The unbearable dimness of John Patterson.

The thing that bothers me most about the current story arc is that for it to work, John has to behave like a pathetic, helpless and unobservant nincompoop. He cannot find things in his own home, he cannot reheat the meals prepared for him, he cannot get his children to school correctly and he cannot even seem to do the housework without eventually leaving a mess for Elly to clean up on her return. It’s not especially entertaining watching a man making himself out the be the very model of a modern major chowderhead; instead of chuckling at his pathetic failure, one instead shakes one’s head and mutters angrily about how stupid he is for getting himself into such an avoidable mess. What makes it even less funny and believable is that he isn’t usually depicted as being a total bonehead; Lynn has to ignore that he’s fairly smart just so she can write some strips that  the ‘Everybody’ that ‘Loves Raymond’ can stick on their fridges.