So ANGRY!

I don't think of myself as a person who gets upset over little things. I usually don't. I'm really trying to be civil and let this one go, but I'm having serious issues.

I've been writing short little articles for my church newspaper. They're supposed to be cute and chirpy interviews with members of a ministerial search committee and I've been happy to do the job. Of course, the material is a little sensitive to the church so they want to look at the articles before they are published in order to maintain a little PR control. No problem. BUT DON'T EDIT MY WORK AND INTRODUCE ERRORS! IT HAS MY NAME ON IT!!!!!

Some of the editing they did didn't really bother me so much; they eliminated some phrases by changing the verb to a gerund, which seems like a good idea at first ("she's spent" to "spending"). But when changing verb form, you must be aware that you are sometimes changing verb tense, and then you loose parallel structure and sound like a buffoon. I was an English major FOR A REASON, PEOPLE!!!

But what really, really, really made me irate was when they capitalized the word president. President (and other terms of address) are never capitalized unless they come at the beginning of a sentence or they are being used as a direct means of address or identification (ie. "Thank you, Mr. President." "President Bush was at his Texas ranch last month.")

Here is how NOT to do it: "She was once President of the congregation."

Ugh. The article has a byline with my name on it. I feel so dirty. I may never show my face again.

[The up-side is that I now actually value my English degree. I've spent all this time feeling like it was a worthless degree, but now I realize that there are people out there who need people like me. I actually know something that others don't. They actually taught me something useful. Although, nobody who read the article today would believe this.]