Taking a bite out of crime

So over at the Typo Eradication Advancement League (TEAL), grammar enthusiasts Jeff Deck and Benjamin Herson have finally posted a statement relative to their recent conviction for vandalizing National Park property in their zeal to correct perceived typos on a sign at the Grand Canyon. Here’s an excerpt:

A Statement on the Signs of our National Parks and Public Lands

There are many aspects to the ongoing task of being a responsible American citizen.  One aspect in particular is often overlooked; namely, that one should not vandalize or damage signs on the National Parks and public lands.  Such actions include but are not limited to fixing spelling mistakes on signs.  It is absolutely egotistical for one to think that one can tell others how to spell. In addition, one never knows whether a sign has historic value concealed within it.  What appears to be an ordinary sign may in fact be the work of a heroic local artist.  Some signs may be irreplaceable and unfixable.  One should ask before modifying signs, because altering signs without the permission of the owner is a crime!!

So there you have it, folks, and any would-be grammar vandal or vigilante beware: altering signs without the permission of the owner–no matter how justified you may feel your cause–is a crime. And, evidently, it is “absolutely egotistical” to even for a second think that you can tell another person how to spell. Well. Okay then.

Read the rest of TEAL’s statement.

Have typo? Will travel.

Well, check out Jeff Deck and Benjamin Herson, two young grammarsnappers who have devoted their spring to the Cause. According to the Boston Globe:

     Jeff Deck and Benjamin Herson have a different objective in mind as they motor across the country this spring in their ’97 Nissan Sentra.

     They chase the misplaced apostrophe, the disagreeing subject and verb.

     They seek, in short, to do for America’s public signage what spell-check software has done for interoffice e-mail: smarten it up and make it easier on the eye. Their weapons: Wite-Out, markers, ink pens, tape, and nerves of steel.

Irritated by the ever-present onslaught of typos in the world (and who isn’t, really?), these two have boldly chosen to go beyond the blogosphere with their grievances (although they do have a blog, natch). Instead, they are using their apparently abundantly free time to drive around the country confronting punctuation and grammar scofflaws with the error of their ways.

MRP normally eschews this kind of confrontational behavior unless specifically invited to opine on someone’s grammatical abilities (for example, in my job as an editor) but these guys seem to have a good attitude about it:

     Deck, speaking by phone from somewhere in the Deep South as he and Herson rumble westward, says the point of the trip isn’t to wag fingers at those who commit or ignore signage errata. It’s to raise public awareness around an issue – a plague, really – that typically elicits a blank stare or shoulder shrug, if that.

     “We’re not going after people in a self-righteous manner, like fashion police. Or trying to make them look stupid,” Deck said. “Instead, we’re addressing specific errors like confusing ‘its’ for ‘it’s’ or ‘you’re” for ‘your.’

Unlike the rage-driven prescriptivist vigilantism favored by Lynne Truss in Eats, Shoots and Leaves, Jeff and Benjamin are humorous and insightful as they engage with people across the country. Read more about their excellent adventure at the Typo Eradication Advancement League.