We just returned from Atlanta and the 2007 International Christian Retail Show (expect more posts regarding ICRS soon), and I wanted to share about one of the cool places we visited.

When we can get there within a day or so, we prefer to drive rather than fly. We rent a Town Car, load up the office equipment, and (for me anyway) every stitch of clothing I own. We have been to Denver for the show the last two summers. This year we headed to Atlanta. Fortunately, my Garmin GPS was firmly affixed to the windshield.

Somewhere in Mississippi, we decided we needed to eat, so I hit the “Food” button on the GPS and looked at our options. One of the choices that popped up was Granny Walnut’s Sweet Shop of Holly Springs, MS. We thought we’d like to get some candy for some friends, so I whipped off the highway and headed to Granny Walnut’s.

In Holly Springs, we discovered a quaint and beautiful small southern town. As we approached the town square, I was stricken with a sadness that, for whatever reason, Oklahoma towns do not have squares (I have felt this many times visiting places in Missouri, too). The town square was centered on the courthouse that stood proudly topped by the clock tower, bunting draped from the upper balcony, and surrounded by civic monuments and memorials. The streets on each side of the square were lined with U.S. flags that were fluttering in the gentle breeze. The town was clean, neat, and obviously old (the town began in 1836).

We made our way around the square to Granny Walnut’s, and finding the establishment, made our way inside, where we found two delightful woman who were sitting down to a Coke and a cigarette (everyone smokes in the South!). We told them how we found them and they were surprised that the GPS listed them. They were even more surprised when Jeane told them what GPS was later when I ran tot he bank to get some cash from the ATM (Granny’s does not take debit or credit cards).

The shop was large and laden with craft items, home-canned vegetables and relishes, and candy they make in house. There wasn’t anything particularly fancy. Just good quality, nicely presented items. We each had a Coke. I left Jeane to browse as I headed to the bank. Upon my return, I discovered that Jeane had discovered that Granny’s was actually closed for the day. The women had sat down for their after-work Coke and smoke, both (in their words) being too lazy to lock the door. Us being out-of-towners, we just ambled on in. The locals surely knew they were closed, open door or not. And that’s a testament to the charm and hospitality of the South. These sweet women, tired from a day of work, jumped up to serve us, even when they were closed. We had our Cokes, purchased several of their offered items, left a tip for their efforts, and headed on to Atlanta. It was a sweet interlude in our trek to the ATL.

I have an English degree. I have been more and more concerned that the comma seems to be disappearing from written communication. Basically, unless writers fear being misread by the omission of a comma, there are few included in people’s text. As I read and proofread others’ work, I see fewer and fewer commas where I was taught they should be. So I grab my red pen and caret them in where they should be. At times, I have had to put so many in that I have thought I was going mental and remembering rules that didn’t exist. Worst of all are legal documents. Lawyers do so much orally that you can count the commas in an average pleading on two hands.

The good news is that I am not going crazy. Robert J. Samuelson of Newsweek has noticed the same trend:

I have always liked commas, but I seem to be in a shrinking minority. The comma is in retreat, though it is not yet extinct. In text messages and e-mails, commas appear infrequently, and then often by accident (someone hits the wrong key). Even on the printed page, commas are dwindling. Many standard uses from my childhood (after, for example, an introductory prepositional phrase) have become optional or, worse, have been ditched.

Samuelson then goes on to explain his belief that we are eschewing commas as a time-saving maneuver. I beg to differ.

I believe we have abandoned the comma because it’s just easier to not have to remember the rules. There is a vast, uneducated conspiracy to simply quit using commas and alienate those of us who still do. As with most of life, there seems to be a prevalent idea that if enough people ignore the rule the rule ceases to exist. And I specifically blame intellectually lazy college professors for this. I once had a professor at OSU tell us that the apostrophe was going the way of the dodo. If professors teach that, it will eventually happen.

Good punctuation is the seasoning of good prose. Learn the rules. Remember them. Apply them. Your work will be enhanced; your readers edified. Go forth and punctuate!

I always wonder what some executive somewhere is thinking when they make certain decisions.

I had a relationship in the past, the only good aspect which came of was I discovered the Chicken Balsamico at Johnny Corrino’s. I just happened to be in T-Town today, so I stopped in with a hankering for their specialty.

After re-reading the menu about 8 times looking for the Balsamico, I finally asked the waitress if they still had it. She said she was new and didn’t know but would go ask. Shortly, a waiter came to the table and said they still made it but the chicken was not breaded like it used to be. I inquired as to why they no longer made it. His response was that they just quit making anything that is breaded. I went ahead and ordered the new, not-on-the-menu version.

It was OK. It was certainly not the same thing. I only ate half. And I doubt I will be back.

So, I ask: Why do they do that? How could a house specialty all of a sudden no longer be a house specialty. What were they thinking?

Rant over.