GRAMMAR POLICE, STOP!!

Most of us have explored social media and witnessed many faux pas involving grammar, spelling and punctuation.    Often, I find myself, chuckling at the absurdity of some of it, “blessing their hearts,” for some individuals writing, and blatantly excusing some of it when I know who wrote it.

While social media has given so many of us the freedom to express our thoughts openly and without fear, it has also given us the opportunity to express our poor grammar, spelling and punctuation skills.  Our posting hurriedly and auto correct on our electronic devices has also given those reading some chuckles, which we can’t honestly take credit for.

Amid all this freedom we enjoy, we torture another group.   THE GRAMMAR POLICE!!  Should we apologize?  Maybe. Maybe not.

In all honesty, I don’t feel the need to apologize, and I was recently called down for the inappropriate use of a verb.  In my defense, I composed the post while sitting in a waiting room at a doctor’s appointment with one of my parents.  I scheduled the post for publication without double checking the grammatical composition.

I awoke on the morning of the post with a sharp admonishment from someone I don’t know.  It stung.    I re-read the post and made the appropriate correction, still feeling a little put out.    What right did she have to correct me?   I strive to maintain a positive outlook, but she had ruffled my feathers, as my mother would say.   So, I stalked her page on Facebook and low and behold she had allowed a grammatical error to slip by.  Well, being the southerner that I am and with feathers still ruffled I realized she was not perfect either.

The post in which my grammar failed was part of a positivity campaign, and I was miffed that she could not simply overlook the mistake and take the good from the post.  So…… I messaged her privately and apologized for subjecting her to my poor grammar and not proofreading the post before publishing it.   I also pointed out the purpose of the post and thanked her for her reprimand; as it would remind me to double check my posts in the future.  She had the decency not to respond to my message.  She probably felt as I did when my feathers settled back into place; a response to my message would not have helped the situation.   After all she had achieved what she sought, I corrected the post and hopefully won’t be careless enough to commit grammar murder in the future.

I think we have all read the snide snippets some grammar police post on their walls and have probably realized from time to time most of us are guilty.   Some from lack of knowledge, some fueled by agitation, some hurriedly performing a task which must be done and probably, some just do not care.

I, for one, admire those of you who effortlessly compose words that inspire and are forever grammatically correct.   I have called on friends to peruse material I plan to deliver at meetings or in speech form.   I’ve become more adept through much research as I write more frequently.

But, please STOP!! There is much to be bent out of shape about on social media.   We are never all going to agree with each other’s beliefs, outlooks or expectations.  Do you take time to post your belief on every post you disagree with?   I doubt it and if you do, I know you’re busy enough you should not have time to worry about the poor fate of grammar.   If I or those who make you feel as if nails are scraping across a chalk board when you read their posts, just don’t.  Don’t follow the pages they participate with, unfollow them, unfriend them, whatever takes.

You have the right to express yourself and do it as grammatically correct as you please.  We, who fail at grammar from time to time also have the right to express ourselves and if you will look beyond a simple grammatical error, we are often expressing thoughts that are worth reading.  If we’re not, it won’t bother you to stop reading, seething and having a burning desire to correct.

JUST STOP!!  We have our faults and you have yours.