Vindication!

For the longest time one of my pet peeves (Yes, I have a few!) has been a little grammatical rule I have seen torn apart in recent years; ending a sentence in a preposition. To me this in like scraping nails on a chalkboard. And it's everywhere!


I once went into a Barnes and Noble which had a big sign in the front window which read: "10,000 Gifts TO CHOOSE FROM"!!!!!!!! I almost went in to ask the manager where the grammar books were located!

What set me off this time was a mailing I received from Disney for their DVD Club. Their envelope screamed in big red letters "HERE'S THE DISNEY FUN PACK YOU'VE BEEN WAITING FOR!"

AAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

So, I finally decided to go to an expert; my third grade teacher. I have remained friends with Joyce and her family all these years. One of her daughters even babysat for me years ago. I emailed her with my frustration and to double check what I thought had been an engraved on stone rule on grammar. Rules have been known to change and alter through the years and I wanted to make sure I was correct and not simply anal retentive.

The ironic thing is that English was always one of my worst subjects. I can very clearly visualize the mimeographed sheet with the list of prepositions as I sat in her class on the second floor of Oakland Beach Elementary School. Going through the list over and over and over and over just waiting for my ears to bleed. Apparently, it had an affect.

She emailed back within an hour that I was, in fact, correct. More than that, she was tickled by the email. I've given her a fun story to tell her other teacher friends.

"See, I'm so damned good that they keep coming back to me for lessons thirty years later!"

From now on, please don't ask me "Where are you at?". If you do be ready for a tirade fueled by confirmation from the world's best source; my third grade teacher!