(Strip Number 252, Original Publication Date, 23 April 1982)
Panel 1: We begin things with Elly taking plates out of the dishwasher so she can set the dinner table; as she does so, John asks her when Phil is coming. She says that it's next week.
Panel 2: As she takes the plates to the table, John asks her if Connie knows that her old flame will be back in town; this, of course, is owing to John's need to protect what I think his first choice for Mrs Dr P was coming into play.
Panel 3: Elly says that Connie knows because she heard it through the grapevine.
Panel 4: John's not-so-witty remark about how he's talking to the head grape leaves Elly looking as if she'd been hit on the head with a two-by-four.
Summary: That's because she thinks that John is making a sexist remark about her not having anything better to do with her time but gossip; granted, he is a little but he's also trying to remind her that it's not a good thing to stir up chaos just because she's bored.