Give them something that will let them ignore you
"Hey Jess, you know how you're always saying I have trouble expressing my feelings in a productive way, and that every time I try I just make you more upset?"
"Umm. Yes. Yes I do."
"Well, I got you these Sony wireless noise-canceling headphones to help with that."
"Thank you, Sean, these look great. But how are they going to help you express your feelings?"
"Oh no, they won't do that. I've decided that I'm simply too emotionally immature to vocalize my own emotions in a useful way. Instead, you can just turn on the noise-canceling features anytime I start getting upset."
"OK…"
"See, it can be used anywhere within 150 feet of the sound source, so whether I start breaking down in the kitchen or bedroom, you can just slap these on and avoid the whole mess altogether."
"I think I see where you're going with this. But what if you say something really important? I want to make sure I hear it."
"Don't worry. I won't. My emotions are so masked behind a wall of anger and petulance that no meaningful expression shall ever emerge. And the Ni-MH rechargeable batteries will make sure you'll be able to drown out my ham-fisted ramblings indefinitely."
"All right, well thank you sweetie, it's the nicest thing you've ever done."
"What do you mean? Do you mean I haven't been nice in the past. I think I've been pretty nice. I've done a lot of good things for you, Jessica, and I don't think I deserve this kind of treatment. My dad always said I was a failure but YOU KNOW WHAT --"
"What's that? I didn't hear any of it with these headphones on."
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