(Strip Number 4174, Original Publication Date, 22 May 1982)
Panel 1: We start off with Elly telling Mike, who's in his PJs, to hurry up and get dressed or he'll be late for school.
Panel 2: She then knocks on Phil's door and asks him if he's up because he's got an appointment at 9:45.
Panel 3: She then tells John, who's about to head out the door, to not forget the lunch she packed so as to avoid his having to talk to that awful, awful Ted who never once admits that she's suffered like no one ever has or ever will.
Panel 4: Speaking of suffering, the frazzled mess in the housecoat glares the Bug-Eyed Glare of Existential Horror™ as she thought-bubbles the question "What's it like to look glamorous before 10:45 AM?"
Summary: I do sympathize with her to an extent; it is difficult being the only person who seems to actually do anything. My sympathy turns into, if not a snarl, a sigh when I remember that her need to make sure things are done the way she's used to doing them tends to blunt the desire the others might have to help out. I also acknowledge that we're about to spend next week's CT dealing with letters from the usual suspects that tell Ellie that they loved her column because the writers' families are so inert that they too risk having people showing up and placing coins on their eyelids. About the only thing that would cheer me up would be to have them tell her that today is Victoria Day and all that stuff she's ranting about happens on Tuesday.