Dreaded Sticklers!

Do you get frustrated when people are such sticklers to grammar and spelling? Do you groan when your boss gets all worked up over some punctuation missed out in an official mail? Do you feel like beating the living daylights of those who crib about little errors in the written language? Well then trust me you are not alone. Not alone in that there are others who would like to join you in your mission to wipe out this community of overzealous moralists - the Dreaded Stickers!!

Well, this topic came up as I and a friend were rambling about nothing in particular. And jokes apart, the truth is I am perhaps more inclined to call myself a stickler than being lenient to grave bloopers in writing! Of course I try not to overdo it knowing that it sounds condescending and terribly critical. I talked about a similar situation when someone who was obviously a stickler (or was pretending to be one!) ranted and raved about a post in a forum (here http://sowmyaravindran.blogspot.com/2006/07/when-rudeness-is-condoned.html).
I am opposed to making impolite remarks and terribly rude comments, and I realise that sticklers have this innate tendency to go overboard. Intentional or not, this is an unacceptable quirk - nit picking and patronising critique are definitely unseemly.

Perhaps you have something to say on this? Make the world know how you cannot stand people making a big hue and cry over practically invisible misspellings and forgivable flaws. Or would you rather talk about some blunders that left you reeling! My only request is let's keep it nice and without sarcasm. Be witty! Post your comments.

PS: Here's a popular link you might like to check out.
http://eatsshootsandleaves.com/eslex.html

When Rudeness is Condoned

Courtesy - a word that signifies politeness, respect and civilised behaviour is so commonly uncommon these days! Perhaps some would call me overly sensitive, but the truth is that most of us exhibit this 'learned behaviour' of condoning and acting rude in order to get things done. Let's start with how the boss treats his subordinates or how a teacher reprimands a misbehaving student. Granted, sometimes students seem to have asked for such treatment from those who seek to protect and guide them. But is this reason enough?

Looking back, I get the feeling that we are quite deep into the concept of being 'authoritative and commanding' in order to seem accomplished. We are so desensitised to bad manners that when the thin line of polite behaviour is breached we barely notice how easy it is to move to being openly harsh and cynical.

Perhaps this might help getting the point across. I came across this post in a forum I regularly visit, and I guess I should not be surprised by the crude and callous remarks made by one of the regulars there. But the point is not even that this obnoxious guy actually made a rude comment, but that the remark was intended at someone who had tried to help out a person with a query. Accoording to the strongly worded allegations of Mr. O (couldn't resist calling him that as a short form for obnoxious!), the person who tried to answer a question had neither the skills required nor the language expertise to post a reply in what Mr. O termed as 'amateurish'! And then this person also had the gall to rephrase the entire mail of the poor guy into a two-liner. Now, the original was atleast a page long and admittedly not a great work of literary credit! But did it deserve this kind of stinging critisism? I don't think so. In this case however the other members did vocalise their unhappiness with Mr. O's post.

Thank god for small mercies!!