Whose ends are really being met

The recent reprinting of the Sunday strip in which John boasts about how easy it is to start his poorly-serviced, barely-functioning death trap of a car is yet another example of a phenomenon that irritated me back when I started this blog. Back then, it used to bother me that Elly witlessly bought a bunch of cheap bed-sheets that pilled up and required shaving when she could easily have afforded better quality sheets that lasted longer. It always used to baffle me that neither she or John want to spend within their means when it comes to essentials like that. Sure, they'll blow high dough on toys and vacations but when it comes to bread and butter things like servicing appliances, keeping the sump pump working or making sure that the hoverwagon doesn't just plain die on the 401, they cry poverty. I stopped being baffled when I made a joke about how when John tries to figure out what he can afford to spend on something, he tends to unconsciously lower the ceiling to what his dad can afford when he'd rather not do it. When he sees something that he likes or makes him feel good, he remembers that he's a mildly prosperous dentist who can easily afford it; when he'd rather not do it or when it doesn't make his life easier, he suddenly has the same resources as his broke-ass dad. This is why he can buy toys with aplomb and moan piteously about the expense of remodeling his kitchen or getting his old beater looked at before it explodes with him in it. It's the financial equivalent of Elly's hapless inability to factor her children into her life.