Mom vs. the Bird Brains

You have to admit, people are dumb. Or maybe just ignorant. So today, as I forge out into the world filled with people, I find myself forced to remember that it isn't their fault. It isn't their fault they don't know that you don't put an apostrophe in a plural. It isn't their fault that they don't know which "their, there, they're" to use. They are victims of poor teaching, or not caring enough about the language to not look like morons. (Or is it moron's?)

I've always loved language, and I am just nit-picky enough to learn all its rules and exceptions (I before E except after C and in "ay" sounds like neighbor). To not abide by these simple, simple rules just advertises one's stupidity/ignorance. I cringe when I read the uneducated sentences, often without correct punctuation, sometimes even without subject AND verb. It makes me shudder to think these people are out in the world, representing America and our "superior" education system. What makes me want to tear my hair out and writhe in agony, though, is when folks who ARE educated make these mistakes. They blatantly post signage with misplaced apostrophes, which I am certain has gone past more than one set of eyes. These are corporate bigwigs and managers, who get paid significant amounts of money to what? Look like boobs?

I will leave my red pen at home, as I often must when I go to work. No one likes to see their mistakes, after all, the ones they put out on their advertisements. But inside, my heart is breaking, one misplaced semicolon at a time.