Grammar Snobs Unite

If you’ve been reading my blog, you know I’m looking for part-time, from-home work. Much easier said than done.

I’ve had a good nibble, and I’m waiting to see whether the big fish bites. In the meantime, I keep applying. I heard back from another company the other day. The email told me I was being considered for a position. They explained I’d need to pass two tests first. (This is pretty standard.) I continued reading the email. It went on to tell me how much they pay per hour. (Twelve year old babysitters make more. Not a joke. I recently got an email looking for a reputable teenage babysitter, so I know how much they make.) The company’s email went on to tell me that if I had a PhD, I could make $2 more per hour—the wage someone was willing to pay a babysitter.

The email ended by saying I needed to hurry because the tests were due on June 11 and they were eager to hire for fall of 2012.

Um, yeah. A friend suggested that the email was the real test and I ought to correct it and send it back.

But the whole thing got me to thinking. Honestly, people don’t seem to care much about written communication anymore. Not a day goes by where I don’t see an error in a sign, newspaper, or book. (There’s an interstate sign in my city that drives me crazy because it has an abbreviation error. And don’t even get me started on mail that arrives addressed to the “Keller’s.” Really? Singular possessive?!)  I’m beginning to feel the urge to start carrying a red Sharpie on a string around my neck. The problem is I don’t think I’ll be able to limit myself to correcting only mail, newspapers, and books. Pretty soon, you’re going to read that Connie Keller was arrested for propping a twenty foot ladder in a lane of traffic on Interstate 24 so she could correct a sign. No doubt, all my grammar Nazi friends will rally to support me. It might not be a big group. But our signs will all be spelled correctly.

What I'm Up To, Reading and Trying to Avoid Chewing Glass

What I’ve Read.

I just finished an excellent thriller for Blogging for Books. (Review here) It was The Catch by Taylor Stevens. I’m not sure what was more interesting the novel, set in Djibouti and Kenya with pirates et al., or the author’s actual life (she was born into the horrible Children of God cult and didn’t escape until she was in her twenties.)

My husband and I are doing a read aloud. We did this almost every day/night with the kids when they were young—we got through a ton of books. Everything from Chronicles of Narnia to Harry Potter to LOTR. Matt listened to LOTR while he was still in a highchair. (Don't roll your eyes. He loved it.) I used to make hot chocolate and give the kids coloring pages with colored pencils (none of the kids liked crayons). In any case, my husband and I were missing those times. So I bought a copy of Daniel Silva’s The Heist (a spy thriller) and now we take turns reading aloud before we go to sleep at night. It’s been especially fun as Cal and I love art—one reads and the other Googles the paintings mentioned in the book. Then, I say, “Cool, we saw that Caravaggio at the Met!”

What I’m Writing.

I’m editing my upmarket women’s fiction. It’s set in the South in the late 1940s. One of the things I’ve done this week is tune up the details of a mansion mentioned in the novel—I’ve been drooling over photos of the Biltmore. I knew I’d find a use for the pictorial guide we bought when we visited.

What I’m Doing.

Still applying for jobs. I should hear from one in particular in the next two weeks. I’m really hoping for that one, especially after I’ve seen what else is available. Some jobs that I’m qualified for…well, let’s just say I’d rather chew glass. But hey, a job is a job, so I’ll take what I can get.