Friday, March 27, 2009

I'm not alone!


I have long entertained a fantasy of creeping around the West End and Lehigh Valley area in full ninja gear, armed with a can of spray paint, to fix the massive amounts of misspelled signs. Someone should tell Burger King that “chili,” is spelled with only one L, Wendy’s that “Caesar” is not spelled, “Cesar”, Shoprite that “vinager” is actually spelled vinegar, and the auto parts place that “clearance” only has two E’s. My friends even got me a shirt, proclaiming me, “La Grande Reductora”—The Grand Editor.

Apparently, I’m not the only person who feels this way. Two friends from college, Jeff Deck and Benjamin Herson, formed something called “TEAL,” or the “Typo Eradication Advancement League.” They may not dress in black and work their grammatical magic after dark, but they do offer their services, free of charge, to businesses around the country, using spray paint, white-out, and black electrical tape to correct potentially embarrassing typos.

Of course, not everyone appreciates their hard, pro-bono work. TEAL got in some serious trouble a while back when they corrected a sign in the Grand Canyon by painting over an extra apostrophe. Since TEAL documented all of their corrections on their websites, it wasn’t hard for the federal government to track them down, arrest them for defacing federal property, and fine them several thousand dollars. (The government also replaced the “defaced” sign, including the erroneous apostrophe. Your tax dollars at work, folks.)

After that injustice, TEAL seems to have gone underground; their website has been stripped, and all you find in a web search are reports on their past heroics.

If I can find them, I might just “sign” up.

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Beware the sound of crying children, watch out for the barmaids, and whatever you do, don't let the Pegasus spit on you.
Surviving Serendipity--http://www.sylvaniamania.com

3 comments:

Iris Black said...

I was familiar with your editorial tendencies- but an underground league? Wow Jackie, that's um, well... dedication, shall we say?

Lol

Iris
http://irisblack-author.blogspot.com

Mary Cunningham said...

I'll get matching ninja gear! I can't stand careless misspellings! Although I have to confess to making a sign, many years ago, for a "Chile" Supper. Hate to think how many I made before someone told me it was "Chili." (blush)

Mary
http://www.cynthiasattic.blogspot.com

Rose317 said...

And don't forget "Venders Only" on the sign at the Saylorsburg Flea Market's secondary entrance. I'm assuming that's the VENDOR entrance, to be used only by VENDORS, not the general public. tee-hee... I'll join your ninja crew, I HATE misspellings! Worse even is finding them in best-sellers. To think they could mass produce something with a mistake in it! And we pay good money for them! Don't get me started...