Original Commentary
Personally I find the stark contrast of height between Kimberly and Lola amusing in this one... they don't call them little old ladies for nothing.

Modern Commentary
One of the main reasons why Kimberly spends time with Emily is that she's Kimberly's ride to work. Neither Brisbane nor Kimberly drive. They've never had a car. They probably don't even have a parking space at the apartment. Brisbane hasn't driven since he was sixteen. I'm not sure Kimberly ever has.
They live in a very urban area with good public transit. That's one of the ways you can tell that this isn't the USA.

In the first draft of this comic, the first two panels were:
(breakfast time. Brisbane is pouring (empty) milk onto his cereal)
Brisbane: Kimberly, did you use all the milk again?
Kimberly: Stop trying to pick an argument, Brisbane.
----
[Kimberly opens the door to head out]
Kimberly: You've been in a foul mood ever since -

That didn't go anywhere so we cut it to fit the what else was happening. It was a running joke how when times got tough, Brisbane and Kimberly never had enough in their fridge to make a full meal. This would've been its first appearance.

Original Commentary
When I was younger, I used to look at the amount of money first too...

Modern Commentary
I've started doing this again, myself. There's usually a lot of not-especially-relevant information in contracts and the cost is always a relevant factor.
I've never lived at a place that has internet access included in the rent, but I've looked at a few of those places. Instead, you have one or two choices and they both kinda suck.
We never showed much of it, but I like the implication that Lola would come hang out with Kimberly just to hang out. I've never had a landlord who I spent time with, nor who I'd want to spend time with. I'm not sure we initially intended for her to be a surrogate mother to Kimberly, but there's an obvious gap there. - Terrence

Original Commentary
The fact that Lola still tried to sell Kimberly on the product even though they don't have a computer shows that ol' Lola is a girl after Kimberly's heart.

Modern Commentary
Twenty bucks a month? That's a steal. Cheap internet service is triple that and "included in your rent" usually means "we charge extra because you don't have a choice". You'd be lucky if it was just twenty bucks above standard retail price. I don't know why I thought it would be cheaper that way.

Also, there was a lot less you could do on the internet back in 2004. This was before Youtube, before World of Warcraft, before Twitter, back when Facebook was just a handful of college students and not your aunt posting Minions memes... - Terrence

Original Commentary
Kimberly is just having withdrawals. She'll feel better after she gets Brisbane to pay $5 for his grilled cheese sandwich.

Modern Commentary
If Brisbane means internet and cable (or internet and phone) that's a really good deal.

I like how Brisbane tries to get to the root of the problem. It's not just about the up-front fee or the monthly payment. It's the principle of the matter.- Terrence

Original Commentary
One day we're all going to wake up with a sensible job, a sensible relationship and sensible shoes (well, at least two out of three of those in Kimberly's case).

Modern Commentary
And one does! A few months later.
I'm glad we decided to let Kimberly do what she was meant to do. I'm glad she spent time not doing it, also. Let her change a bit and not just run a salesbooth.

So, does Kimberly make better money this way? Our notes imply that maybe she made good money selling things, but here she is in an empty apartment, no luxuries, and needing money from her mother when the rent increases a bit. I'm sure she has some great days but she's also had some pretty lousy months. It's probably better money per hour doing data entry, but she put in a lot of hours at her sales booth.- Terrence