A new hero for the people

It's a slightly old news story, but one I just discovered: a man named Jeff Deck is traveling throughout the USA, fixing typos and grammatical errors on signs. This man is my new hero. And not only is he my new hero, but he's so dedicated that he's actually started an organization, the Typo Eradication Advancement League (TEAL).

As Ben will readily attest, I obsess over spelling errors. Obsess. I can't help it - if I see one, I'm irresistibly drawn to it, much in the same way that you keep worrying a sore spot in your mouth with your tongue, even though you know you shouldn't. If I find one on a restaurant menu, I'd have better already made up my mind about my order, because there's no way I'll be able to focus on anything else from that point on.

As far as the most annoying grammatical error goes, there are many who would argue on behalf of the double negative, the run-on sentence, or the fewer vs less debacle, but my greatest peeves are as follows:

- Improper apostrophe use. In my local grocery store, a sign proclaims that an aisle stocks "egg's". I nearly break out into hives every time I see it. (Of course, if even a teacher can't even get this one right, what hope is there for future generations?)

- Speaking of aisles, I understand that homonyms can be tricky. I really do. But for the love of all that is holy, please learn the difference between your/you're, there/they're/there, aisle/isle, etc. Please. If I ever have to read "Throw you're birdseed at the newlyweds while there walking back up the isle," I might actually have an aneurysm.

As a side note, this may be the most unintentionally hilarious shirt ever:

- Random capitalization. For some reason, this is especially rampant in Australia, and even more in the real estate industry. In my graphic designer days, I fixed these on literally every.single.ad. "3 Bedroom home with new Kitchen, Large living room..." It wasn't the fault of one particular agent - that's how they all write. It was like working in a grammatical torture chamber.

At least now, thanks to Jeff Deck, I know I'm not alone.

P.S. I just saw this from failblog.org (by the way, Google Reader may be the best invention ever), and declare it most excellent:

Oh, and photo credit where credit is due, because I'm thoughtful like that: 1, 2, 3