I will from now on refer to my car as my "gas chariot"

When I returned from my trip yesterday, I glanced at the strips that I missed. And man, did I not miss anything. It's summer, so reruns are to be expected, right?

While I wouldn't say that today's strip involves a situation they'll do every time, it does seem pretty typical. I knew quite a few guys in high school who kept their cars nice and shiny--it makes sense. Lots of people see your car. You drive it to school every day. Cindy Cheerleader that Junior wants to impress will see it. On the other hand, not many people will see his bedroom, and the people who do see it will most likely be other teenaged boys, who don't care. Squalor is a perfectly acceptable setting in which to play video games.

What makes no sense is that this confuses his parents. Also, his comment about not being able to stand sitting in a messy car (admittedly, I knew--and still know--a lot of people with very messy cars who have well-maintained homes) doesn't really make sense, mostly because Scaduto isn't even trying to understand the motivation behind the behavior.

And I'm sure we all noticed immediately that Junior's car isn't exactly a 2007 model.

I'm going to refrain from commenting on Junior's hair, but...OK, I'll just say that I'm getting a flashback to Prince Valium in Spaceballs.