Daughter driving all the time drives mom crazy
Dear Annie: My daughter, “Emily,” has been dating “Ben” for almost two years. Ben is a great guy, aside from one issue that's been bugging me: He refuses to drive anywhere and instead has my daughter drive him. He says it's because a few years ago he was in a car accident and has been scared to drive since. (He was not hurt in the accident.)
Ben has Emily drive him to and from work every day. Emily never complains about it, but it drives me insane because Emily and her kids were also in a car accident a few years back and suffer PTSD from that. Ben is aware of this, but thinks it's no big deal for Emily to get over her fear while avoiding getting over his fear.
I want to say something to him so badly, but I haven't. And every time I say something to my daughter, she gets upset with me. How can I approach the situation without making it worse?
Miffed Mom
Dear Miffed: Your intentions are good, and your irritation is understandable. But Emily is the one behind the wheel, figuratively and literally. When she's tired of driving him, she can stop. Meanwhile, you can earn interest by keeping your two cents in the bank: If you avoid offering advice when your daughter hasn't asked, she'll be more likely to ask you for advice.
Dear Annie: I agree with “What Did You Say” that mood music in TV shows often makes it hard to hear the dialogue. I would add that background noises meant to create “realism” also frequently drown out what the actors are saying. Isn't the dialogue important enough to make it audible? If I turn it up enough to make out the dialogue, then the music and ambient noise are so loud that it is annoying.
My wife and I always watch shows with the closed captions on. We find that we even enjoy movies more at home than at the movie theatre because we can have the captions on. It also helps a lot with BBC shows where the accents and British slang can make it hard to catch what is said. But it would be even better if the shows' directors and editors highlighted the dialogue and turned down the sound effects.
Not Ready for the Ear Horn Dear Not Ready for the Ear Horn: You're not alone. A 2017 survey found that 98 per cent of people use closed captioning at least some of the time. While closed captions can certainly be helpful, some have pointed out that they're far from perfect and, during some live broadcasts, the captions lag behind the visuals.