I’ve previously mentioned on this blog, and in a connected facebook post, the concern I have that I am beginning to turn into a curmudgeon, and furthermore, that I seem on course to becoming a stereotypical grumpy old man.
I seem to become most agitated by the writings of many. Yes, I know language is a living thing, which is why we no longer say things like, “Forsooth, dost thee indeed disputeth these immutable truths?” Language changes daily. That’s good. But it’s the sloppy way in which many write today, ignoring the basics of vocabulary, grammar, and punctuation, that disturbs me in a way in which it did not a short while ago. Certainly the fundamentals of written English were not simply cast away when this young century began.
I am not yet boring and irritating those around me by voicing my criticisms of the errors I come across, or of the numerous trends which disturb me. In my earlier post I even turned my concerns into a joke. Nonetheless, critical umbrage is far too frequently rolling around in my head like ping pong balls in a lottery blower.
There are many things disturbing me about this, but probably none more fiercely than that I dislike the fact that I’m having these judgmental thoughts at all, not to mention the time I’m wasting by internally rehashing them and getting myself all worked up. Yet I seem unable to stop.
I’m at a fork in the road.
I can take the road of hectoring, by writing snide columns and posts, and pouncing on everything I read which is not “up to standard.” I have considered and discarded that path.
Instead, I will pray that my indignation will cool down, and realize that the way I can best contribute to the situation is to endeavour to write as well as I can, hoping that if that writing is of any value, it will in some small degree lift the overall quality of the cascade of words which modern communication elicits daily.
