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True story: I have a new assistant at work. I'm a national clinical trainer for our company, and we have opened many new clinics in the past year. A new position was created for an assistant trainer due to my increased workload.
This week she completed her first assigned workflows and documents. When she showed them to me I quickly scanned a few pages and observed that they were full of grammatical and spelling errors, misplaced apostrophes, and run-on sentences.
I asked her if this was her rough draft, and she told me it was her final, completed project.
I thought about how I could tactfully approach this and finally remarked, casually, "Great, let's just run it through spell check then we can finalize the documents."
She said, "I've already spell checked everything. It's fine."
I gently started pointing out just a few things that I wanted to correct, and she quickly became angry.
She said, "I doubt if anyone is going to complain if there are spelling mistakes in the documents we send out. No one will care."
I pointed out that we are the Education and Training Department, and I can't post documents that contain spelling and grammatical errors.
First off thanks for telling me I have spelling mistakes. How many of you even said anything about the dish it's self? I take it you all spelled every thing correct seance you were 15 years old. I have every right to stand up and fight for my self. Its nice to see people come together even if its to kick a person in the rips And make them looked like a pieced of Sh**.
So wiseguy your serving yer fresh chicken on a dirty plate.
I wish I can watch I work!
Take you're know itall attitude with you.
He,s not like that All the time Take watch the show first before becomming Nasty your self!
Do he knows this page even exist?
Why are you asking questions you all ready know the answer of?
I pointed out that we are the Education and Training Department, and I can't post documents that contain spelling and grammatical errors.
Just so, just so. I had a curriculum person I was doing written translations for (hand-outs for a teacher training), & she told me she didn't know markup - the standard English/Journalism markup, as no one has the time to actually write all that stuff out. So I made her a copy & asked her to hang onto it - 'cause there were a lot of typos & run-ons & fragments & etc. & we were going to work together a lot.
I wonder how she did, finally. It seemed weird to me, I figured that any college or university was going to run its students through @ least a basic English diagnostic, & drill drill drill on basic comp & lit. How she managed not to learn that stuff before is beyond me.
Just so, just so. I had a curriculum person I was doing written translations for (hand-outs for a teacher training), & she told me she didn't know markup - the standard English/Journalism markup, as no one has the time to actually write all that stuff out. So I made her a copy & asked her to hang onto it - 'cause there were a lot of typos & run-ons & fragments & etc. & we were going to work together a lot.
I wonder how she did, finally. It seemed weird to me, I figured that any college or university was going to run its students through @ least a basic English diagnostic, & drill drill drill on basic comp & lit. How she managed not to learn that stuff before is beyond me.
Agreed. My new assistant was really upset with me for the rest of the day, and she kept mentioning that in college no one ever had a problem with her work.
The next day when she came in she apologized for being angry with me but said she still didn't "get it" why I wanted some of the corrections I had requested. In particular she took issue with the apostrophes I had highlighted.
Example: "Nursing student's should bring their lunch's and keep their cell phone's put away. On Monday's they will be given parking pass's for the week."
I felt like I was teaching third grade English class when I attempted to explain the proper use of an apostrophe. She argued with me and said that in each case the apostrophe (in the example I mentioned above) was for a "possession word." She said she learned "in college" (didn't most of us learn this in elementary school) they were taught that "possession words" always need an apostrophe.
Agreed. My new assistant was really upset with me for the rest of the day, and she kept mentioning that in college no one ever had a problem with her work.
...
Yah. Elements of style, run the spellchecker & the syntax checker, & drill drill drill. A good dictionary, an AP or Chicago Tribune stylebook (or your choice) - & watch her work like a hawk.
The funniest bit was people faxing in pencil on gray paper for translation &/or review. They always wanted the stuff (however many pages - right away).
There is nothing like wiry, thinning gray hair with shinny bald spots.
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I gotta gotta got no time ...
