Grammar Arrogance

I've noticed a frequency of Facebook posts lately, some are typed, some are memes. Both types are regarding others imperfect writing skills. Each time I read these posts, it breaks my heart. Shame should never be a tool to teach, call out, or correct others. It's counterproductive.

So I am writing to all the people who take pride in their perfect use of grammar.

Let me preface my reaction by saying, if you have reached out to kindly aid others in their weakness, thank you. Your help has been invaluable as well as graceful. I, and others, appreciate your kindness and instruction.

However, to those of you who think proper grammar translates to moral superiority, you are mistaken. Your judgement and arrogance is ugly and it actually makes you look stupid when you boast about your greatness by belittling others.

Yes, some people did not appy themselves in school. Yet many others have had to contend with a learning disability, or early trauma which caused them to shut down instead of learning. Some had poor teachers or teachers who shamed them. Some were discouraged from learning for reasons you have no idea about.

Social media is SOCIAL. It is not academic. We all use it to connect with those in our social circles. We are using technology rather than our voices to communicate. For some of us we've written and read more in the last decade than we ever have in our lives. We don't write perfectly, but we are trying.

Feel free to go to scholarly sites and critique away, but let social media be about the people first. If someone on your feed has difficulty writing, either private message them and offer instruction gracefully or scroll by without reading. But do not correlate their character with their skill. And do not shame them!

If you are so petty as to judge another's character on their ability to write a perfectly structured sentence that is grammatically correct with proper punctuation and spelling then your pride has deceived you. Your boasting has revealed your flaws. Welcome to the human race where no one is perfect.

True, some folks are weak in their writing skills. Also true, some folks have mastered that skill and yet, have become arrogant. What do these two things mean? Both parties have a lot to learn.

We're all on this journey together. Let's do and say things that are helpful and encouraging to one another. Let's stop shaming one another. Let's be kind.