Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Who knew there was a Mr. Correct-All ? We're NOT married!

From a story on ABCNEWS (link above):

"Some of the littlest things are big to Jeff Deck,
who is traveling the country in search of mistakes. "


I know, I know, it's a freakish thing to want to go around
correcting the world.

It seems Jeff Deck and I are like-minded,
but I don't have time to actually go and correct
all publicly-displayed typographical errors.

Myself, I just have to let it go. But I'm proud
of Jeff, sort of. And I'm sort of wondering
if he doesn't really have some better things
to do.

I mean, in spite of my love of correct spelling
and my loathing of apostrophe abuse,
there are more important things in life.

If you decide to watch the video clip of this story,
please note that Jeff says near the end
that it isn't his goal to make people feel dumb.

This is what I've been trying to explain
to Mr. Amazing and others for years.

Our hearts and minds are seeking correctness,
aren't they, Jeff?

It's not our desire to see
someone feeling bad about having
"done it wrong".

We just want others to know the joy that
is ours when we see things done correctly.

But I have some sad news for you, Jeff.
They don't care. At least that's what I've
always been told.

They don't want to know when
they're wrong.

But thanks for trying, Jeff.
You're so lucky.....
you got to make a vacation of it, while
I sit here in ugly pajamas, unable to do
a single thing about the sign in my
neighbors' yard that reads:

[ THE JACKSONS' ] *

Daily I wait, asking myself,
"What do the Jacksons own?"
"What redeeming noun will they place at the end of that sign?"

Some folks' have all the luck, Jeff....

{Please tell me you see the error in the above sentence. Please tell me you do.
I tried to just throw it out there and not address it. But I can't have you thinking
I'm an apostrophe abuser. I just can't.}

Disclaimer: In order to protect the "Jackson" family,
their name has been changed here. :>)

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your mind never ceases to amaze!

Her Royal Highness said...

Could one assume the Jacsons' home is what they own? Just a thought.

** H ** said...

Her Royal Highness....
Cursed are the minds of the
Correct-Alls (plural, no apostrophe) in the world.

I can barely answer your question because I'm hung up on the missing "k" in [Jacsons']

Blast it all! Cursed, I say!
On to your question...
Yes, one COULD assume in THIS instance, I suppose, that
[THE JACKSONS'] means
"This is the home that belongs to the Jacksons, a party of two or more."

That, I gggguueeesssssss, gets one family off the hook.

It doesn't leave much hope for Sally and Dale Prim or their three lovely felines. The purchased a lovely 6-tier wooden sign at a craft show recently.
The way their sign reads, there is a party of two or more whose last name is Prim. The Prim party OWNS a Dale, a Sally, a Muffin, a Sparkles, and a Pookie.
[The Prims']
[Dale]
[Sally]
[Muffin]
[Sparkles]
[Pookie]

Now, one could also argue, Ms. Highness, that the above referenced sign says exactly what it's intended to say. I'd have to disagree.
BUT... if Dale and Sally were to exchange the first tier for a sign that said [ The Prim Family: ],
I'd drop all charges. I'd even let
them leave off the colon after
their name.
As if Dale and Sally give a rip
about whether or not I approve of
their sign, right?

All that to say... thank you,
Ms. Highness, for your thoughts.
The Jacksons' HOME.

I'm going over there right now, in fact, to put a sticky note in the lower right hand corner of their sign that says [HOME] !
Great suggestion!

Anyone have any ideas for how I can get away with "helping" the Prims now? LOL

** H **