Original Commentary
I think Kimberly is watching something in Italian, but truth be told I'm not sure... it could be Spanish for all I know- and I'm sure Kimberly doesn't really care either way. -Isabel

Modern Commentary
"No, non lo squalo!" is Italian for "No, not the shark!".
Kimberly doesn't understand Italian, but she does understand shark movies. You don't watch that movie for the dialogue. You watch it for the shark.

I'm not sure how we got that translated. Google Translate didn't launch until 2006. I don't think we know anybody who speaks Italian. If you helped us translate this and we forgot, then we apologize. Might have used Babelfish, which was around back then but isn't any more; it was a lot like Google Translate except perhaps less so.- Terrence

Original Commentary
What's the best way to deal with the depression of losing one's job? I don't know, and from this I don't think Kimberly knows either. -Isabel

Modern Commentary
I like the Christmas stories we did, both The Holly-Jollies and The Gift That Keeps On Giving But they feel a bit out of place. We do a story where Kimberly gets her confidence back, then a light relationship story, then this. Now she's back feeling as bad as ever. What happened between now and then?
A whole lot of not getting called back for crap jobs, most likely. Offscreen because it'd just be depressing to show.
I like the stories and I'm glad they're there. Part of it is that if you want to do a Christmas-themed story, you pretty much have to do it in December. Part of it is that continued unemployment can grind you down. Make you think that nobody's ever going to hire you. - Terrence

Original Commentary
Looks like Brisbane has found the cure to the "No-job Blues"- get an overbearing mother involved. Overbearing mothers can solve many other problems too, but I'm sure we'll be coming back to that in later books... -Isabel

Modern Commentary
Even back then, I don't think any decent jobs were available via want ads. Most of what I remember from them was sales jobs on commission-only, which seemed to involve a lot of wandering about and not getting paid and hoping somebody takes pity on you so you don't have to carry all those purses or steak knives or such back to the office.

And yes, we certainly did get back to Kimberly's relationship with her mother in later books.

In the future, Kimberly will be concerned that her mother will be able to pressure information out of Brisbane. This is the start of that. - Terrence

Original Commentary
If Kimberly is going to sell something, she better be doing it for herself, -Isabel

Modern Commentary
The original script specified that the saleswoman job was at Woolworth. Now, Woolworth was the largest department store in the US for a few decades. By the time this comic ran, it had been out of business in the US for seven years, except for its athletic shoe division which you may know as Foot Locker.

Again, I'm sure we had a discussion about brand names and whether or not to use it. I don't recall how it went, but if we had specified Woolworth then it would have given folks the idea that this was more of a salesclerk/cashier kind of job that they were talking about.- Terrence

Original Commentary
So why doesn't Kimberly let Brisbane do the laundry anymore? That's a story for another day... -Isabel

Modern Commentary
I mean, Brisbane has freaked out about Kimberly's underwear a few times previous...

Anyhow, Ms. Taylor has no right to criticize their apartment. If she wanted them to get a better place, she could've given Kimberly more money and paid Brisbane more.

But that won't stop her from criticizing it. And Kimberly cares what her mother thinks of her. She wants to have a good relationship with her mother, even though that's not going to happen within the confines of this series.- Terrence

Original Commentary
Poor Brisbane, completely in denial about the guys from the lounge... of course Brisbane usually gives people the benefit of the doubt, one of the reasons why he's trusting Kimberly to look for work while he's out. -Isabel

Modern Commentary
I love it when elements come together. Like that computer that Brisbane scrounged up fitting into Kimberly's job search.
Anyhow, I think Brisbane is doing the right thing here. Providing nudges in the right direction but not ultimatums. Doing what he can to help her out. - Terrence