6A
FEATURES
Texting at the stop sign
Dear Annie: You usually the gas, you’re still operating a
give sensible advice, so I’m 2-ton hunk of steel. If you have
hoping you can settle a disagree- a hard time resisting the tempta-
ment between my husband and tion, consider installing an app
that limits your texting ability
me.
First, let me say that I am not while driving, such as Drive-
pro-texting while driving. I think Safe.ly or AT&T DriveMode.
DriveMode also can
it’s foolish and dangerous.
DEAR
automatically send
I would never do that. But I
preset replies to let
don’t see the problem with
ANNIE
those who text you
texting while sitting at a
know you’re driving.
traffic light or stop sign or
No
text
is
while idling in traffic that’s
so urgent that it
at a complete standstill.
demands an imme-
I’m not scrolling through
diate reply. Or if it is,
Facebook or anything, just
find the nearest safe,
shooting some quick texts
Lane
legal place to park
— for example, to let a Annie
Creators
Syndicate Inc.
and take care of it
friend know that I’m run-
then. Seriously, it can
ning late or to tell my hus-
wait.
band to pick up some milk.
Dear Annie: I’m weighing
My husband gets really
annoyed with me when I do this in with a millennial response to
with him in the car. He says it’s “Seething in the Great Plains”
reckless and I could get a ticket. and “Mrs. in Minnesota.”
I feel that as long as the car “Seething” is tired of people
isn’t moving, there’s no harm addressing her as “honey,” and
in quickly looking at my phone. “Mrs.” doesn’t appreciate her
That’s fairly logical, right? — daughter’s friends calling her
by her first name. As a 25-year-
Safe Driver
Dear Safe: Your husband is old from the East Coast, I realize
right. People who read or send that my perspective may be dif-
texts while driving are 23 times ferent from others’ — but that’s
likelier to get in a crash. And all the more reason to share it.
I grew up addressing my
whether or not your foot is on
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, JANUARY 26, 2017
TOMORROW’S HOROSCOPE
By Holiday Mathis, Creators Syndicate Inc.
friends’ parents by their first
names, and my own parents
insisted that my friends call
them by their first names. My
professors in college preferred
to be addressed by first name.
To me, true respect is in the tone
and content of the message, not
the form of address. If I refer to
or address a politician by his or
her title and last name, it is not
intended as a sign of enhanced
respect. I respect my professors
more than I do many politicians.
The most important thing is
to address people the way they
prefer to be addressed (within
reason). If my parents and pro-
fessors want to be called by their
first names, their wishes are
respected; if “Mrs. in Minne-
sota” and “Seething in the Great
Plains” specify their preferred
forms of address, their wishes
should be respected. No point
in getting worked up because
someone didn’t read your mind
in advance of being informed of
your preference.
I hope my contribution to this
conversation will help to show
other readers where people are
coming from and reduce mis-
understandings. — Respectful
Millennial
ARIES (March 21-April 19). There’s no way
around it: Your choices will affect people you’ve
never met in ways you can’t control and may
never know about. Gandhi said, “Live simply so
others can simply live.”
TAURUS (April 20-May 20). You’re not here to
judge. But can you really help it? If you don’t
make a judgment, you won’t know how to
safely and healthfully interact with people. The
best you can do is to be soft, open-minded and
discreet.
GEMINI (May 21-June 21). You are respon-
sible for your actions and reactions and that’s
all. Make your goal about the effort, not the
outcome. You can’t control the result, and it’s
better that way. Trust life’s process.
CANCER (June 22-July 22). Some say, “Fake
it ’til you make it,” and others say, “Make it and
keep making it so you won’t ever have fake
it.” Which school do you belong to today? If
you fall in love with the process, the need for
acknowledgement lessens considerably.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). There’s something
transcendent about your connection with a
certain person. Makes you wonder: Are you
human having a spiritual experience, or are
you spiritual having a human experience?
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). It’s time to move
out of the research-and-development part of a
project and into preparation and planning. Even
if you spend all day on this, you can count
yourself enormously productive. Preparation
will be crucial to success.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). As you become less
concerned with winning friends or attracting
attention, you focus mostly on fulfilling your
purpose. With this mindset, anyone you attract
will be a person who supports the most au-
FRANK AND ERNEST
BLONDIE
THATABABY
SALLY FORTH
PHOEBE AND HER UNICORN
B.C.
LOLA
DILBERT
SIX CHIX
BIZARRO
MUTTS
NON SEQUITUR
BABY BLUES
WIZARD OF ID
ZITS
ROSE IS ROSE
thentic parts of you.
SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). There’s a reason
the words “strong” and “silent” often go together
in describing a certain type of individual. The
one who is confident and egoless enough to
use words sparingly wields powerful charisma.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). Talking and
fantasizing about the goal can actually take
the appeal out of doing it because the mind
gets bored and starts treating the idea like it’s
already been accomplished. Move quickly from
vision into action.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). There may
be a lot of gray area about whether a choice is
good or bad, so don’t ask that question. Instead
ask whether it’s for you or not for you. Will it
help you to do what you set out to do or not?
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). Don’t pretend
to know today, even if the others are expecting
you to know. The pretense of knowledge is a
vice that can only hold you back from gaining
actual knowledge.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). Don’t know what
it means? Maybe it’s just not the time for that.
Or maybe you’ll never know the meaning. It
would be a shame to let that stop you from
moving forward, though. Stop trying to reason it
out. Feel it out instead.
TOMORROW’S BIRTHDAY (Jan. 27). You’ll
become masterful and powerful this year as
you specialize. As the great fighter Bruce Lee
said, “I fear not the man who has practiced
10,000 kicks once but I fear the man who has
practiced one kick 10,000 times.” New friend-
ships blossom in March. There’s a makeover in
April and important travel in July. Cancer and
Libra adore you. Your lucky numbers are: 7, 25,
20, 16 and 32.