Turn on the CLOSED CAPTIONS!

A few months ago I was hit with the most simple, but penetrating question any child of deaf parents can be asked.   I didn't realize that by answering I was exposing the color of my soul.  After reflecting on the question it's fair to say it should perhaps be asked to every self-respecting member of the Deaf community. My wife and I sat down for a chat with an older deaf couple, when the husband blindsided me with, "Do you use captions when watching TV?" I paused for a moment, trying to discern what his angle was in asking me this off-the-wall question.  Before I could respond my wife interrupted, "YES! He does! ALWAYS!"  This man then looked at me with eyes as if I was his own son, and replied "I'm proud of you.  I'm proud of you.  I'm proud of you."

For most hearing persons an obstruction to the viewing screen is commonly considered offensive.  Even a quickly passing body, or corner of a chair blocking a portion of the TV may elicit a "Hey! Move it!" from those watching in the room.  As adolescents we felt no differently about closed captions.  It seemed that whether high or low on the screen, these black text filled blocks always covered the most intriguing part of the show.  Did Kobe hit the game winning shot?!?  We didn't know, because our screen was covered with subtitles for something the announcer said 15 seconds ago...

I'm fairly confident in saying that during an NHL playoff match, my dad barely paid any attention to the captions, but that didn't stop him.  We could be in the middle of TRL, or Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, but if my Dad walked into the room, and the screen was clear, you were bound to see him say, "Turn ON closed captions! NOW!" The television was ruled by this Iron-Fist.  Sometimes in order to relieve the oppression we would even switch captions off while my dad was taking a bathroom break.  Lost in the few moments of delight, we were snapped out of it by a strong STOMP, and my father's hands signing "Hey! What happened to the subtitles? What happened?"

Now as an adult living a state away from my parents I rarely watch a movie if it doesn't offer subtitles.  I have a tough time understanding British accents, and like to think I have exceptionally accurate spelling.  Can both of these be attributed to my child-hood? I'm sure there's an article out there somewhere to prove this theory.  To CODAs, Netflix, hearing with deaf friends, CNN, and the like... I'd like to share with you one of my favorite quotes from my dad, "TURN ON THE CAPTIONS!" You would make many of us proud.

Including him....