(Original Publication Date, 9 September 1990)
Panel 1: We begin today's "Why I Don't Let My Kids Near Where I Work" piece with Elly taking Liz to the library with her.
Panel 2: As a confused Liz looks around her at the unfamiliar place, Elly greets a fellow staffer who is at the circulation desk.
Panel 3: As she hands her a book to read, Elly tells Liz that she has to work for a while and hopes that she can find things to do while she's busy. Elly clearly means "find something to read" but doesn't know Liz well enough to understand that she should say that.
Panel 4: Since Liz has no idea that she's been told to look for something interesting to read because she never gets told that at home, we see her staring off into space bored out of her mind.
Panel 5: Having decided to wander around aimlessly like she always does, she comes across Wilma (or, as Elly has called her since she signed her pink slip, "Nilda") using the copier in the staff room.
Panel 6: Having ignored (or not noticed) the sign saying "STAFF ONLY" that's obligatory for employee-only rooms like that, Liz watches Wilma leave the staff room.
Panel 7: After Elly's shift is over, we find her collecting Liz. Since she's kind of stupid, she doesn't understand what it means that she does so at the staff room.
Panel 8: As we watch Elly and Liz leave the library, we notice a sign for Book Week that has Elly smile when interacting with children she does not actually have to live with.
Panel 9: We know that Elly isn't going to be smiling at one child. This is because Wilma is confused and horrified by the fact that Liz had diverted herself by photocopying her face in various girning forms. This tells me that Liz will have to absorb an angry lecture about how BAD she is and why she can never be trusted to go anywhere near where Mommy works again. I imagine that it would be as bad as the horrible lecture absorbed by the poor slob who had the temerity to tell Lynn that most of the pictures would be of Liz screaming in pain because the light from the photocopier blinded her.
Summary: The average person who doesn't understand who these people are would see a dumb and naughty kid who didn't know what her mother meant. We, sadly, do and realize that the reason Liz doesn't hit the stacks for something to find is a combination of her getting yelled at for not using a bookmark and Elly turning every possible useful habit into another WEIRD PUNISHMENT!!!™ thereby guaranteeing that she has no help and no time to herself.