(Original Publication Date, 8 July 1991)
Panel 1: As Liz holds an eight ball, a gleeful Mike says "This is so cool! I never thought I'd know someone who ran an actual pool hall!"
This fondness of his is, of course, meant to reinforce Lynn's idea that children actively seek to antagonize parents by wanting things they know are bad for them like pool halls, video arcades, dressing up for Halloween as Boy George and girls who dress like girls.
Panel 2: He then calls Elizabeth's attention to the fact that the bar has the same sort of hot dog grill that he used last summer.
Panel 3: He sets himself up to fail by telling Liz to tell John to wait a minute before they head back to the safety of their suburban redoubt because he wants to ask Fiona for something. Liz asks if he's going to ask her for a soda.
Panel 4: Since Mike doesn't want to work on the farm because he won't give his parents the pleasure of being right, he smiles and says "No....a JOB!!"
Summary: What we're about to see is John combining snobbery with half-assed over-parenting combined with Elly's dread of pre-marital sex. In a years' time, Elly won't have to worry about Martha because she'll start to wonder what she saw in Mike five seconds after he leaves.