal thyself.

Bernice is trying seduce Piro and keep him for herself, but he’s having none of it.

Agree here that B just destroyed her chances at friendship w/ P. At first he was happy to see her now he’s probably relieved to be leaving. Tomorrow may see the three of them looking at the closed door and (sadly, ignorantly) trying to figure what happened.

Bernice is into Piro because Luann is. I’ll bet she goes into full-on stalker mode again. I really dislike Bernice. She’s mean, arrogant, and a terrible friend.

I miss the days when the strip was about Luann and her relationships. Now she’s just a foolish punching bag with awful friends. Karen Evans has ruined the strip, IMO.

Maybe they could chat about Bernice’s ‘condition’.

She psyched him out

I think this is the most I’ve heard Piro talk since he appeared on the scene!

“No one is angrier than a woman who has been rejected in love.” -William Congreve (from “The Mourning Bride”)

There are people out there, many of them, who do believe that if a person is unlike them that person is sick in some way or other.

His condition is he’s got a star in his head. Why?

The worst part of when someone tries to fix another person is that when it does not work, they blame the injured party.

I said, I just dropped in to see what condition my condition was in

Yeah

Yeah

Oh-yeah

Piro just became my favorite character.

Bernice is highly skilled at “othering” people.

There are needy nerds who want a girl (“mother”) to tell there problems to. And after listening to the whining for a month, Bernice should be sick of it, and change her major to cosmetology.

Can someone PLEASE castrate Bernice’s ego?! All she does lately is run around telling everyone what they need without ever bothering to listen to a thing they say.

None of 3 girls understands what Piro wants. He just wants to be left alone.

Bernice has surpassed her previous record of being the most obnoxious girl on the planet. The creepy image of her sitting patting the couch for PIro to sit down and be analyzed will probably give him nightmares for years! Talk about trauma. Her need to practice medicine without a license seems to be getting out of hand – can’t she be reported or arrested?

Since all of G&K stories are about women competing with women, we need Tiffany (who is Piro’s friend) to show up this week to get him away from these wacked-out bimbos!

Ugh, I hate Bernice. She’s a terrible character, and she’s not even remotely qualified to do all of the so called “counseling” she does, under the guise of being a psychology student.

Bernice is so unaware of how others might feel, and unwisely believing that she is at a stage where she can. The sad part is that having a serious romantic relationship with a Walt/Piro would be soul-shifting for Bernice.

Typical psych major

What was Bernice expecting? The Kenny Rogers song:“pushed my soul in a deep dark hole and then I followed it inI watched myself crawlin’ out as I was a-crawlin’ inI got up so tight I couldn’t unwindI saw so much I broke my mindI just dropped in to see what condition my condition was in”

Piro could definitely tell this was a bad situation brewing! :-)

I feel like he wants a quick fix without having to do any work. Bernice admitting she doesn’t know is actually pretty mature for a college student, but if he won’t sit down and talk to her (or anyone) about this he’s never going to get better no matter how many ridiculous thrill seeking adventures he goes on. (Not sure if we’ll go this route, but this IS a common path to drug use too)

Piro, Gunther, Les, Kip, Guys got to get it together! You guys are going nuts the pond can’t that small. The only one that has it made is Brad I think?

They all need to stop trying to fix him and just get to know him.

I’m old and forgetful, but I thought Bernice dropped the psych major thing?

good idea — lousy way to frame it

EEK! SHREEK!

Rather than being a friend, Bernice decides to “Go for the Cure.”

Good for you Piro!

Three for three. No one understands or accepts Piro as he is. Disappointed in Bernice, but not surprised. She has a lot to learn. Start with not analyzing people.

Bernice is the only one with a “condition”.

Ooh, a burn to Bern!

He might want to stop by the Kafé and meet Ox and Tiffany.

Bernice, for as smart as she is….. really missed the boat on that one!!!

Another brush off….

Just when you think Bernice can’t be any nosier, more annoying, or more deluded about her supposed intellectual superiority and ability to “read” people, she raises the bar another notch. At this point, I want Ann Eiffel back. Or Shannon. Maybe even Dirk. Anyone at all who can push Bernice out of the various storylines.

Smart move, Piro. Nobody likes uninvited psychos wanting to listen to your problems.

Oh Bernice, how lousy are you, let me count the ways:1) Being condescending towards two people he willingly spends time with: a girl he likes, and the only family he seems to be in touch with (especially since Piro’s issues are his family)2) Claiming you know someone “better than them”, even though you don’t really know him at all. In a totally confident yet undeserved (aka arrogant) manner3) Deciding that “you need someone to talk to”, when the guy came to have a study session and some laughs 4) Proclaiming you are the “professional” (“I’m a psych major”) when in fact you are a maybe 2nd-year student (not clear if time is progressing or not in the comic) who is completely oblivious to how lousy you are5) Deciding he has a “condition”. Not even “you can talk to me about anything that troubles you”, or even “you can talk to me about your problems”. He has a “condition”.6) Failing to back up the “condition” claim with anything that may make it sound even the least bit valid – even a “you seem depressed” would be a better answer than “I don’t know” here! (it would still be a lousy answer, but anything would be better than “I don’t know” – so there’s no particular thing that makes her say this)BONUS: The entire posture and facial expressions in panels 1 and 2.

“You are madly in love with me. This is also called bat-something crazy.”

Run Piro run!

It’s the human condition. And you can talk about it, but you can’t cure it.

cold shoulder treatment. Bernice is kind of pushy.

Would you want a dental student who hasn’t even done her practicum practicing on your teeth?

Bern, maybe Piro’s just looking for a friend…

Bernice! Dumb, Dumb and Dumber!

Nothing like stepping on your own come-on.

Yass Piro, reject her and end this!!

Bernice is a far more “interesting case” than Piro. And it’s far easier to analyze HER.

Bernice spends the next two hours analyzing a fast-asleep Puddles

YAY PIRO!!!!

Keep going, and DON’T LOOK BACK!!!

Well -we never have to think about those two ever getting together. the end

Piro has little patience with fools, frauds, and Bernie….

His condition is that people always think he has a condition

He has an actual therapist now, so he doesn’t need to entertain the sanctimonious Quack Bernice.

Piro needs to hang out with Gunther & Les. Gunther is too wrapped up in himself to annoy Piro with too much attention, and Les can be pretty insightful, but just comments without pushing anything.

Piro moved, to vacate his chair.

SHUT DOWN! You’re not as good as you think, Bernice…

BTW, what’s involved in shaving a star into the side of one’s head? Seems like it’d be awfully hard both to get and to maintain…

I’ll sit with you Bernie =)

I don’t remember Bernice being this annoying and overbearing in high school. Was she?

When I was an angry, rebellious teen girl, my previously-unknown-to-me great aunt started sending me “christian” guidance articles cut from magazines.

“I just dropped in to see what condition my condition was in.”

Being a psych major does not make you a psychiatrist. Just sayin.

Bernice: “they don’t know you like I do.”Piro: “What’s my condition?”Bernice: “I don’t know”Piro: exit stage leftDid Bernice ever read the letter from Piro? I think not. I think he said some things about himself to Bernice in the letter, but since she didn’t read it, she says she doesn’t know his “condition.” This confirms to Piro that Bernice did not read his letter, and he leaves.