4/14/08

Spell Check

Last weekend, or should that be 'week-end,' we watched the news with Charlie Gibson. DJ is just now getting acquainted with Charlie, but he seems like my old buddy from all the years he was at Good Morning America. Anyway....they had a story about this relatively young man (about 30 years old) who was traveling across the country correcting spelling when he came across mistakes on signs in stores, on billboards, menus, that sort of stuff. One has to ask... "Is he sponsored?" Do they have marathons somewhere like at Yale or Princeton to help him with his expenses? Maybe he's just got a stash of money somewhere. He looked like a nice guy who mostly wants to help people get things right, not point out their mistakes. I certainly can relate to him. But I've observed people usually don't want to know if they've goofed on printing something. Even if they ask you, they don't want to know.

Today I was at the mall having some minor surgery performed on my all-too-new cell phone. Whilst waiting, I stepped into the Hallmark store across from the Verizon outlet. (Although I should mention there were two Verizon stores there; one for technical support and one on the opposite side of the mall for sales. That really annoyed me. But I let it go...) I passed by the Mother's Day items quickly as they made me lonesome and found my way to the Precious Moments, Hallmark movies-of-the-week, and touristy-stuff collections. I looked up to see those ceramic jars they sell everywhere now. They say things like: Retirement Fund, Vacation Fund, Life-Savings and such (some captions are not appropriate on a family-friendly site). My eyes then stopped on the top shelf and I saw them, a dozen of them: "To Much Information" --- cast in ceramics to last until the end of time and available in bulk most likely at Hallmark stores all across America....Sort of a bizarre, "Raise your glass to the technical age, gossip of the week, or brand-new-parents-who-share-the-whole-birthing-experience stories.

I should call that guy. Maybe I can send him a container for his birthday. On second thought he'd probably like one that says, "Travel Funds" better.

5 comments:

Kentucky Bound said...

What else is there for someone who spent 15 years of his life winning every imaginable spelling bee known to man to do? I imagine he sold all of those medals and trophies for scrap and is traveling the countryside in his mini-winnie in an attempt to rid the world of the clutter of misspelled words one sign at a time!

Blessings!

Liz

Anonymous said...

Grace, WAY Too Funny!!!

Amy said...

I wonder if he needs a sidekick?... Or would that be side-kick?

Lelia Chealey said...

That's good.

Thanks so much for your sweet comment on my blog about Amiyah.

I am so in love with this little gift from God.

2nd Cup of Coffee said...

I would personally love to have this man's "job," and so would my would-be editor daughter. Grace, I think you are right about the good friend thing ... if you're into LOST, it's a done deal!