(Strip Number 5080, Original Publication Date, 18 January 1989)
Panel 1: Elly shows us how dated this arc is by trying to juggle holding a coil notebook in her hands while also trying to talk to one of the other Hockey Moms on the phone. She does so by raising her shoulder so that the receiver stays in place.
Panel 2: As she continues to talk to this person, she rolls her eyes in frustration at some unknown stimulus.
Panel 3: She then pencils a date on a near-by wall calendar. This must mean that the stimulus that outraged her was a scheduling conflict imposed on her by a sports-loving MAN.
Panel 4: Later that day, we find her not aware that her shoulder has locked into place; this means that she doesn't know why John asks her if she's been on the phone all day.
Summary: This is not a strip that could take place in the present day. This is a strip that reminds us that back when it looked as if landlines were how people were going to talk for generations to come, this was the price of telephony. This is also a strip that reminds us that John is a very bad man because he calls attention to the tempests Elly makes in teapots.