Editing can be Criminal

Earlier this year, a group was formed. They called themselves the Typo Eradication Advancement League (or TEAL, since every organization needs an acronym). Mr. Jeff Deck was the founder, and he and a few fellow grammar crusaders decided to go around the country this past spring repairing publicly-displayed grammatical errors wherever they could. They had a blog tracking their progress, which, sadly, I didn't get to read. Why? Because the great journey came to an abrupt and legally-embroiled end. Jeff and a friend were arrested for vandalism and defacement of Government property after one of their red-pen pit stops. They apparently corrected a sign in the Grand Canyon National Park- a sign that is classified as a National Historic Landmark. Now they've got thousands to pay in fines and they've been banned from national parks for a year. And their blog? If you visit today, all you will find is a (semi-) convincing soliloquy on the criminal implications of vandalizing signs in National Parks.

Maybe part of their punishment was to remove all evidence of their editing exploits.

If you know me at all, you know how much I love the English language, and therefore, how much I love to hate the horrific abuse of it that daily takes place. I can say there have been times I've actually grimaced at an error in a public place, but I don't think I would ever have the nerve to correct it myself. I think the very reason I am so affected (appalled? irrationally irritated?) by grammatical errors is the same thing that would keep me from vandalizing a sign in the name of correction: I am a rule-follower. I don't walk across lawns when sidewalks are right there. I don't use handicap-accessible doors because they were not made for me. And under no circumstances do I ever read the last page of a book first. Rules are a comfort to my first-born personality.

That said, there's a vigilante inside me who cheered at TEAL's attempts to defend our English language.