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Beentothefarside

Published Letters: 54
Editor's Choice: 9

Wednesday, November 11, 2009 01:13 PM

Yellow light

For those unenlightened and obviously not well-learned of you who do not understand what traffic lights mean, this is from the California DMV driving handbook:

"Solid Yellow- A yellow signal light means "CAUTION." The red signal is about to appear. When you see the yellow light, stop if you can do so safely. If you can’t stop safely, enter the intersection cautiously."

NOT slow down, NOT stop (unless you live in the UK), but proceed with caution if necessary or stop if you can safely. This means no slamming on of the brakes at the intersection so the cars in back can crash in to you.

This is one of those things that most people do not understand and will try to argue you down on. When the light turns red, the cross-traffic light does not immediately turn green. There is a second or two when both lights are red, allowing traffic already in the intersection to clear and preventing (hopefully) the accidents that occur when someone ENTERS THE INTERSECTION ON A RED LIGHT, not on a yellow light.

And the CCTV photos only ding you if your car enters the intersection when the light has turned red, not if it turns red after you have entered.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009 07:14 PM

I see why some people are angry at you

"This morning a fellow who had been tailgating me through my narrow neighborhood street was so infuriated that I slowed down for a yellow light that he passed me on the left ... Although it was bad judgment on his part to pass me on the wrong side when I had stopped for a light"

A yellow light does NOT mean stop, and it doesn't mean slow down. It is a warning that the light is going to turn red. Basically on what I presume is a two lane street you put on your brakes for a yellow light when you should have proceeded through the intersection instead of preventing less psychologically afflicted drivers from either passing you or making the light before it turned red. THAT is very annoying. And the driver passed you on the left, not the wrong side.

On the other hand driving the speed limit in the slow lane is not a problem, but of course everyone does not understand that the speed limit is not a suggestion.

Monday, November 9, 2009 07:09 PM

Betty is a product of her times

She is not a sad or unfeeling person, but she has been treated mostly like a pet by Don.

She is just beginning to understand that there is more to life than the suburban housewife role, and I don't think she is spoiled or naive by any means.

For the times she fits in perfectly with women who were disaffected but didn't quite know what was wrong and had no female role models to help figure that out.

"The Feminine Mystique" was published in 1963, and perhaps in the next season Betty will read it, and her character may have an awakening. Who knows.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009 09:11 PM

I think Cougar Town is funny

and I certainly didn't expect to like it from the early reviews I read. It isn't JUST about a 40 year old woman with a younger man, which is what Accidentally seems to be.

Cox is funny, the other characters are funny, the situations are caricatures of real life (this IS a sit-com)and are funny.

Sure, a married woman of 40 might take a shower and go to bed naked with her husband, but this is a woman who has divorced a womanizing ex and is a bit neurotic about having missed out on the singles scene in her youth. She is not a cougar in the self-assured way the other older woman is.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009 09:29 PM

Left out MINOR details?

Such as, where is the father?

Such as, why in the hell would you leave a 17 year old in Nevada while you go to Washington state to find a house to rent for you and him when HE is the one who will be going to school there?

Such as, why are YOU going to Washington to get your son into a program that you never once say he's interested in?

Such as, you say YOUR plan was for him to complete school and travel, but at the same time you're trying to enroll him into a dive program.

And this just in the first paragraph.

If he has truly tried and is still talking about suicide he has problems beyond your ability to handle alone, and moving to different states where is has no friends or relatives (I assume) is not going to help things from his standpoint.

Kicking him to the curb is not the answer either, but you are toxic to him, and he won't improve until you recognize that he is a grown man.

Monday, August 24, 2009 07:38 PM

Give mom a break

Gee Marc22309, you sure know a lot about both parents from what is clearly a confused young adult barely out of her teens. We can't really tell from this story what is real and what is the LW/child's perception, but one thing is clear: if the parents have stayed together there is a reason.

Perhaps mother would have liked to work outside the home but was left with the total child-rearing responsibilities, perhaps dad would have liked to have pursued some other career path but his wife and kids sucked up all his emotional energy and finances.

It is clear LW has only a rudimentary understanding of parent-child relationships herself (to be expected at such a young age), because the fact that she was premature has absolutely NOTHING to do with mother not "bonding", and most certainly would not explain her being closer to her father at a young age.

I think at this point she has been very wise to continue her therapy to gain a better understanding of herself and her wants and needs, because she has been busy up to this point trying to navigate her parents' needs. A good therapist can help LW to communicate with the parents while at the same time not be manipulated emotionally by them.

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