Recently while looking through a popular catalog for silly trinkets and clever clothing I came across something. It was a sweatshirt that said “Commas Save Lives”. It was accompanied by the two phrases, “Let’s eat, Grandma.” And “Let’s eat Grandma”. See the difference? The misuse of the comma is also the bane of many an English teacher across the country. Commas are very useful of course, in fact, necessary as they separate correlating pairs, verbs from subjects, etc. Commas can also on occasion change the meaning of the message quite
un-intentionally as in “Let’s EAT GRANDMA.” Instead of asking Grandma to eat, it implies you are going to eat grandma herself. That’s quite a difference.
I’m writing this presentation to ask you to slow down. The technology we enjoy today speeds up our lives in many ways. We have 24-hour news and constant contact with anyone we want through cell phones, email and texts. Facebook and Twitter accelerates the hustle. We see more people walking around looking down at their smartphones, searching Google, trading messages and posting selfies and other photos as if it cannot wait. Someone out there right now may be reading this and also looking at an incoming text in the lower right-hand corner of their iPhone…
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