I Have Issues

My brain is programmed to pick up grammatical errors. Have I ever told you that before? I’ve noticed this about myself more since I’ve been at my current job than I ever did before. In fact, in December/January it had gotten to the point that I was actually talking to an advisor at OU about going back for my Masters to go into editing. And then, I peed on a stick, a plus sign appeared, and everything was put on hold. But, this is what happens in my brain:

actual excerpt: “Once this was done, they’re product would work…”

my brain: “Once this was done, they’re product would work…”

See what I mean? Issues! Why I can’t just ignore it and go on about my day, I don’t know. I’m an editor for our company newsletter, and on my rotation, I take the liberty to correct grammatical errors in articles I’ve been sent. I take the term “editor” to heart. It’s very gratifying. But, under normal circumstances, as is the case with the excerpt above, my job is not to worry with the grammatical errors in an email I got. My concern is supposed to be the malfunctioning product to which the email is referring.

I’m not saying I never make mistakes, or that I can spell every word in the English language, but I notice things…a lot. When I don’t remember how a word is spelled, I’m aware of that fact, and I look it up. I very rarely use spell check. I’m very arrogant about it. I don’t come right out and tell people I don’t use spell check, aside from this very moment in the midst of my confession. It’s more of a quiet arrogance when I see the check mark icon, and think to myself, “I don’t need you, spell check. You never find anything anyway.” I wanted my final paper in college to be perfect, so I took it to the library to have someone look it over and proofread it for me. They sent me home with some corrections, and instead of believing they were right and I was wrong, I got a second opinion. The proofreader was an English major, and I was not. It is very unlike me not to question myself or my abilities, but I couldn’t believe I’d make that many mistakes. So, I got my mother the English teacher’s opinion. I was right in all but a couple of the instances. As further proof, my grade on that paper was very high. It is literally the one ability of mine in which I don’t question myself.