Okay, is it just me, or is the level of grammatical ability of the average Joe taking a plunge? I would never even suggest that I have a perfect memory, but I don’t remember seeing so many grammatical errors in print 20 years ago. It seems to have gotten really bad the last 10 years. I know that at faculty meetings, I would ply my language arts buddies with questions about their experiences with their students. They seemed to agree with me about the lack of understanding of conventional English in their classrooms. In particular, the proper use of the oh-so-popular apostrophe. It seems that, nowadays, people are afraid to put an “s” on the end of a word without an apostrophe. For instance, consider the flyer posted in the elevator at a popular Lubbock retirement village, advertising an up-coming event: “Resident’s will be treated to the lively sounds of (performer’s name)…” Come on, why does that word need an apostrophe? Why would anyone even consider putting one there? Oh, and don’t even get me started on the improper use of there, their and they’re! And if I only had a nickel for every time a student wrote me a note saying “Your the best teacher in the world!” I loved the sentiment, but PLEEEEEEEASE get the grammar right! So, everyone out there who shares my love for the English language, please help me stamp out ignorance wherever you see it. There…you are hereby deputized! Go forth and correct!!
