Proofreading for Perfection

No Time for Typos

I wrote two weeks ago about English words getting shortened. There is another trend I've noticed and that is that people seem to be in too much of a hurry to properly read what's in front of them. For example, recently there was a wildfire near Fredericksburg, Texas. Initially I heard reporters calling it the Reserve fire. This made sense to me because there are some neighborhoods near where I live in South Texas called The Reserve at something -or-other. There are also places such as wildlife reserves where a large area of land is set aside for a special purpose.

A couple of days later the ticker on the morning news called it the Reverse fire (as in turn around and go the other way). I assumed whoever wrote the ticker and the teleprompter got it wrong.

Or maybe it was the first newscast that was incorrect. In this screenshot above, twice it is written as Reverse and once as Reserve.

Of course, typos have been a thing probably since writing began. I wonder if there are cave drawings with “typos”. I've always been an astute reader, but I notice more and more errors as technology improves. It was understandable when manuscripts were typed on those old typewriters that sometimes reached up from between the keys and pulled your fingers down into its bowels. Or when printing presses were typeset in low light with sweat running into the printer's eyes and pushing his spectacles ever further down his nose.

But today, when we've got the red squiggly line to show us something may be amiss, or the auto -correct, there should be less errors, not more. Granted if the wrong word is used but spelled correctly, there won't be a line (except possibly if the grammar checker is also run). In the above example, “autority” is not a word. (I got the red squiggly line when I typed it right here. How did it make it all the way to the national screen? And hour after hour it will stay incorrect. So reverse or reserve - we may never know what the true name of the fire was meant to be.

This reminds me of a story I was told by a co-worker when I started working in the New Braunfels school district which, up until a couple years ago, used a unicorn as a mascot for ALL of its campuses The story goes that when the newly arrived Germans were settling the town, they wrote home to Germany to ask the elders what the mascot should be. The Germans sent back a drawing of a fierce lion, up on its hind legs with front paws in a fighting position. However, the weathering that occurred as that drawing crossed the ocean blurred the lines and when it arrived in Texas, the front fighting paw was mistaken for a unicorn horn. So they proudly made the unicorn the one and only mascot until the district got too big and the students voted for a different mascot at the second high school. (A dragon, still mythical)

One thing that stands out to me about this legend is the people's desire to please. These days it seems like very few people take pride in their work or worry about maintaining their reputation. (Especially when any old person, like an English teacher from a small town in Texas, can throw down a few words on an electronic page and make it available for all to see without any hierarchy to review or approve it.)

Does quality matter anymore?

Do I just have high expectations?

When I was in high school, I went on a mission trip to Mexico. We stayed with host families in middle class or better homes. Throughout the week I often noticed flaws in the clothing of my new friends. Things like buttons that fell off, zippers that wouldn't stay closed, tags that kept popping out or sleeves that just weren't set quite right at the armholes. I've often wondered, was it because the higher quality clothes were exported for higher prices or was it just not an issue to these teenagers.

Forty years later, I still call these people friends, so clearly the clothes don't make the person. When I looked at the smile above the mismatched clothes and got to know the person inside the fabric, I found qualities that I admired.

We are all sinful who will never be perfect on this planet but we should still strive for excellence. Jesus bridges the gap for us between excellence and perfection. (Hebrews 10:14) Meanwhile, use the skills He gave you to do your best work and take time not only to smell the flowers but also to proofread.

Professional Tip: When proofreading, read from the end to the beginning, one word at a time. This forces your brain to consider each word and not superimpose what is expected to come next.

*Disclaimer - any typos in today's reflection are intended to support the point being made and absolutely 100$ intensional.

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