I am vividly aware that more and more people in this country are becoming lazy.  How am I coming to this conclusion?  From the simple fact the like the old Staples commercials, we are constantly looking for an "easy" button.

Case in point, when I was in high school back in 1999 (old, I know), our computers did not have the luxury of the auto correct option.  If you made a mistake when typing, you needed to proof read the material yourself and then make the necessary changes.  Granted, I believe that I was lucky enough to have spell check, but that was it.  You were held responsible for knowing what you were trying to say and for properly typing these thoughts onto the computer.

Flash forward to 2013 and you have the invention of the auto correct feature. While this can be helpful at times, I find it to be more of a hindrance.  The program does not recognize many proper names, so it tries to fill the name in with a similar name.  Not good!  Furthermore, it makes the writer even more cautious about hitting the "send" button because the entire message can come out as gibberish.

Take this portion of an e-mail that my mom sent me from her smart phone:

"Just leaving Target.  I wad bad again.  I made some poor woman on her  cellphone uncomfortable.  She wad talking with someone about what they  did last high, wink, wink and I needed something intent aisle!"

Yikes!!  I soon called my mom to see if she was okay as this message was almost undecipherable.   The message should have read:

"Just leaving Target.  I WAS bad again.  I made some poor woman on her cellphone uncomfortable.  She WAS talking with someone about what they did last
NIGHT, wink, wink and I needed something IN THAT aisle!"

My mom soon vented her frustrations with auto correct.  She stated that she had to spend most of her time entering words into the program's dictionary so that it would not keep changing words on her.  So, for all you texting fiends, you may want to think twice about sending messages versus just picking up the phone and calling your friend.  Your message may be better received and understood.

I have been stunned and amazed at the horrible grammar that I have encountered in the past few weeks.  I spent $35 to join the official Selena Gomez Fan Club.  Like a child waiting for Christmas, I watched my mailbox for my packet.  When it arrived, I was greatly disappointed.  I had received my laminate and a letter that was supposedly crafted by Ms. Selena.  However, my heart sank as I read the second line:  "I have the best bans in the world!"  Really?  "Bans?"  Not only was that a glaring mistake, but, the paper that the letter was printed on was glossy.  And this is what all fan club members
receive.  Does Selena not have a PR team that proof reads things that go out in her name?  

Similarly, I attended a meeting for one of the organizations that I am a member of.  The group is holding a large fund raising campaign for a new building project.  At each seat sat a beautifully laminated bookmark, complete with the group's logo and a picture of what the future building would look like. 

As I began to read, I noticed something.  One sentence dealt with how long the group has been serving the community and it read "...for over 55years..."  Yes, there was no space between the number 55 and the word "years."  Sighing, I continued on and came to most hideous error of them all.  A line read, "....and *Poochie is proud of it's service to the community."  NO!  Not the infamous wrong use of "it's"! 

Sadly, yes.  As a Mass Communications major with a English minor, this infuriates me!  Not to mention the fact that my mom is a teacher.  This is how she teaches her students the difference of its and it's:  "Try using it in a sentence.  If you use it's, it will read 'Poochie is proud of it is service to the community.'  Does this sound right?"  And the worst part?  It had the CEO's name stamped at the bottom.

Please, proof read your materials before sending them out en mass.  It only takes a second and makes a world of difference.  Do not take the risk of jeopardizing your company's/star's credibility.  Thank you!


*name has been changed