#528 – girl, i envy you

After a bit of a break, I came back with a week or so of one-shots. People speculated on who was speaking here. I meant it to be one of Mar's more superficial work friends, spouting a common refrain about single life. But of course this kind of wisdom feels naive at best, at other times a bitter lie. This was an attempt to express something, anything other than anger and confusion.

16 thoughts on “#528 – girl, i envy you

  1. These days you wouldn't have this problem (well, at least the problem in the bottom half) – you'd just post it to instagram, twitter, or your other fake friends social account.

    1. kind of a weird take given that instagram, twitter and a bunch of other stuff was in full swing in '11-'12 when this was written? tbh it just sounds really "kids these days"

      1. I know 50 yo Moms who do this, it's not just a kid thing or a 'SIGH millenials'.

        Also, this was 2012, 7 years ago. It may be hard to remember (the angry toddler was only elected 2.5 years ago, and that seems like a f@#$ing eternity). Twitter was only 6 years old and just really taking off. Living your entire life on Instagram or Twitter was a new frontier. You can see it in the strip, too – Eve and pals are not constantly checking the social like they would be today.

  2. I always imagined this being Marigold talking about herself, like she's the type of person who would consciously tell her that she envies her while still being forlorn at heart. This is my all time favorite strip, it's the one i use to introduce people into the world of octopus pie

  3. i've just bingeread the rest of the story yesterday and this page struck me as weird; doesn't she have friends she could send it to?? i mean, she's still friends with hanna and sean, right?

    1. Late reply ahoy!

      While that may be the case, there's something about sending something you enjoy to someone particularly important to you that just feels… different. Uplifting?

  4. Two things in life I never want to do again: 1.) Date, 2.) Write a resume. Single life SUCKED for me and I never want to have to do it again.

    Maybe this is naive of me but I never understood people who smoked weed and ran. I don't know for sure, but I can't imagine smoking anything to be anything less than detrimental to your lungs.

    1. I think it's cold out and she's just exhaling

    2. Whoa, hitting close to home rn

    3. I hear you. Though with dating there's at least a period of excitement and discovery of nervous titillation and dreamlike expectation… yes it may come all crashing down, but at least you had some happy or interesting times. Seeking jobs, though? The soul-withering process of writing resumes/cover letters/key criteria compliance/etc, literally hundreds of rejections, most of them silent and then, if you finally get lucky… yaay you got to spend 8+ hours per day making money for others, coexisting with people who you might despise and being bored out of your mind with ultimately inane busywork. And let's not even mention the meetings…

      1. Dating for me was basically a daily reminder of how co-dependent and [medically] anxious I was. It was a mess and especially now at 38yo and with two kids, I have no desire to learn how to do it again–I'd be bringing more baggage to the table than the last time, and that was bad enough.

    4. Three weeks ago, I would’ve completely agreed with you. But since then my marriage has come to an end….

      (Not looking for sympathy – we just fell out of love and when we realised it was too late….but I’m not looking forward to the upcoming storylines…) (well, of course I am, but they might be a bit more poignant than before).

      1. Geez, I'm sorry! That is a fate I do not wish on ANYONE.

  5. Huh, I assumed it was Mar, talking to herself in the third person, until the reality of her situation kicks in (though really, lots of people would be happy to hear about those dogs, just send the text)

  6. this was a page that never really resonated me when i first read OP (i started when i was about 13/14, now i'm 24) but really struck a chord with me after my first hideously embarrassing breakup.

    i was making strides after the initial sadness and then i'd find myself thinking of something funny while running errands, or see a really cute dog at work, and i'd realize the person i desperately wanted to send it to wasn't available to me. it thankfully didn't to some cosmic breakdown and instead just encouraged me to reach out to my friends at the time, but it's a page that i've never really forgotten in all the reads since i first read it.

  7. Smokin' pot on the pot with the door open while single is an experience I heavily connect with

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