To not want to sit in the dark?!

[tequilasunrises]

I’m not sure whether this is actually normal when watching the telly and maybe I’m the unreasonable one?

DH likes all the lights off if we watch telly in the evening. I prefer to have a couple of lamps on but he always turns them off, it drives me mad, it feels weird to sit in the dark! Perhaps if watching a horror film or something but not for the news or a soap.

We visited MIL the other day and she was sat watching the news in the pitch black and didn’t turn the lamp on even when we sat down to chat.

Whose weird, me or them??

They're weird. And controlling.

They are. Compromise by having 1 lamp on.

Two side lamps plus a standard lamp in our lounge, never sit in the dark or have the main light on. Looks very nice and cosy.

My mum always told me as a child that it's bad for my eyes to watch TV in the dark. Even as an adult I don't do it.

My PILs invariably watch TV in the dark -- for a long time we lived in another country, and would Skype them at a pre-arranged time, and there would be two faint white faces glowing slightly against a completely black background, like something from Most Haunted.

On the other hand, I regard using the overhead lights as a strange perversion, done only by people who actually like their living spaces looking like a laboratory.

Do they think they are recreating the cinema experience?

They're weird. I've never come across anyone who has to watch TV in the dark.

I couldn't cope with that anyway, because I like to have something (e.g. crochet) to do with my hands as I watch.

YADNBU. Maybe a film with the lights off (although we'll usually have at least a lamp on) but who watches the new in the pitch black? Very weird.

Them

We watch in the dark but can ask alexa to turn the lights on if needed. I tend to walk around in the dark though as I find lights too bright generally

No lights on strains my eyes. I like a side light on.

Can you get a salt lamp as a compromise? They give off a lovely glow

I like a lamp on unless I’m watching ghost hunting or horrors then I like it dark

I think them. I use a mix of lamps in the evening.

But I've one friend who keeps her ceiling lights on all evening, I find it very unrelaxing, but another friend who likes pitch black.

But she goes to extremes, so a few of us were staying there recently, sitting in the lounge chatting, tv was on, and some lights, just side lights, and she walked in and said oh it's too dark in here and switched all the lights off!

I said but we are chatting as well as watching tv, it's now pitch black, can we put a light on, and she said, well I don't like it bright.

And that was fucking that. We couldn't even see each other. 🤷‍♀️

Main ceiling light till about 8.30 - 9pm until I finish cleaning up after dinner etc. Then lamp, fairy lights and candles. So cosy, and perfect for winding down to sleep. People who only use the main light or sit in darkness (even weirder!) perplex me. Surely you want your living room to be cosy when you relax.

Them. Although my ex and sometimes my son, if watching with his dad will watch a film with no lights on. I hate it.

They are. The harsh contrast of a dark room and a bright screen is enough to give me a migraine.

Dimmer switch on main light.

Lamps are great if they are behind or uplit.

People who only use the main light or sit in darkness (even weirder!) perplex me. Surely you want your living room to be cosy when you relax.

I am so irritated by the concept of lamps that I wouldn't relax with them on. There's something about having to find a switch that you can't obviously see or is at a weird height that annoys me so much that I can only countenance the main ceiling light!

I have a bedside lamp but only so I can turn it out from bed. As a student I had a room with a second cord to the main light right above the bed so no need for a lamp. Loved it!