I was on a slow drive to nowhere for a while yesterday morning.
Well, you’re never going nowhere, I suppose. I was heading in a straight line (in St. Thomas, to be exact) but traffic was exceedingly slow despite a complete lack of construction, crashes or other foul-ups. So I had some time to explore the sights of the retailers along the road. I know I sound like a broken record – or a skipping MP3 for you kids – but how can so many of us claim to be literate when we can’t even remember the simple things about our language?
On one sign: Video’s and more! ARGH. Whenever someone plops an apostrophe into the plural form of a word like that, I physically cringe.
On another sign: Huge clearence sale! Come on! Clearance! It’s just goofy.
An after-school tutoring business near my home recently sported a rent-a-sign with a huge grammatical gaffe. I truly wish I could remember it but it made us gasp. It was corrected the next day.
Everybody makes mistakes. Occasionally someone will send me a little email to let me know that I’ve left a typo on this blog and they’re pretty cool about it because speedy fingers can make errors and weary eyes can miss them during a proof-read. But holy canoli, Batman! To have your permanent business sign declare that you sell Video’s??? It makes my spine turn to jelly and my lips curl as if I’m taking in a bad smell. And it’s everywhere! It’s enough to make a person want to throw up their hands and say, I can’t change the world! And I can’t. But WE can!