A Little Clarification

A few of you may have noticed that in my last post, I used the phrase "I got your back". This is, of course, grammatically incorrect, and I am happy to report that I am the first person to point it out. In actuality, it was used in context: I was addressing those remarks to our good friend David Collins, and in order to appear friendly and informal, I used colloquialism. The reason I'm bringing this up is simple: people love to point out other people's mistakes. It makes them feel good about themselves. I should know. Pointing out other people's mistakes is a hobby of mine. Not that I'm an asshole—I just have chronic low self-esteem, and being wrong upsets me. Please remember that the next time you feel like raising a question about a factual error, generality, or complete lie on my part. I cried for a week when I misspelled "empanada" in a sixth-grade spelling bee—a Spanish word, referring to a small, savory pie cooked in Mexico or Latin America. Now, I don't pretend to be Hispanic, but if my sources are correct, "empanada" is not pronounced "EM-PIN-YAH-TUH". That would be "empiñata". I guess it didn't help that the woman calling out the words had lived her entire life underground, away from all Hispanic culture, leaving her to grow up believing that all Spanish words must rhyme with "piñata".

I win again. It didn't even take me two paragraphs.

Moving on. For those of you who don't know, today is May 1st, better known as May Day or International Worker's Day. It's the 120th anniversary of the Haymarket riot of Chicago in 1886. Man, that's a long time ago. I barely remember what happened that day, but one thing's for sure—it can't have been good. It was probably Clinton who made it a holiday. He seems like just the type to celebrate a riot. One can only hope that this May Day, under the careful guidance and moral wisdom of President Bush, no one gets hurt.

Reminding you to stay safe,
Chris

If you have any questions, please feel free to mail them to my new email address: americatheblog@gmail.com